Saturday, September 13, 2008
Even more Wedding Planning
Recently my car pool buddy offered me some advice. He said, "Figure out what kind of help you're going to get for paying for the wedding. Get that money up front. Leave for Vegas as soon as you can." I kind of laughed at him at the time.
I'm no longer laughing.
Jillian and I originally wanted a reception that wasn't at a coookie-cutter location. Jillian's mother, who we'll refer to as MOB, helped us a lot by calling every place with a large room within twenty miles of Lancaster.
Last weekend MOB was able to set up a number of appointments for us to tour locations. Except then Jillian got sick. And there was a Grad Student event on Friday night. And there was a Hurricane. Needless to say, Jillian wasn't going to make it.
So I went up there alone, to hang out with MOB all day, checking out reception locations. Fortunately, it wasn't really that bad at all. We're both very prompt people, and we like to get things done. We didn't sit around wondering about the placement of the decorations. We didn't get lost. We didn't fantasize about horse drawn carriages showing up to deliver guests to the reception. No, we just went places and shot video for Jillian.
The first place we were stopped at was Pheasant Run. It's a 165 year old former farm. The buildings are all stone. Jillian and I loved the pictures on their website.
The grounds looked amazing. Perfectly taken care of. Very green location, on a quieter road. The stone was old, giving every building real character. A lot of the original materials had been preserved. There was only one problem - the main reception room was small. Maybe 28 by 40 feet. According to my father, who has experience with restaurants and large seating areas, we should figure 15 square feet per guest. That means we could fit 75 guests, minus space for a buffet table and dancing.
The owners told us that they were adding an addition and expecting to complete it by the end of the year. Then there'd be plenty of space (we're expecting 125). Except there would only be on four foot wide door between the two spaces, and two small windows. What would it be like to have a reception in two rooms, when there are all those events like bouquet tossing and toasts that should really be done with everybody in the same space?
We moved on to the Lancaster Winery. Jillian doesn't even like wine, but the location looks a bit like an old farm, so we were hopeful. The parking would be an issue if it was raining, as it wasn't even gravel. When you walk in the door, there's a large room for wine tasting and a wine shop. Both things made the whole venue seem rather commercial to me. The actual dining room had weird trees painted on the wall that were a little out of place in Central Pennsylvania. But worst of all, it was a drop ceiling. I hate drop ceilings.
Onward again. This time we went to the Eicher Arts Center (Sorry - I have no good pictures). The building was old and had character. The grounds were park-like. There was a very, very nice side deck. Except again, the room was small. Probably a little bigger then Pheasant, and the ceiling was very high, which mentally helps. But it wouldn't have been big enough for all of us unless we made use of the balcony. This would certainly create some memorable toasts and tosses, but it would serve to separate everyone. Plus, Ephrata is a good 15 mile drive from the ceremony.
Then we had delicious Ruby Tuesday's. Thanks for Lunch, MOB!
On the way back to their house, we stopped at the Country Barn Market. I'd include pictures, but from the website alone it should be obvious what my issue was. On the plus side, we could have had everyone get lost in a corn maze for an hour while we're taking pictures.
It was actually a fairly productive day. We essentially ruled out three places. Jillian and I kept thinking about Pheasant run. We were almost ready to commit. Then I called my parents.
Both of my parents and my sister thought that having a reception in two rooms created a second, lower class of people. Those people who might feel they were important enough to come to the wedding, but not important enough to sit in the main room at the reception. They also didn't like that the reception was a little way away from any hotel. Makes it harder for guests to party (Jillian and I see this as an advantage - if guests need to drive to a hotel it means they can't drink as much, which makes for a cheaper reception).
So they talked some sense into me. We're trying to enjoy our reception, and part of that will be not having to work around difficulties in room layout, even though we had lots of ideas how we'd do it. So our search continues.
Recently MOB checked out Wheatland Place. This ballroom is very art deco, and makes me feel like I need to show up at the wedding as a 20's era gangster. Not necessarily a bad thing. The pictures on the website are very attractive. But it's in the city, which we originally weren't looking for.
She also took at look at Mulberry Art Studios. Again, there are very nice pictures on the website. But we've heard that this part of town can be a little sketchy at night. Our reception will be over pretty early (9ish), but I don't want a safety issue.
Sorry there isn't any video of original search, but the video that I did search looks like we're on a ship in high seas the entire time. Not helpful.
So right now we don't think Pheasant run is for us. Well, maybe I don't think it's for us. Maybe my parents don't and I just kind of agree. But to recognize our frustrations, I recently changed the entry page of our wiki. Instead of a picture of Cat 5 Wedding Bands, I put up a picture of Bridezilla and two therometers that show how close both Jillian and I are to reaching our Bridezilla and Groomraptor points.
Tickets to Vegas are only $198 each.
Check out the complete Slideshow on Flickr.
← Wedding planning is exhausting | Home | Searching For a Location, Part II →
| posted at: 13:00 |
permanent link and comments
