Shh...Be vewy vewy quiet...

Shh....be vewy vewy quiet, I'm hunting wabbits venues!

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When we were deciding on a venue we had a very distinct no idea of what we wanted…what we did know was:

• It had to be in the Eau Claire/Chippewa Falls metro area, FI Fishie had it set in his mind that he wanted a certain church and I didn't want to make our guests drive from the church to the reception and spend hours upon hours in the car.

• It had to accommodate a LARGE number of people, since “the blob” is only getting bigger and bigger

• In a perfect world, we wanted a venue where we'd be the only wedding there that day, I mean who wants to be walking down the hall and see one bridal party after another? I wanted my special day, not mine plus however many others the venue decided to book that day.

So without further ado (and some help from FI Fishie’s mad photography skillz) I present The Fishie's Venue Search!

First up...The Avalon Hotel


Nestled 2 miles away from our church The Avalon is Chippewa Fall's only full service hotel.

Fortunately MIL Fishie was willing to come along and provide some much needed guidance to the process

The banquet hall was already set up for a wedding taking place there that day

The dance floor for our reception would be a little bit bigger but you get the idea

I LOVE light fixtures, not entirely sure why but that’s what drew me into this place was the interesting light fixtures…mock me if you like.

Like I said FI Fishie has mad photo taking skillz I would’ve never been able to figure out how to take a panoramic shot of the whole shebang

Pros

• Located in Chippewa Falls, 2 miles away from the church

• Only hosts 1 wedding per day, no guarantee that since it is the only hotel in town that there won’t be another bridal party “staying” at the hotel though

• When we were there it was set up for about 180 and looked like it could accommodate more (“The Blob” would be contained)


• Gotta love that light fixture!


• Bar on site so we don’t have to worry about paying for drinks…if you want a drink just walk across the hall to the bar and pay for it yourself

Cons

• Not loving the maroon banquet chairs but thankfully I have sewing fairies who could help me dress them up a little

• Buffet is served out in the hallway…not very appetizing

• China pattern isn’t the prettiest

For being the first place we looked at The Avalon was great! We didn’t know exactly what we were looking for so it was a little awkward to go into the tour and not know what questions to ask. Kirsten, the sales manager, is AWESOME! The woman typically emailed me back within an hour if not sooner even if it was after hours.






Next up? The Ramada Inn


In the heart of downtown Eau Claire, the Ramada Inn is the only full service hotel in the downtown area and located 20 miles away from the church…

Once again FI Fishie’s mad panoramic photography skillz at work, this is the upper ballroom at the Ramada that can hold up to 600 people

Did I mention my fascination with interesting light fixtures?

Can you just imagine how romantic and elegant this room would be when they turn down the lights? OMG!

Now for the lower ballroom that the sales manager suggested based on the size of “The Blob” we weren’t big enough for the upper ballroom and would feel more intimate in the lower one…for a lower price too!

Oh, and make note of the amazing light fixtures…

I can already picture us dancing the night away…ahhhh

Pros

• Located in Downtown EC convenient place for guests to stay to be near to everything the Chippewa Valley has to offer

• Buffet served in the ballroom itself

• Awesome light fixtures…mock me if you must but for some reason that’s what I notice

• Large enough to not feel crowded but small enough to still feel intimate

Cons

• With two ballrooms that means potentially two brides…me no likey seeing another bride

• It can be a little difficult to navigate downtown EC’s one-way streets

• Parking can be “interesting” to say the least…we had to pay $1 before we could even park but the sales manager assured me that parking would be free to our guests

• No bar across the hall from our lower ballroom

The Ramada is amazing but I'm worried that the distance from the church to the reception may be prohibitive...opinions?

The Next Contestant…Westgate Sportsman’s Club

Don’t let the name fool you, although we did see a sign that said no shooting on the premises except for members but I was assured that there wouldn’t be any gunslingers there the day of the wedding…

See what I was saying about the shooting by members only?

Seculuded in the woods overlooking EC the Westgate Sportsman’s Club is a hidden jewel in the crown of the Chippewa Valley...

This is a good case of never judge a book by its cover, non-descript building holds a gem of a banquet room

Well it’s a gem except for the dead animals on the wall…please ignore the goofy look I have on my face, I blame getting up at 5am and going to school for about 6 hours

see what I mean about it being a gem?

The bar itself would be closed to the public so no worries about people cashing my party

The hall is a little separated so we could just put the people we don’t want to look at back here maybe? Just kidding…sortof

Ok so maybe they aren’t the most interesting light fixtures but…

I’ll overlook it in favor of this view out the dining room windows

Gorgeous! I can forsee some interesting photo opportunities on the lawn

Remember I said there are dead animals on the wall? Yeah, that includes a deer butt…hmm I think I can work with this though maybe give it a face or something?

