Finding the Church

So since I have shared how we picked our reception location, I thought it might be helpful to tell the short story of how we chose our ceremony location. (And yes, we chose it second!)

Both Ryan and I have known for a long time that we planned to get married in a Catholic church. However both of us had stopped attending for some time since being raised Catholic. Our deal was that once we got engaged, we would put in the time to find a church we actually wanted to attend and we would get married there.

After determining it was time to begin our search, we used google maps to look at all of the Atlanta area Catholic churches in relation to my apartment. The Cathedral of Christ the King was the closest one. (My apartment is conveniently also in walking distance to Piedmont Park, if I haven't mentioned that before.)

I was uncertain about choosing a Cathedral for the wedding ceremony, let alone to attend on a regular basis. As I think might be apparent by now, I am a fairly casual person and the word "Cathedral" does not sound casual to me. However, as it was the closest we thought we would give it a try.

Sitting in the pew and looking around, I was immediately reminded of England (where I spent three years growing up when my Dad was stationed there). The stained glass and the feel were breathtaking and I felt a strong pull to attend this church. (Look, if you know me, you know that's huge.) Everyone we talked to was super friendly and helpful. It seemed like the perfect place to help us ease back into church attendance.

However, the selling point for getting married at the Cathedral? Ryan whispered during mass, "This aisle is so long! You are totally going to trip down it." Sold.

Unfortunately, it is not cheap to get married at the Cathedral of Christ the King. Not close to cheap. But in the words of my dad, "That is the cost of business." His thought was, if we loved it and wanted to be members of the church, we should get married there. I am very thankful that I am blessed with a family that can afford to do things like this for me.

So when January rolls around, I will be walking down a very long aisle (trying not to trip- but my dad promises to help!) in a very traditional Catholic Cathedral. I never imagined something like this for myself, but it strangely really works for us.

Anyone else have any very surprising wedding-related decisions?

Finding the Reception Location

A week after my tour of the Piedmont Room, I had an appointment with Barbara Roberts at Magnolia Hall.

view from parking lot

I should back track, so that my lovely readers can have inside knowledge of how I came to this point.  Through a series of random life experiences, I have come to love parks in big cities.  Something about the combination just speaks to my heart.  Therefore, when thinking about moving to Atlanta, I did a little research- What parks will be close by?  I stumbled upon Piedmont Park's website.  And looking through, I saw pictures of Magnolia Hall, a preserved building within the park grounds.  My exact thoughts were: This is the first time I have ever seen a wedding reception location that I am actually really drawn to.  Maybe one day I will have my wedding reception here.

(Please laugh about what a dork I am in your head!)  Ryan knew of my immense love for Piedmont Park and if you recall proposed there.  So fast forward two years and here I was: standing in front of my dream reception location.

Barbara sat down with me, made me feel at home, and acted genuinely interested in my wedding plans.  Straight away, I made sure my concerns would be taken care of: the space could hold up to 150 guests and ours would be the only wedding of the day.  Phew!  Now to actually see the space in person, and see if I got the feeling I was waiting for.

(Side note: Yes, I base most of my final wedding decisions on getting a certain feeling.  I promise though, I do thorough research first!  I believe in being logical and falling in love.)

wedding ceremony inside Mag Hall

I can't really do that moment justice, because although it obviously won't be empty when we have our reception here, walking into the empty hall with the sun streaming through the huge windows was perfect and peaceful.  My decision had been made.

The price was more than we wanted to pay, but after comparing other venues around the city, we realized that it is one of the cheaper options.  Magnolia Hall in my mind is the perfect location to showcase the city for our guests, have a space that was elegant enough for our taste but laid-back enough for a relaxing party, and in walking distance to much of midtown.  My logical needs were met and my heart had been won.

Since then, Ryan has seen and loved it, my parents and sisters have seen it and approve, and our date has been booked.  I am beyond excited to celebrate our wedding day in a place that means so much to us!

So what about you?  Do you use logic to make wedding decisions?  Gut feelings?  Both?

Searching for the Reception Location

View of patio, Piedmont Park, and midtown skyline from Park Tavern

Alright so, last I was actually talking about wedding planning, I had made appointments to tour two reception location options.  On my first available day off work I visited the Piedmont Room at Park Tavern.

