Adventures In Venue Hunting...

"Greenacres here we come!" Oh wait, I meant that other thing. Greenacres, while breathtakingly gorgeous, costs more to rent than our entire wedding budget. *blink* The whole wedding industry is pure madness!

However...

Just when I had all but given up on finding a venue that was "the one" (similar to how I had all but given up on relationships and then Adam walked into my life!), I happened to stumble across a place via a creative google search that may just be the one! My jaw is still on the floor.



Wyoming Center For The Arts. It is actually a renovated house from the 1850's. They partake and educate in all types of creative artsyness there, such as dance, music, drawing, etc. It's only 35 minutes from my house. *happy dances*

Here's where it gets good: From their rental brochure, "You are free to use your own linen supplier, your own caterer, your own decorator… or do it all your self with the help of your family and friends. You are also welcome to decorate the facility any way YOU wish. At the Center, it’s YOUR event the way YOU want it. No limitations!"

Holy smokes. I'm in shock. I keep thinking I'm hallucinating or the universe just cooked this up to trick me somehow! ;)

"Original hardwood floors, and a stage with a grand piano add a special touch of elegance. The dimensions are as follows: 38' x 61' and can accommodate up to 157 people for a sit down event and 200 without tables. The ballroom is air conditioned. Included in the rental fee are the following: 16 - 5ft round tables; 3 - 8ft rectangular tables; 6 serpent serving tables; 150 banquet chairs, and additional folding chairs."

They have real lighting! No icky fluorescents, just lovely drop down antique lighting on dimmers. Huge windows, too. Hooray! :) :) :)

Did I mention free parking? *blink* Really? You mean you're not trying to get a kickback from a valet company? *disbelief* There's no kitchen usage fee? *falls out of her chair*

It may not compete aesthetically as far as drama goes with the castle-like architecture, moat, cascading fountain, etc. of the previous venue I fell for, but I love their attitude and the space is truly charming! They are exactly, to-the-dollar, what we've allotted in our budget to spend for a venue in our budget (on the low side, even!). I love that they are a place of creativity and education (and non-pretentious creativity, at that!).

According to their calendar, they do not have classes the week of our date! *cautiously optimistic* I've already e-mailed them, hoping to hear back during business hours tomorrow. I'm a little terrified at the possibility that our date could be taken, as per the universe's usual sadism.

Really anxious and excited, I really hope this one works out, they sound completely awesome to work with!

Thank you everyone for your support, advice, and continued finger crossing! :D

A few images of the ballroom (I think we can properly goth it up!):

Venue woes continue...

I'm really bummed, I thought I had found the perfect venue-the local observatory (gorgeous building, old telescopes, stars, in our budget, and they allow outside catering and provide the chairs & tables!). They do public outreach programs on friday & saturdays and have pre-booked for next year already on our date. :(

:(

Nearing the 1-year countdown!

Well, it's been quite awhile since I've updated. We're nearing the 1-year countdown mark as October approaches!

The wedding industry's insistence on using their own expensive caterers for kickbacks (even on public historical sites!) has left a bad taste in my mouth. Yes, it would be lovely to have the ceremony somewhere interesting like The 20th Century Theater, but it's looking more and more like we're going to have go the park route. It's so incredibly frustrating. I really do not want to support the industry, nor can our budget remotely touch their demands, even if I felt so obliged. The phrase "Whose wedding is this anyway?" comes to mind when dealing with venues. I understand they are a business and are trying to make the most money possible, but they refuse to accommodate my needs as a client.

So frak 'em!

After much consideration, I'm leaning more towards a "cake & punch" style reception. I'm thinking of including a few basic appetizers like a cheese & crackers and a veggie/fruit tray. This would allow me to spend $ on amazing gourmet cupcakes from SugarPlums Cupcakery!

The reception would be followed by an after-party. Basically, a smaller group of friends gathering back at my house. We'd be able to bring in some Chinese catering from our favourite restaurant, The Golden Buddha (now known as May-Thai, but will always be The Golden Buddha to us, or at least "Lee's," who is the owner). We can't afford to feed 80-100 people dinner, but we might be able to swing enough for 35-40. I really, really wanted to have them as our caterers, and I was getting bummed by the thought of not being able to use them. This is the loophole we can use so that I can have my lo mein and eat my cupcakes, too! I hope the main guest list will be okay with the cake & punch concept. I'm quite certain they will be once they taste SugarPlums' crack-like addictive icing. ;)

Halloween stores and goodies are popping up left and right. :) This is hands down my favourite time of year. Pumpkins, cider, hot cocoa, cinnamon, a slight chill to the air, colour-changing leaves, skeletons, ghouls, witches, black cats, and bats! Mmm...autumn!

