Leap of Faith

We have a venue!

After much research and calling up churches (on my part), we finally found a venue that is:

a) accessible to both of our families
b) pretty nice (at least the church is)
c) fairly cheap (as compared to other venues)

Well, let me start by saying I wanted a beach wedding. Then, having gone through the logistical nightmare of that, I thought a garden wedding would be nice.

Fernwood Garden

A few years ago, a picture of Fernwood Garden came out in the papers. Instantly, it was love at first sight. I wanted to get married in Fernwood, with the swimming swans and the lush plants. Finally, last month, a batchmate got married at Fernwood, and I was finally able to see the place. Disaster! Disaster sa parking...I came alone, and had to park my car in a separate unpaved parking lot. Which was okay. What wasn't okay was that a) the parking lot was a bit dark, b) there was supposed to be a shuttle to take you from the parking lot to the venue, but it took a long time to get there, c) I just didn't like the inconvenience of the parking lot.

So it all boiled down to the parking lot. :) Once I entered Fernwood however, the place was really nice, and sort of made up for the terrible impression I had on the parking lot. But still, the stark contrast didn't exactly please me, and just impressed upon me the divide between the rich and the poor (just something like that). Not a good topic when a wedding is going on. Plus...it was quite expensive...

Gazebo Royale

The first venue we both visited. We loved it. Both. Nice parking area, nice venue, nice restrooms, nice everything. We were about to book it when we realized that practically all of the December dates we wanted were already taken. Ha! A quick "I-told-you-so" glance at him. I was trying to tell him last December that we should book a venue already, since December is the peak wedding season, and every article I ever read told me to book a year before especially if the event is in December, but no, he said I was in too much of a hurry. So there. We compromised by trying to find a date in November instead. But...after calculation of all the costs and looking at our bank account, there was the sullen realization that -- unless we wait another year to save up -- something had to give. We had to look for a cheaper venue.

Mt. Carmel Shrine

Mt. Carmel came about in a roundabout way. First, he wanted to have the wedding at St. Peter's Church in Commonwealth Avenue, since this would be near and accessible to his relatives. Which was also why we wanted the St. Peter -- Gazebo Royale combination. Then, when the issue of budget came up, we found out there was another church nearer Gazebo Royale. Mt. Carmel in Project 6 is nearer, and costs 6k less than St. Peter. But still, the church + venue was too expensive. So, browsing through the weddingsatwork mailing list, there seemed to be a lot of brides getting married at Mt. Carmel Shrine in Broadway. Same name. :) It's 4k cheaper than St. Peter, and there was a multi-purpose reception hall that *could* be decorated to be "garden-like". (I guess). The reception hall was 45k cheaper than Gazebo. Plus, it was in Aurora Blvd, and accessible to everyone. So there.

We spent almost an hour trying to find a suitable date. All the December weekends were booked, and so were the November weekends. I think there were some early morning slots open, but the reception venue wasn't. Plus, it just seems more fun if the reception was in the evening. We had no choice. The only slot we found suitable turned out to be a Friday night. So even if I didn't really want an evening wedding...well...there has to be an elegance to an evening wedding, right? :)

Whew, this is quite a long post. To make a long story short, we reserved the church and the venue, and paid the downpayment. There. We have a church, a reception venue, and a date. Yahoo.

posted by xieurx @ 8:35 PM