Piedmont Room decorated for a wedding

Park Tavern is a restaurant and bar right on Piedmont Park in midtown Atlanta.  There is an upstairs (The Piedmont Room) and a downstairs bar area, which opens out into their garden tent and patio.  Both the Piedmont Room and the garden tent are advertised as wedding ceremony or reception locations.

Garden Tent decorated for a wedding reception

I have eaten at Park Tavern multiple times and so have enjoyed both the downstairs bar area and the garden tent.  I love the location, watching the sun set and the midtown skyline light up.  However planning a wedding in January, I figured the garden tent was out of the question.  So I was eager to see what the Piedmont Room (upstairs) looked like.  I arrived and was taken on a short tour.  While the Piedmont Room is beautiful and the windows overlooking Piedmont Park and the midtown skyline were breathtaking, the room was a little too white and wedding-y for my taste.  (Did I mention in my massive list of picky-ness that I was hoping for a darker, more tavern-like feel?)  I asked if the downstairs bar was an option, and I was assured that it was, but that it could only hold 70 for a seated dinner or 100 for hors d'oeuvres.

Downstairs bar area- this is exactly how I want the reception to feel

I was fairly convinced already in the planning process that a seated dinner was the very preferred option (taking into account the parents as well as Ryan and I here) and even 100 was under our guest list projections.  I was somewhat disheartened as the dark wood, low lantern lighting, and brick fireplace was definitely the look I was going for.  However I was a little put off by the knowledge that up to six weddings can take place over a weekend at Park Tavern, and that I was treated somewhat like a number even during my tour.  (The woman showing me around was very nice and accommodating, I just felt somewhat rushed.)  So perhaps the guest list not fitting downstairs was for the best after all.

My tour of Magnolia Hall next!

[All images found here.]

First Things First: When and Where?

You all will have to forgive me for not posting yesterday and until the late hour tonight!  Class started back up last night and I have been playing catch up, getting used to being back into the swing of things.

To continue the catch up trend, I thought I would take you back to right after Ryan and I got engaged.  We celebrated with family and friends over Christmas, and set the date for sometime in January of 2009.  This would give me time to finish my Masters degree and still plan with some amount of sanity intact, and also hopefully allow us to get married in the small window before my brother went back to Iraq and Mary left for Australia (study abroad Spring 09).  So with this in mind, we set about deciding where to get married.

Other locations were suggested by different parties, but in the end having the wedding in Atlanta seemed like the best scenario.  We want to showcase our new home here with all of our friends and family.  So to begin our venue search, we knew we wanted a few things:

1. The ceremony would take place in a Catholic church.  Which one was totally up in the air, as neither of us was currently attending church.  However the religion question was easy as we were both raised Catholic and it is closest to what we both wish to practice.

2. The reception location had to hold between 100 - 150 guests, and be reasonably priced (definition of 'reasonably' to be determined at a later date).

3. If possible, the location would showcase Atlanta and the things we love about it.

4. It would not be in a hotel ballroom.

5. It would not be overtly "Southern" looking.  [This is not because I don't love this look- I moved to the South for a reason!  However, it is not us (yet, but I am trying!) and I wanted something to represent us as a couple.]

6. It would not be "stuffy" or "pretentious."  (aka I wanted to be somewhere that I could relax and enjoy myself and not feel like I had to be on my best behavior; formal locations would not be a good fit.)

7. If possible, it would be in walking distance to hotels and other nightlife in case we wanted to after-party and not add to possible drunk driving.

Phew!  Looking at my list, I realize why I had such a hard time!  Most all of the beautiful locations I found either looked way too Southern for my taste, were too formal, or were not in an ideal location.  The other concern I had was the expense, as beautiful wedding locations in the city of Atlanta seem to come with quite a price tag!

You may be thinking I drove myself crazy with these guidelines, but there is a relatively easy happy ending.  I already had a location in mind, but I went through the motions and did my research to give hard data to back up the place my heart was set on.

I spent a few minutes at work on my lunch break calling two locations and setting up appointments: the Piedmont Room at Park Tavern, and Magnolia Hall in Piedmont Park.

images from www.piedmontroom.com

images from www.piedmontpark.org

I will let you know later how we chose which location was right for us, but before I do: What crazy requirements did you have in choosing your ceremony or reception venue?  Did you have your heart set on  a place long before you got engaged?