2009-12-07

The New Venue Review – Coming Right At You

While out on my visit to Seattle, one errand (or series of errands, depending upon your POV) was looking at venues for out wedding / reception.

Our first stop was the the Sheraton in Bellview. The room was nice and full.  Full of Christmas trees.  It also had a bit of that "Adolph & Eva Getting Married In A Underground Bunker" thing.  And walking back to the car, I commented to Cora that there was no real nice outdoor space for pictures.  I don't think I want out wedding picture taken in a parking lot.

We then went to the Hilton Gardens.  It was a bit shabby and had a sad little courtyard.  :-(  Yeah, I know it was November, and I should try to use my imagination.  I did.  But I still couldn't.  Neither could Cora.

The third spot we hit was a golf course / country club.  WOW!  This is more like it!  Beautiful location.  A wall of windows looking out over the golf course, and a little lake and a fountain right there for pictures.  And they were on the ball.  Without an appointment, the events coordinator was with us in less than 5 minutes and had the booklet ready.

Unlike the hotels.  One of which said, "I think we did a ceremony / reception last year…"

We got excited and Cora thought of another golf course in the area.  This one was very close to her childhood home.  Like about a mile.  We went there and looked it over.  It kicked the heck out of the hotels, but was still in second place.

Until we got their price.

ZOINKS!  It was within the budget!  And the food wasn't that over priced.  And the booze?  Well, it was a bit high, but what do you expect?Before we got the pricing, we had another appointment at the Salish Lodge @ Snoqualmie Falls.

Eric-And-CoraThe falls and the rooms were all gorgeous.  The ceremony room/s where small and the reception would have felt real disjointed.  Oh, and the price would have started @ $6,000 – PRE-FOOD. So, we enjoyed the sights and the falls, but knew we would only be back as tourists, and not as a wedding couple.

Cora still has some work to do with the events coordinator at the second golf course, but it looks like we have a place!

9 comments:

Cora said...

I'm calling her later today to arrange a meeting to plunk down the deposit. Consider it OURS, baby!! :-)

Jan @ Struck by Serendipity said...

Wooohooo! One big thing down before the holidays!

JenJen said...

All this feel good stuff is cracking my crankypants exterior! I'm mellllltiinnnngggggg

SkylersDad said...

Outstanding! And 6500 pre-food for the falls?!?! They must think that only the rich and famous go there.

Anonymous said...

what a relief to have that out of the way!

J.J. in L.A. said...

Woo Hoo! That sounds wonderful! The falls would've been nice...but not enough to go into debt for.

Years ago, a lot of my cousins chose the same reception hall because it was so nice...it was also across the street from a cemetary, which I always thought was kinda cool.

Candy's daily Dandy said...

OMG!!!

How quickly life changes, and for the better.

LOVE the idea of a scenic, golf reception.
Nice work.

tattytiara said...

As someone who deals with venues for a living, I can say that some of the most professional event coordinators I work with are at golf courses, and the least at hotels. Also with a golf course there's less likelihood you'll be on the other side of a flimsy partition from a team building exercise or drinking contest.

The Peach Tart said...

you two warm my heart