Keep your fingers crossed that this is it!

[robbie3982]

FI and I are going to look at a venue that looks perfect online. There are only a few things that don''t sound perfect and they don''t seem to be deal breakers: small old bathrooms, no onsite parking, no great place to get ready for the bridal party, and possible home for the elderly on the top floors.

This place has a fabulous grand ballroom that was just redone and is gorgeous (www.georgewashingtonhotel.com), they have a room that would be perfect for the ceremony (I''ll have an aisle!!!

), and fits in our budget!

As far as the bathrooms go, as long as they work and aren''t gross looking, I think I can deal with them being old and small. My dad already got the place to agree to throw in free valet parking, so no onsite parking shouldn''t matter. As for there being no great bridal suite, this place is close enough to my parents'' home and FI''s parents'' home that we should be able to get ready there or perhaps my girls and I will stay in a hotel the night before and get ready in our room. My FSIL told me that she heard from a friend that there''s a home for the elderly on the upper floors, but as long as it won''t interfere with our wedding, I really don''t care about that either.

So, keep your fingers crossed that it looks awesome in person, because I love

it online and I''m running out of places to look.

 

[FacetFire]

I think it looks great!!!! I''ll definitely keep my fingers crossed for you. I know your frustration, we''re having venue problems too. Good luck! Le tus know how it goes...

 

[labbielove]

robbie,
it looks beautiful- so elegant.
and keeping my fingers crossed for you- and i agree- as long as the bathrooms are clean who cares!
my bathroom at home is small and old too

good luck and keep us posted,this will be a huge weight off your shoulders

 

[firebirdgold]

Wow! Thats so gorgeous! So what if the bathrooms are a bit old, if the building wasn''t old it wouldn''t look so amazing! You''ll barely have to decorate, I''m so impressed!

Not having decided on mine yet either, I agree that the venue is really the hardest part of planning!

 

[larussel03]

Looks great Robbie! Since it''s a hotel you could just book a room for the bridal suite if you wanted one!

 

[cellososweet]

awwww. . . good luck hon. it looks great!! i agree about the fact that if it wasn''t old it wouldn''t have any character. we had one heck of a time booking a place. we have a pretty nice sized budget but we can''t really have the money until december. we wanted an august 07 wedding so we needed to book in august 06 (we live in socal, everything books up so fast). we almost thought the wedding wouldn''t happen when we wanted because of financial reasons. we found a private house that took a really ridiculously low down payment and accepted installments. it worked perfectly and i felt so relieved. here''s sending those same vibes your way

p.s.- way to go for getting free valet. that''s awesome.

 

[robbie3982]

Date: 9/29/2006 11:27:53 AM
Author: *~Sweetpea~*
Looks great Robbie! Since it''s a hotel you could just book a room for the bridal suite if you wanted one!

Thanks so much for the vibes everyone! I''m so excited to go check it out!

Sweetpea, it''s actually not a hotel anymore so rooms can''t be booked, but I''m not too worried about the bridal suite. There is a room that we could use, but apparently the one wall has giant windows overlooking the ballroom so people would be able to see into it. The bridal suite is definitely towards the bottom of my list of important things though.

 

[MelissaSue]

It looks beautiful. Don''t worry about the small bathrooms. That was a minus with my location too (and the fact that they were downstairs on another floor).. And if I were you I''d definitley get a room there for you and your girls to get ready in.. even if its just for the morning. I''d think they might even offer you one at a discounted rate if you were just going to use it in the morning, you know?! I know my friend had her wedding at a hotel and she had a room on the first floor that they all got ready in.. I''d have to ask her if she payyed extra for it though.. Although.. if its close to your parents house, that is not such a big deal. After all, I had a church wedding, so we got ready at our parents houses, obviously..

 

[jesterjigger]

Looks beautiful! I wouldn''t worry about the small bathrooms either. I think it''s gorgeous. Are you getting married there too, or somewhere else?

 

[ljmorgan]

The ballroom looks stunning! Good luck!

