Venues - The Contenders

Previously I had shared the list of venues that we had rejected. This next set definitely have some possibility. Are you ready? Here we go.

Granite Links Golf Course

It was actually snowing he day we went out to see the place. We definitely have to use our imagination this time of year. The place was great. The the view of the Boston skyline is breathtaking. The views of the ocean and the Blue Hills are fantastic too. And it's super close to Boston to boot! Unfortunately we didn't think to bring our camera with us to our visit. 

The greatest thing about this place is that not only do they have the traditional ballroom, they also have a three season tent. Linda, the event coordinator told us about the option of renting the whole shebang (ballroom and tent) to ensure that we'd be the only wedding that day. While this sounds like a great idea, we're not feeling the idea of a ballroom reception. If we do everything in the tent, we run into problems. Using the same space for both ceremony and reception makes it really hard to flip.

Pros: 

Beautiful grounds

Fantastic views

Close to Boston

Tent already on site and it's huge!

Chivari chairs!

White dance floor in the tent (we really dislike parquet floors) 

Cons:

No bridal suite with the tent

Green space for outdoor cocktail hour is kind of small

Multiple weddings on-site 

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Castle Hill on Crane Estate

Castle Hill wasn't on our original list from Paula probably because it pushed the limits of our budget. Jake found it when he was poking around the Steep Hill Beach website. We were pretty sure that Granite Links was what we wanted, but decided to check out Crane Estate just for kicks. Jake was in LOVE with the place. The exterior and grounds of the place are gorgeous.  There are a ton of nooks and crannies that would make great photo ops. Jake's favorite were the gryphon statues and the ocean view over the long rolling lawn!  

From the Estate, there's a window on the second floor that over rolling green lawn where the ceremony would take place and terrace below.  All in all, the venue would really be unique and something that we thought everyone at the wedding would enjoy. The biggest problem we had was with the location. Ipswich isn't that far away from Boston, but Crane Estate is a little bit of a drive outside the city. While we were driving out there, I kept saying, "Are we there yet? Man, this place is really out there. Where is it?" And of course the price, which Paula had warned us about prior to our visit. Again, we forgot to bring the camera! 

Pros: 

Beautiful grounds

Fantastic views

Statues

Manicured landscape (trees and bushes too)

One event at a time

Cons:

Price - $$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$

Location

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Willowdale Estate

This venue was originally on our rejects list. But after seeing Granite Links and knowing the price of Crane Estate, we wanted a third option to kick around. Just from the website and pictures, Jake had decided the exterior of the building was too country for his liking. And I really disliked the interior as it looks all renaissance-esque.

We tried to swing by Willowdale on our way back from Crane Estate after the first major rain storm. We got about a mile away before we couldn't get any further. The road was completely submerged! I think the best part was this Jeep that was following us. We thought that they'd turn around like we did, but they tried to keep going! Of course, we sat in the car and watched while saying things like "ohmygod, what are they doing? they are so going to get stuck. HAHA they're going, wait wait, they're stopping." 

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We never did try to go back to check out the Willowdale. We visited THE PLACE before we had a chance too. Up next, the Part 3, the conclusion of the series and the winner...


Related posts:
Venues - The Rejects
Platinum Wedding Venues

Two Metathesiophobics in a Pod

Metathesiophobia, as defined by Wikipedia is:

the persistent, abnormal, and unwarranted fear of change. Symptoms usually include shortness of breath, rapid breathing, sweating, nausea, irregular heartbeat, and overall feelings of dread.

While those symptoms do not apply to us, both Jake and I dislike change. It's not to say that we stay stagnant, we just don't embrace change with open arms.

When we moved in together, I decided that we should save money and just to work with whatever we had between the two of us in terms of decor. But the time has come for some changes. I'm not talking about anything too dramatic, just small things here and there that look amazing.

First up, Jake's office. Jake outgrew his bookshelves long ago. When I first met him, his book collection spilled out of the bookshevles and onto the floor. There were book piles all over the place. When we were both living in Boston, I ended up giving him one of my bookshelves to use.

Onto the guest/my office/wedding crap room. Sorry, I forgot to take a "before" picture. Don't worry, you aren't missing out on anything, it was just a rectangular card table with a bunch of crap on it.  I thought the new set up would give me more surface area and empty cubbies to stash stuff, I guess I have more crap that I thought. Maybe I should get rid of some of those textbooks...

