Location, Location, Location...

Since Jake and I decided that we want a spring wedding, we are hoping for late April or early May of 2011. This may be tricky because we are only about 11 months away, and as ridiculous as it seems, many places book 12-16 months ahead. We thought that was just something people said, but apparently it is true! Windows on Washington, as well as St. Ambrose Church ( 2 of the options we initially discussed) are already booked for the whole spring season! So it looks like we will need to move quickly. 2 prospective reception spots:

1. Moulin Events: This rustic french-themed venue is in Lafayette Square, and housed in the same building as Vin de Set- the dinner location from the night Jake proposed! So naturally this seems like an appropriate wedding location. However, we found several disappointing facts- First, the rooftop is not available for use, and we had hoped for some outdoor lounging space. Second, the venue is fairly expensive- starting at $77 per person plus aa additional room rental fee- but this does include many perks, such as a free champagne toast, table linens, and a personal concierge for the night- and the menu sounds delicious. Third, the ballroom, though huge and beautiful with its historic wood floors and brick walls, has a completely exposed ceiling of pipes and tubes. I understand that an exposed pipe or two is considered "modern" and "lofty" but eating dinner under an entire ceiling of old gray pipes doesn't exactly say wedding to me. I wonder why they never finished the ceiling? Or at least painted the pipes and ceiling a clean white so it looked less dirty and warehouse-like. Fourth, the location charges extra for many items- for example, to decorate the room with hanging paper lanterns, you must personally purchase the lanterns (average $1-$2 each) and then it costs and additional $4 per paper lantern in service charges? $4 each, just to hang them up, Seriously? Despite these concerns, we are still very interested in the location because it simplifies the process with an all-inclusive servicec (site, catering, linens and coordinator all from one vendor), and because the location has sentimental value.

http://www.moulinevents.com/

2. The Rialto: This sophisticated venue is located near SLU (where we met) and the Fox Theater. It is located on the top floor of a modern arts building, in a ballroom-like environment. It includes 3 spaces: The ballroom, which is where we could place the seated dinner and the dance floor; the atrium, which is an adjacent cocktail lounge with (you guessed it) a large atrium skylight; and the outdoor terrace, which has lovely city skyline views. The perks to this is that it has a cleaner, more elegant feeling than Moulin, with hardwood floors, large windows, a finished ceiling, and interesting architectural details; it also provides multiples spaces which allows for a cocktail room, and an outdoor lounge area like we wanted. The unfortunante part is that the facility rental fee is fairly high ($2500) and the venue is not all-inclusive, so we would need to provide our own caterer, linens, etc. So, our ability to afford this location would be dependent upon the price range of our caterer.

http://www.rialtoballroom.com/