What I love about using Halloween/Gothic elements for the wedding is that nothing is going to end up a waste. We will use these items in our home year-round!

Wedding Worthy Target Finds:

Wedding-Worthy Target Finds by Lunakitty on Polyvore.com

Amber W.'s Wedding.

I was really pleased with how the makeup I did turned out for my friend, Amber W.! I did the bride, MOH, and a bridesmaid. It stayed put, despite raging summer heat, and looked really lovely in the photos. The best part was the bride telling me that she'd never felt so pretty. :) Made me feel really good that she felt so good! Even the bridesmaid who was rather afraid of makeup loved how it turned out! The other awesome bit was her cousin liking the makeup so much, that she asked me for business cards to give to clients at her salon so that she could recommend me! *huge grin*

The wedding was beautiful, though! Ceremony was very heartfelt, and customized with Buddhist chanting. Nothing was overly stuffy and it flowed very nicely. Also "Death By Chocolate" wedding cake = epic win! :) I'm absolutely thrilled for her!

Rad wedding video.

I saw this awesome wedding video on The Offbeat Bride site:

Brian & Eileen's Wedding Music Video. from LOCKDOWN projects on Vimeo.

So freaking awesome! Well done!

Short post for now. I wanted to post some more inspiration pics, but I'm totally beat. I closed at the store tonight and I have to wake up extra early tomorrow so that I can do wedding makeup for my friend and her two bridesmaids! It's going to be a traditional wedding, I hope I can dig something up in my closet to wear. :\

*zonk*

It's the 20th Century Cure...

After researching what a tent-rental style wedding may entail (holy crap!), I'm beginning to stress over the details already. I knew they'd be expensive, but I didn't think they'd run ~$900-$2000! Also, I'm paranoid about the ground near the house. It is mostly clay and old farm soil. Chances are it will be soft/muddy. Gravel would be $$ and just sink in. Flooring or Astroturf costs $$ to put in (and labour!). Parking/shuttling would be a nightmare.

The last thing I want is stress, I just want to enjoy everything. I want to have fun and celebrate the night with Adam and my loved ones, I don't want to worry if someone has heels on that are going to sink, if it's going to be windy/rainy/freezing, who is going to be stuck behind cleaning up, etc. Factor in renting chairs, tables, and possibly heaters... ehhhh. :( I would love to have it at the house because it's an important place to us, but the factors weighing in are making me look to the possibility of using another venue.

That being said, I'm considering another option that had actually crossed my mind at the beginning of thinking about all the wedding possibilities. I went to a Rasputina concert awhile back at a lovely venue in Oakley called The 20th Century Theater. On a whim I googled their site, and it turns out, they are totally on board with the wedding hosting.

It's really important to me that this venue meshes with Adam too, so we'll take a field trip when he visits and scope it out. If it's not right for both of us, we'll find an alternative. I like the feel of it though and can definitely picture things working there. We're both movie buffs and the 40's feel of it channels the vintage vibe of the precious. :D

I find this a little freakily coincidental, but awesome: They are currently running a "Friday Night Wedding Special" (And Friday, October 15th, 2010 is currently available)! This means 1/2 price on rent (which normally runs $500-$1500 depending on day and event), they do the setup and cleanup, use of their Marquee ("Now Playing: Adam + Sarah: The Wedding"), tables, chairs, china, and glassware, free linens, and use of main and VIP room (which has a billiard table + jukebox). They seem very flexible with their rental time. They also have a great stage which would be perfect for Dulahan, too!

The main thing would be making sure we are free to book own band (Dulahan!), DJ (Amber's awesomely generous mom!), etc. Not sure if I like the idea of them catering or not. We will have to investigate further on added costs and the such (lighting, catering, bar--we can't BYOB-it, they have a liquor license for their bar, etc.), but wow... A very neat prospect (with good acoustics!).