Hallway. Whoohoo, finally got the stuff off the floor on to the walls! Hey I got stuff onto the wall, doesn't mean that I have pictures in all of the frames.

Dining room. My cookbooks are now easily accessible, not that I actually use them regularly.

Bedroom. With the blinds and curtains pulled shut, our room looked dark and gothic with all the red and black. I wanted something bright and cheery. I used the red curtains behind the bookcase in Jake's office to hide the cardboard boxes and put up the white ones I had stashed in the closet.

Isn't that the cutest? I love the birds. I figure if I'm not going to incorporate them into our wedding, I can have them on our bed.

Yeup, all the bookshelves are the same and from Ikea. I heart Ikea! I'd been eyeing these suckers for over a year. The price dropped and we went in for the kill. We looked into the cost of shipping since neither of us drives a car big enough to pick up more than one at a time. Let me just say that the shipping cost more than the bookshelves! I went with the U-haul route. $20 for 4 hours (or 24 hours if you pick it up after 3pm), $0.59/mile for the first 100 miles, plus the cost of gas was $60 cheaper than delivery! Done. My first car was a Chrysler Grand Voyager LE --> GIANT van. I had nicknamed it the Shitmobile until my 4 year old brother started saying "Sissy drives the shitmobile." It was then changed to the Cacamobile. Anyways, the point here is that driving a large cargo van wasn't going to be an issue. Jake had NEVER been to Ikea prior to this trip. To save his sanity, I chose to go later in the day so avoid the crowds and make his experience more enjoyable. Guess what, they only had ONE bookshelf left by the time we got there (we wanted 4)! There is good news, they were getting a new shipment first thing in the morning and we had the van until 3pm the next day. So we ended up going back first thing the next morning to get the other 3. In the end, we only saved $20, but we got meatballs and new shelves.

Milestone!

Whooohooooo! We've got a venue!!!

And with that, I'm going to leave you at the edge of your seat (for now).

Look what came in the mail today!

What's in the box?

It's our address embosser! We had ordered this a couple of weeks ago and completely forgotten about it. Just look at what it can do:

I immediately tried it on the sample envelopes I had ordered from Paper and More. I had to stop myself before I embossed all of them. I need to save them for a test run through my printer. I don't think my printer would appreciate nubby paper. 

Two Dress Bride

For a traditional Chinese wedding, the bride has multiple costume changes. There's the tea ceremony dress (kwa), the church ceremony dress, the traditional Chinese long dress (cheongsam or qipao), multiple cocktail dresses during the reception, and of course the send-off outfit. Back in the olden days, wealthy brides would change up to 30 times! Modern brides change 2-4 times; usually it's the white dress and the cheongsam (for the tea ceremony or part of the reception). If you ask me, more outfits equal more money. 

Until recently, I'd never been able to make up my mind about whether I'd be a one or two dress bride. I would always ask myself: Why would I want to take off the white dress? How much money is the Chinese one going to cost me? Do I really need two? The answer is yes, I want both. But here's the catch, I don't like the kwa or the cheongsam. The kwa is heavily embroidered and beaded. I imagine it to be pretty heavy and would get hot wearing it, especially if we're having an outdoor wedding in August. The cheongsam is meant to hug your curves (for those that have curves). I've never been one for super fitted clothes. I would also have a terrible time trying to walk in it. While the dress has either one or two slits up the skirt to aid in movement, I'd probably still fall flat on my face.

Left: Kwa. Right: Qi Pao or Cheongsam.

So what's a girl to do? Any guesses? Come closer and I'll tell you. A little bit closer...closer...OK that's close enough. I'm going to have mine altered to the way I like things. I know, I know, custom made usually means $$$. My friend's mom is a seamstress/dressmaker (she made his sisters wedding gown which was assessed at 20K!) and is excited about the idea. I'm hoping she'll give me the friends and family discount. I've been struggling with the design. I'm no fashion designer, but none of the ideas in my head were working. Then I saw three pictures yesterday and instantly I knew exactly what I wanted.

Left: Sarah K Chen. Top Right: Laura Ivanova. Bottom Right: Michele M Waite.