4 months. Two cities. Two hapless beating hearts-- hopeless romantics hoping for their dream wedding to include all their family.
For 4 months we have searched Twin Cities wedding venues near and far, simple and extravagant, finding the bottom line and the degree of flexibility at each garden, park, community center, and hotel. There's a lot to choose from, but you are very limited if you are:
- on a budget
- handicapped, or expecting handicapped guests
- averse to the tame, gardened landscapes and more comfortable near the woods
- want to dine deliciously outdoors
- seeking an evening wedding
- hoping for a casual gathering 'round a bonfire
- trying to bring in 300 people or more
Some of these little accommodations should be made for me and my groom, and in some places, they really are too much to ask. But why settle?
This is the question that seems to be on my fiancé's mind. Why wait? is on mine. There are 4 months behind us, and 4 months ahead, before our supposed big day. The availability of lovely ceremony sites and party pavilions is closing up, filling like the Little Black Book app. on a Playbunny's phone. (And how would I know if there is such a thing-- ha!)
We are DINKs who work full-time and then some-- should we really expect to cram every arrangement into the few months before the wedding? It's all we can do, since we haven't decided on a venue.
- Camrose Hill Flower Farm: too spendy, too much like a farm, which doesn't suit our interests
- Dellwood Barn: too spend even as it claims to be the best value for a large outdoor wedding venue
- Maplewood Historical Society Barn: too small, residential
- Carpenter Nature Center pavilion: too strict, no bonfire allowed, requires Rent-A-Cop
- Afton Apple Orchard: rural, cheap and very flexible, but their kitchen is inside their reception hall and dining would have to be indoors, loud, less classy with the kitchen right in view, tacky on concrete floor
- Dakota County parks: Like all parks, everyone would have to be out by 10 PM :(
- Como Lake Pavillion: Too spendy, fancy, large, strict
- Como Zoo & Conservatory: Too tame, gardened, fancy, predictable, expensive
- Private land, someone's backyard: too residential, lots of rules to dance around, all the set-up and tear-down would be on us
- Walker Art Center sculpture garden: Nice idea, but it's in Minneapolis, and we've ruled out every possibility in Minneapolis because of the terrible traffic & parking situations that our family will not deal with
We are a couple in wedding limbo. It is so much stress that it almost makes you want to give up on the idea. Leave your ideas in the comments below!
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