The architecture is very fun, it went up in the early 40's and was constructed in the Art Moderne style. I like that it has an interesting history, too. Clickety to read about it. :)

p.s. I e-mailed Kyle of Dulahan regarding booking tonight! So excited!

Dress Inspiration Collage #2.

Put together a second dress set collage (mostly Fairy Gothmother designs)!


Dress Inspiration Collage #2 - by Lunakitty on Polyvore.com

Dress Inspiration Collage

Here is my first Polyvore collage! These are some of the dresses I've loved. There's plenty more out there, but I wanted to go ahead and post a set of the initial dresses I've been drawn to. I haven't decided if I'm going to go with all black, red, purple, or a duo black/red or black/purple. Despite all of the red in these pictures, I'm leaning towards all black.

Dress Inspiration #1 - by Lunakitty on Polyvore.com

Oh my stars and garters.

Oh my stars and garters. I just did a preliminary guest count, and I never imagined I'd know this many people to invite! Not counting potential +1's, we're already over a count of 85. I know that not everyone invited ultimately ends up attending, but you still have to be somewhat prepared for close to that number. Meep!

So much for keeping venue cost free, heh. We'll definitely have to rent a tent now. Do they come in black or pretty colours? Going to have to figure out a shuttle system to handle the non-existent parking. We've considered other venues, but nothing meshes with us. No desire to do the banquet hall thing, we're not outdoorsy park-people, and most venues are crazy $$ and not meaningful to us. Sure, we could do something a little more offbeat like a museum or a theater, but again $$ and not so personal.

We really want to have this at home, which is actually where we first met. The trees should be turning a bit, we can have a bonfire going, pretty lights, etc.. I just worry about it being too chilly. But with 60-90 people, I'm sure the body heat will keep the tent nice and toasty.

I'm having a lot of fun pouring over all the wedding blogs and galleries. It will be great to get together with everyone and hash out some ideas. I enjoy the challenge of bastardizing things I come across with our own personal brand of style. ;) I've been playing with Polyvore, so expect to see some visual brainstorming on the site soon!

First post!

Adam proposed on December 27th, 2008! *swoooooooon*

We've set the date for October 15th, 2010. Since then, I've been looking through all the offbeat/indie bride sites out there, forums, livejournal and various blogs, using google-fu, etsy, you name it, for inspiration. There are sooooo many different ways to do everything. It's going to be difficult to make decisions. We both have a lot of varied interests, but very particular taste. A lot of what I see I like the concept of, but not the actual execution. I am hoping that blogging will help me keep the inspiration in one place and create something cohesive. :)





Things we know for sure:

We're going to book Dulahan for music.
There will be a Red Velvet Cake. (Amongst all sorts of cupcakes.)

Ideas being kicked around:

Colour scheme:
1. Black and Purple
2. Black and Red
3. Black, Purple, Silver
4. Black, Red, Silver
5. Black, Purple, Red, Orange, Green (Think Halloween M&M's Colours)

Black dress, corset top with a full skirt (draped, tiered, or pickup), in satin or vinyl. Shit kicker tall boots (hey, it worked for prom!).

Partial teeny vintagey black veil or skipping it altogether.

Classic silver/black/white smoky eye, babydoll cheeks, and rose lips.

Rehearsal dinner at The Golden Buddha.
Reception dinner at The Claddagh.

Would it be incredibly horrible and beyond faux pas to invite people to a reception dinner and pick up the first round of drinks/appetizers, but for people to pay for their own dinner? We want to treat, but I doubt we'll have the funds. We can handle desserts too, will have cake, cupcakes, and maybe a candy bar. Not wild on having to deal with stress of DIY dinner or a potluck. Catering is insane, the best we'd be able to do is pizza, and that's so not what I want to be eating that night. The Claddagh is one of my faves and has a lot of sentimental value (went there with my Gma Ginny and my mom for special events like birthdays)--but I know food is supposed to be catered for guests, so arrrgh! Maybe we'll get magical fundage, who knows?

The growing guest list is scary! I never thought I would know this many people!

Our budget is going to be very, very small. He will be in his first semester of grad school when we get married and things are going to be extra tight since it will most likely be away from Ohio, and we'll be paying to move, rent, etc. Gunna DIY the hell out of everything.

I'd love to hear ideas from everyone else! I'm all about the storming of the brains right now.

***
The Precious!