I’m not sure it entirely came across in my post on Monday,
but I was severely grumpy and sad about the wedding venue that day. I was
worried (I know, shocker, right?!) we weren’t going to find anything decent in
our price range.
My sister got married 3 years ago at the Patio. Which also happens to
be where my parents go married like 37 years ago. Neither Rob nor I have a real
desire to make this some kind of tradition. Her wedding was very lovely and
gives me inspiration that you can have a normal, very nice, very fun wedding at
a reasonable price. (They say the average cost of a wedding is like 26-30k.
Umm, excuse me, that is almost how much I make in one year. That is just
outrageous in my opinion. (As a side rant – why do we let them get away with
this?!))
Well, I’m very happy to report that we have like 8 options
of very nice, do-able locations. And we haven’t even heard back from all of
them!
I’m going to put our potential list here in case anyone in
the internet world is in my situation and happens to stumble upon my little
blog. It was extremely frustrating to me that most websites give the same
recommendations – incredibly nice, beautiful places that I would love to have
my wedding at – but that are just too pricey. Even Googling cheap banquet halls
would yield such results as the Pfister – which starts at like $50 a plate.
(Umm, no.) I joked why can’t the internet be like Netflix and they say – like
the Patio – try these other suggestions!
So, here it is (my parents live on the south side so it's pretty heavily oriented to that side of town):
Italian Conference Center (I’m surprised – this one is
actually looking way more affordable than I thought it was going to be).
Kosciuszko Gym (okay, this one is probably not ideal but I was getting desperate people!)
Tripoli Shrine Center (This is another one that I’m surprised
is so affordable. I guess it is a little odd. At first I discounted it because of that, but, again, was getting desperate. The more I think about it, the more I think it could be really beautiful (well, we'll see when we go visit). The neighborhood its in is also a little on the sketch side, which could also be a downfall to people who aren't familiar/are scared of the city.)
Double Tree by Hilton Hotel Milwaukee Downtown (another surprise)
Norway House (I think this one is hilarious. Particularly
so because when Rob called 1. They are surprisingly booked. 2. The lady had to
check with “THE Czechoslovakians” because they had 2 dates on hold. (WHAT.))
At this point I also need to give a big shout out to my
incredible fiancée, Rob. He made at least 75% of the calls to the venues and
continues to be extremely patient with me as we figure out this planning a
wedding thing together. I’m sure there are a lot of grooms who want to very
involved, I’m sure there are a lot of grooms who could care less, I’m sure
there are a lot of brides that just want it 100% their way. But, I am so incredibly
thankful and thrilled to have a partner who wants to be involved and make
decisions and propose ideas. And even though doing things together probably
takes 10 times longer (one day I will write a post about our trips to the
grocery store) it is so much more fun and less stressful than facing it alone.
I’m not 100% sure what we are doing about the
Ceremony/Reception difference. Some of these places are NOT where I want the
Ceremony. But, if they are the right price, we could splurge a bit for 2 hours
at the Boerner Botanical Gardens. (below is a photo I found on a blog of a couple that got married there.)
All I know is that I want the pictures to look nice at the
end of the day – must have some outside. I want a reception hall that you don’t
need to take down tables for dancing. I want the food to be good. And I want
people to have a fun, relaxed time at my big ol’ party – because that’s really
what it is.
We have a bunch of visits scheduled this Friday and Saturday so we'll see. I'll keep you posted. (Ha -- posted -- get it?!)
XOXO
CK
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