So, the past couple of weeks I've been massively stressed about finding a reception site. We had found a place that looked ideal: near water, great location, ceremony on-site, affordable, and pretty according to the website. But snooping around on webshots and picasa, I found some photos of the banquet room where the reception would be (suspiciously omitted from the facility's website)...and I was not impressed. Erika, you saw them. You know. A little to 'contrived rustic' for me, with a large, strange, "Let's Get Physical"-style mirrored wall and a disjointed room layout. Also, the outdoor ceremony area was revealed to be right next to the parking lot.
So, the search continued. Potenial site #2: not available on the date we were looking for. Potenial site #3: minimum guest requirement of probably double the amount of people we'll actually have. Potential sites 4, 5, and 6: lovely, reasonably affordable, and all available on our date; however, all located waaaaay in the NE corner of the state and likely to be not ideal for post-alcohol consumptioin individuals driving home at 11 pm.
Finally, we narrowed it down to two contenders that seemed well-located, affordable, and pretty. It became obvious fairly quickly that we both preferred one to the other, but we didn't want to get our hopes up in case it was booked. Long story a wee bit shorter, it wasn't booked, the other one was, and there is a contract in the mail on it's way to Tempe for The Pond House Cafe in West Hartford. We will likely have the ceremony in Elizabeth Park (see link from site; it's where The Pond House is located) in one of the gardens. I've actually been to a wedding there, so I know that it's pretty and that the food is good and the facility is clean and nice. The contract isn't signed yet, so hopefully I'm not jinxing myself by posting this, but I am really, really excited.
Also, I bought the shoes I posted about a while back, and they are, to repeat what I told Erika earlier, FAB.U.LOUS. They're even a bit more teal than I'd thought (the photo shows them more stright-up blue, at least on my monitor), which was my only caveat about them prior. So, lots of happies in the wedding planning department. Hooray!!!
