The Great Venue Hunt

I’m on the verge of oversaturating myself with wedding ideas.  Secretly, I’m thrilled that Mr. Fiance proposed when he did, because I have plenty of time to plan my attack on post-summer wedding sales.  When all the June brides have come back from their honeymoons and need to get rid of decorations and aqua-colored table linens, I will be there to reap the benefits at a fraction of the cost.

Nothing is solid on the decoration front for that very reason, and so today I shall discuss the Great Venue Hunt undertaken by Mr. Fiance and myself last weekend.  We made an appointment to visit one of our top two contenders, and decided on impromptu visits to some other locations just to see how we felt about them.

Venue the First: The Mercer Island Community & Event Center near Luther Burbank Park.  The views and amenities were pleasantly surprising, but overall we felt underwhelmed with the actual space that would be used for the reception.  It was essentially a gym, and would need serious camouflaging to fit MAH VISION™.  Plus, I’d have to haul ass up a hill in heels to get to the sprawling outdoor ceremony space, and I don’t trust them to mow the grass before the big day.  It would need curtains or drapery, a ton of decorations, and a golf cart turned into my own personal limousine.  No hard alcohol allowed, nothing can be tacked to the walls.  But it’s cheap, so this space will work only if nothing else does.

Venue the Second: We drove down to Georgetown Studios, a kickass crumbling brick building nestled in a small, flourishing neighborhood of restaurants and shops.  There was a street fair going on in the parking lot, and we loved the feel of the place.  We snuck inside to find a photo shoot in progress, and were informed by a photographer that the building is no longer allowed to be an event venue because it doesn’t meet seismic standards.  Indeed, it felt as if the whole building would collapse if a strong wind went by, and we left dejected.

Venue the Third: En route to the last place, we decided to swing by the Theater Off Jackson, which was our top choice.  We have an appointment to take a proper tour on Wednesday, but we tried our luck and managed to sneak in as a middle school play was letting out.  The theater downstairs is delightful, seats 140 people and would be awesome for a ceremony.  No one could let us in to the larger room upstairs, but it has blue walls and a Chinese dragon boat nailed to the wall – what’s not to love?  My only concern is that it won’t be large enough for the 100+ guest list we have drafted. 

Venue the Fourth: The lovely Edgewater Hotel sits on the Seattle waterfront, and for the sum of $95-$150 per person, you, too, can be married in this establishment.  We drove our ratty El Camino up to the front, got JUDGMENT STARES from other hotel patrons waiting on valet, realized it would cost $5 to park with validation, and left immediately without going inside.

I'm sure we'll think of some other places to check out, but I'm excited for the theater tour tomorrow and it's our super-duper top first choice if things work out.