Hey folks, sorry it's been so long!
So far Ryan and I have only physically looked at a few places. First we looked in Cedar Falls, IA and decided we'd rather do it here in the cities since, well, it's where we're living right now so it's convenient.
We physically visited the Outing Lodge in Stillwater, and Camrose Hills in Stillwater. We definately want to have the actual ceremony outside. Both venues offer that.
The Outing Lodge is an old mansion that they restored and is now a bed and breakfast. It has a beautiful patio and outdoor garden and the mansion has so much character and warmth, it would truly be a beautiful place for a wedding. They include catering and alcohol service and a wedding planner. We could bring in our own cake which is cool because I'd like to ask a friend/relative to help make one and then I want to decorate it myself doing henna designs in the frosting.
http://www.outinglodge.com/
The other venue we looked at was Camrose Hills. This is literally someone's backyard out in rural Stillwater. The owner is a florist and has an extensive garden. She also had a pavillion built with a cement floor and property also has a little cottage (that the bride and bridesmaid's can dress in). It's really beautiful. Small and contained. Has a fire pit and the pavillion is decorated beautifully with a chandelier and vines.
http://camrosehillflowers.com/farm.html
Both venues offer something unique. However, I would like for freedom of movement; options. Right now, we are leaning towards Camrose Hills. With Camrose Hills we have an intimate setting with alot of natural outdoor character. We can bring in our own caterer, do our own thing for alcohol, basically do what we want.
The down sides however is that there are no bathrooms, so we would have to rent upscale satellite bathrooms. Also, there is no where "indoor" except for the pavillion. We also expect to have somewhere around 150 guests RSVP (we have a guest list of just over 200) so we will need to expand the pavillion area by renting a tent to set up adjoining the pavillion. So if it rains we will be in a bit of a fix. We would also need to rent tables, chairs, linens and china. Although, being the green that I am, if Ryan's dad sets up the catering, I'd rather not rent just china because I think that would be a mess to clean up after, so I'm considering buying biodegradeable dishes, flatware and 100% recycleable stemware. Additionally, there are not kitchen facilities, so either we would have to hire a caterer who would prepare the food ahead of time, bring in hotboxes and serve, or Ryan's dad Scott offered to coordinate the catering since he knows some people in the business.
There's so much to think about. Another thought I had is, I could rent my church hall for free. Which includes all the tables, linens and placesettings I'd need and has a full kitchen. This would make things so much easier. Then we could have the ceremony outdoors somewhere here in the cities. As beautiful as it would be to have our wedding and reception at Camrose, I'm not sure I'm that much of a risk taker and I would probably be very anxious coordinating the dinner.
Right now, the most cost-efficient option would be to have the reception at my church hall since it is the least expensive. And I'm strongly considering it. It's the option that I feel most comfortable with so far. And mostly because I'm already familiar with the venue and I know what the capabilities are, it would be the easiest.
Sigh. It's hard because I know I need to start making decisions and planning, but at the same time, I feel that because it's not until September 2010, that I have plenty of time and don't need to make these decisions yet if I dont' feel like I'm quite sure yet.
Any suggestions? Thoughts? Comments?
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1 comment:
Isn't wedding planning grand? Ugh. Both sites looks absolutely beautiful though. Looking at them made me want to do it all over again!
I know its a very small piece of a very large puzzle, but I remember our caterer not wanting to wash a million dishes either, so we did the throw away stuff, and Im not sure where they got it, but it exactly like real silverware, you didnt know it wasnt real until you picked it up and your hand nearly hit you in the head it was so light. So I know pretty non wash ones exist!
I know Im not from up north, nor do i really know much, but feel free to pick my brain on anything, my wedding binder ended up being a three inch thick 3 ring, so I did my fair share of planning.
Good luck!
One last piece of advice. If you really are concerned about catering and the weather now, you might want to keep going in your church hall direction, because your worries are only going to intensify, and no one needs to be freaking out over something like dinner or rain on their wedding day. Start making it as stress less as you can from the beginning, because inevitable crap will come up sadly.
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