Our choice of ceremony site has gone through several transitions through the course of wedding planning. Originally I wanted a barn wedding...complete with rustic hay bales and lemonade in mason jars.
Sadly, after much scouting I realized that a barn wedding just wasn't in our future unless we wanted to have a destination wedding to Middle-of-Nowhere, Wisconsin.
Then one night our former roommate, and now bridesmaid, Chelsea suggested a park near our house with spectacular views of the city.
We were both really excited about this choice and started to move ahead with plans for how to make it work. But then we hit some snags. The Milwaukee Water Department owns the park and because this was their first attempt at owning and operating a park they didn't really have their act together when it came to rules and regulations and rental information. Currently there isn't any electricity to the park; I was told there "might be hookups" by the time our wedding came around, but we may want to rent a back up generator "just in case." Hmmm...ok. The park is atop a large hill which could make it difficult for some guests to get up to the site. And finally there was the issue of weather. J and I took a walk up to our site a few days after some rain and the ground was still soggy and muddy; not good for heels and pretty white dresses. And since I haven't perfected my weather control skills I didn't know if the park was a weather risk I was ready to take.
It was at that point that we thought that maybe we should explore other options. J's church came up as an option, but I felt it was too far away and they had some crazy rules (no photos during the ceremony???!!! Are you kidding me??). My parents suggested some churches closer to our house, but I just didn't feel like a church wedding was for us.
We kept looking, getting more and more frustrated and then it happened....
One night this past winter J and I decided to go see The Wrestler and the Oriental Theater, which is close to our house. As I was sitting there waiting for the movie to start I got to thinking about what a great location the theater would be for a wedding.
You see, The Oriental Theater isn't your run of the mill movie theater, it's this amazingly restored vaudville theater with some of the most beautiful decor I've ever seen. The theater seats over a 1000 (not that we need that much seating), has a gorgeous balcony (hello pictures), and a huge grand staircase (the perfect setting for a first look). So as I watched Mickey Rourke wrestle across the screen, I fell in love. We had to have our wedding there...it would be beyond perfect; a Milwaukee landmark for our Milwaukee themed wedding!
J was skeptical though, he didn't think that the theater would be wedding friendly...but I had to try. The following day I contacted the manager of theater and began to try to work out the logistics. He said that they hadn't done weddings there in the past, but he was willing to give it a shot! And the price?? After what we would have spent in rentals and back up plans for the park we ended up paying about $75 less to rent the theater for an afternoon! We were sold and ready to sign, but my parents were another story.
When I first told them about the theater idea my mom's response was "What's so wrong with a church wedding?" We went back and forth for days about the merits of a church wedding, the difficult logistics of a theater wedding and concerns about what some family members would think. I told her that once she actually saw the theater everything would make sense. So one Saturday she and my dad came into town to have a look. My dad is an old movie/theater buff, who had been to The Oriental in it's heyday, and the minute he walked in you could see his eyes light up with excitement. He was sold...and it didn't take my mom long to fall in love with the idea either. After 20 minutes of walking around, discussing ceremony options and the perfect spots for pictures, my mom conceded that this really was the perfect spot for our wedding and very "us."
With the parents on board we signed the contract and started planning. There are a lot of logistical snags that we have to work out, but we've got enough time and people that it shouldn't be a problem.
So without further ado...I give you The Oriental...
It was at that point that we thought that maybe we should explore other options. J's church came up as an option, but I felt it was too far away and they had some crazy rules (no photos during the ceremony???!!! Are you kidding me??). My parents suggested some churches closer to our house, but I just didn't feel like a church wedding was for us.
We kept looking, getting more and more frustrated and then it happened....
One night this past winter J and I decided to go see The Wrestler and the Oriental Theater, which is close to our house. As I was sitting there waiting for the movie to start I got to thinking about what a great location the theater would be for a wedding.
You see, The Oriental Theater isn't your run of the mill movie theater, it's this amazingly restored vaudville theater with some of the most beautiful decor I've ever seen. The theater seats over a 1000 (not that we need that much seating), has a gorgeous balcony (hello pictures), and a huge grand staircase (the perfect setting for a first look). So as I watched Mickey Rourke wrestle across the screen, I fell in love. We had to have our wedding there...it would be beyond perfect; a Milwaukee landmark for our Milwaukee themed wedding!
J was skeptical though, he didn't think that the theater would be wedding friendly...but I had to try. The following day I contacted the manager of theater and began to try to work out the logistics. He said that they hadn't done weddings there in the past, but he was willing to give it a shot! And the price?? After what we would have spent in rentals and back up plans for the park we ended up paying about $75 less to rent the theater for an afternoon! We were sold and ready to sign, but my parents were another story.
When I first told them about the theater idea my mom's response was "What's so wrong with a church wedding?" We went back and forth for days about the merits of a church wedding, the difficult logistics of a theater wedding and concerns about what some family members would think. I told her that once she actually saw the theater everything would make sense. So one Saturday she and my dad came into town to have a look. My dad is an old movie/theater buff, who had been to The Oriental in it's heyday, and the minute he walked in you could see his eyes light up with excitement. He was sold...and it didn't take my mom long to fall in love with the idea either. After 20 minutes of walking around, discussing ceremony options and the perfect spots for pictures, my mom conceded that this really was the perfect spot for our wedding and very "us."
With the parents on board we signed the contract and started planning. There are a lot of logistical snags that we have to work out, but we've got enough time and people that it shouldn't be a problem.
So without further ado...I give you The Oriental...
2 comments:
All is well!!! No worries about the flowers and I love the Oriental! It is just so "you kids".
Hey, we need more CAKE!
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