Pros:

• Secluded out in the middle of nowhere I’m not worried about seeing other brides on “My” day

• Hello gorgeous view of the Chippewa and Eau Claire rivers

• Goodie closet of leftovers from past weddings we can cannibalize and use if we’d like

• The dead animals provide for an “interesting” decorating dilemma but I’m up to the challenge

Cons

• The seclusion could equal lost guests and tired drivers trying to navigate windy roads on the way home

• Metal folding chairs…need I say more?

• “Eh” looking overhead light fixtures, but gorgeous side lighting

• 3 separate rooms could make acoustics difficult

So there you have it…our first attempt at hunting venues, and like Elmer I don’t think we caught any just yet, so we’ll have to keep looking. Did you find your venue right away or are you like us and had to learn on a curve what you wanted? And am I really crazy for my “appreciation” of light fixtures?

Which Venue Do You Like?

The Blob…aka: Our Guest List

Ah yes, the wonderful guest list! Don’t misconstrue what I’m saying, I love my family (at least some of the time) and I’m grateful to have such an extra-large extended family who would enjoy the free food and drinks I’m offering in exchange for coming to my wedding. But, for pete’s sakes there’s just TOO MANY OF THEM! Over 80 of them to be exact, and that’s just my grandmothers, aunts, uncles, cousins, and their kids. And when you’re trying to have a small-ish wedding with only 150 people there it’s a little difficult to do when my side of the family alone takes up over half the guest list and FI Fishie’s family is pretty close to consuming the other half. And these 150 plus people are quickly turning into the Blob and consuming everything in its path, especially our itsy bitsy budget.

So what’s the simple answer to our problem? Cut the guest list-that’s what every planning book/magazine/blog/website has told us, if you want to reduce your budget cut the guest list. But how pray tell are we going to do that? We initially set the bar at a few criteria 1) we had to have actually seen this person within the last year, or if we hadn’t we had to have at least seen them on more than just holidays before that 2) if they had children, we had to have actually seen the kid since it was born and be able to name it. Yeah, this was a great plan…until the parents started getting involved. We quickly learned that our cut off criteria wouldn’t work. There was concerns that if so-and-so didn’t get invited that there’d be hurt feelings and then people wouldn’t be speaking to us and blah blah blah.

At which point I was ready to pull my hair out, and scream “But, it’s MY wedding, and I’ll invite whoever I want!”, make sure when you’re reading this you put the whiny little teenage bratty voice to that last statement to get the full effect kthanks (I admit, I have a bratty side when I want).

 So, what’s a poor fishie to do? Do I invite everyone and their brother for the sake of family harmony? Or do I go with my gut, stand my ground and say “Listen, this is MY wedding and I don’t want to look out at the guests and not be able to recognize anyone”. Did you have guest list problems or was your guest list all sunshine and rainbows? If it was, we can’t be friends anymore cuz I’m too jealous…just kidding, we can still be friends right? Kthanks!

Not the Marrying Kind

My most recent Formspring.Me question got me thinking...I've never been "the marrying kind"...

I told you in the intro post that my Barbies NEVER got married, they pretty much lived together or at least Barbie would come over to Ken's (never the other way around)whenever she felt like it...yeah I was all for woman's rights even as a little 5 year old. Not to mention I didn't have the best role models for what a good marriage looked like. My parents and grandparents made marriage look boring, lifeless, and sometimes even loveless. I mean, my parents slept in separate rooms for pete's sakes! On the outside, marriage looked more like a prison sentence then a happy union of two people. My mother and Grandmothers, made it seem like they lost a part of themselves when they got married and had kids. My mom quit working to raise us and even though I respect her decision for that and I'm happy she did it, I knew I wasn't destined for that life, I didn't want to be June Cleaver, Carol Brady, Marion Cunningham, or any of the other "perfect" wives/moms.  And it seemed as though, Marriage = loss of self.

 So how did I get here? How did I get to a place where I actually WANT to get married, and have to live with the same person for the rest of my life and not just pop in and out whenever I feel like it. The short and simple answer is that I found someone who doesn't WANT me to be June, Carol, or Marion. I found someone who wants me to be who I am and not change just because we get married. Marriage no longer = loss of self, now marriage = maintenance of self.
I grew up, realized that I'm not destined to repeat my parents and grandparents mistakes. I realized that life is short and just because I'm married doesn't mean I won't be happy, and I deserve to be happy. I may be writing this blog about my "wedding" planning but, like I told FI Fishie last night-I don't want a wedding, I want a marriage.
Any of you ever feel like you weren't "the marrying kind" only to have an "ah-ha" moment?