Reception Venue Woes
Written by Sara on August 26, 2009 – 5:45 pm -While J and I initially wanted a fall 2010 wedding, I have recently decided to test my luck at getting into graduate school for the fall of 2010 (I’d love to get an MFA in Creative Writing – Creative Nonfiction). For this reason, J and I have been tossing around the idea of a summer 2010 wedding.
A few weeks ago, I was absolutely against the prospect of a summertime wedding for two main reasons: 1) I hate hate HATE being hot, and if I am going to be in a wedding dress, the last thing I want to be is hot; and 2) I know that weddings are (generally) more expensive in the summer, because everyone wants to get married then.
But now, J and I have discussed how important it is that I am able to focus on school and school alone, should I get accepted into a creative writing program; basically, I don’t want to have to worry about planning a wedding that’s meaningful and special while working my tail off in school. My biggest fear is that if we do wait until the summer of 2011 to get married that my lack of time to devote to planning will force us into a cookie-cutter, Wedding Industrial Complex-like wedding event, and we both would absolutely hate that.
So, here’s the “woes” part of this post: Finding a reception venue in the summertime is nearly impossible, especially when you’re looking for a site less than 1.5 years ahead of time.
We live in South Dakota, so while we have prairies, farms and parks, reception venues are in short supply in comparison to a bigger city. I’m not crazy about getting married outside, because of the obvious – I don’t want to have to worry about weather – so that, again, limits us.
My first choice for a reception venue: the Museum of Visual Materials in downtown Sioux Falls, SD.
The Museum rents for $650, and they have all of the tables, chairs and dinnerware on site for rent as well. The space is a converted warehouse building with hardwood floors and exposed beams, and I just LOVE the idea of having my wedding reception there. Another reason to love the space? It’s an LEED-certified green building, which means the building runs on geo-thermal heating and cooling, and also utilizes solar panel energy!
The problem (or, as I’m trying to see it, the opportunity): No availability in June, and only Fridays are left in July. To all of you brides out there: have you ever considered a Friday wedding? How’d you pull it off? Did your guests complain about having to take work off to attend your ceremony?
My second choice, and a more expensive one at that: the Old Courthouse Museum in downtown Sioux Falls.
This space is so beautiful, but J and I are struggling with a few things: 1) the space charges almost twice what we’re willing to pay for a space; 2) we’re required to jump through hoops both to rent the space and to serve alcohol to our guests; and 3) the largest section of the Museum holds 140 people, which we feel is just a little small for the number of guests we’d like to invite.
However, there is one major plus to renting this space, apart from the sheer beauty of the Museum’s architecture: the Old Courthouse Museum is still available on 2 Saturdays in July.
For all of you readers out there, what would you do? Would you have your wedding on a Friday and save money on the reception space, or would you pay a more money and sacrifice some of the guest list to have your wedding on a Saturday?
[Note: Photos taken from Museum web sites, as linked above.]
Tags: Creative Nonfiction, Creative Writing, Downtown Sioux Falls, MFA, Museum of Visual Materials, Old Courthouse Museum, South Dakota, Summer Wedding, Wedding Industrial Complex
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