 

[robbie3982]

We did it!!! We set a date and put down the deposit!!! We''re getting married September 8, 2007. 9/8/07. I told FI there''s no way he can ever forget since it''s so easy to remember 9-8-7. Yay!

I think the place looks a bit nicer and a bit bigger in the pictures, but it was still really nice and I really liked the lady that we''ll be dealing with (she looks quite a bit like Heather Locklear). Our guests will get valet parking, the bathrooms turned out to be really nice (no idea what my mom was complaining about), and the bridal suite is good enough for waiting before the ceremony (we''ve pretty much agreed that we''ll get a hotel suite somewhere for me and my girls to spend the night before in and get ready in in the morning).

The old hotel rooms (the floors above the ballroom) have since been converted into an assisted living facility and apartments. The events person said that neither would interfere with the wedding (we won''t have to keep the music down or anything). She said we might even be able to use an empty apartment as a bridal suite. This could be good since the room we would use otherwise has no bathroom or mirror.

We''ll be getting married in the Washington room which is in the process of being painted and redone a bit. The party will then move up a level to the balcony that overlooks the entrance and is right outside the ballroom for the cocktail hour where waiters will serve the hors d''ouevres. Then the party will move into the ballroom.

The events person also said that if we wanted to be there for an hour or so beyond our 5 hr reception, it shouldn''t be a problem and we could continue to serve coffee or pop free of charge.

Yay!!!

I''m so excited that I can check this off of my list!

My dad also said that we can get chair covers! And we have a possible officiant! My parents have a friend who''s a judge and she said that she would keep our date on hold, but that if we found someone else that would be fine too. My dad says she''s a very good public speaker and that she would do a good job with the ceremony. I think we need to meet with her before we decide, but as long as we get a good vibe and she''s willing to incorporate and explain some religious stuff (the chuppah and unity candle), that''s probably how we''ll go.

Yay!

 

[labbielove]

congrats robbie,
that is a HUGE thing to check off the list, and it sounds perfect for everything you wanted.
good luck with the officiant, also sounds like a good match.

 

[sumbride]

wow, that''s great!!! Congratulations!!!

 

[allikatac]

Congrats Robbie!!

That''s great you found what you wanted and the place looks gorgeous!



P.s. did you take your ring back to Ace to get it dipped? How much did it cost you or do they do it for free since that is where you purchased it?

 

[firebirdgold]

That''s fabulous news!!

It sounds perfect!

 

[budgetbride]

Congrats...the place looks awesome. i love the ease of your wedding date

 

[anchor31]

I''m really happy for you! It''s a great feeling, isn''t it?

 

[larussel03]

Yay Robbie! That''s great, sounds and looks perfect for you!!!

 

[FacetFire]

Congrats! That''s is AWESOME! I am so happy for you guys!

 

[robbie3982]

Thanks everyone!

Alli, I did take the ring back to Ace to get dipped the day after we got back from the beach and they didn''t charge me anything. I think normally it''s only $17 though, so even if they had it wouldn''t have been so bad. I''ve only noticed it turning just the slightest bit and it''s only where the head was soldered to the band. I''ve heard that''s pretty common and it''s not bothering me, so I''ll just let it be. I was pretty amazed that it took less than a minute for my ring to be re-dipped and less than 5 for him to dip, clean and steam it. It was like having a brand new ring!

 

[RoseAngel04]

Yay Robbie! Congrats...aw...the place looks very nice!

 

[robbie3982]

Thanks Rose!

 

[robbie3982]

Here are some pics I took while I was there. This is the awning where guests will pull up and have their cars valet parked.

 

[robbie3982]

Here''s the cake table. We''re thinking about using a table like this as a sweetheart table as well.

 

[robbie3982]

Here''s a picture of one of the columns with a sconce. You can see the balcony a bit too. I don''t think we''ll drape the balcony w/ tulle, but I like the idea of entwining them with vines of red roses. I like the vines on the sconces too, but not the bow.

 

[robbie3982]

Here''s a pic of the centerpieces that are included in the package. They con''t come with the ivy, but I think we''ll just add a bow to the hurricane globe and some red rose petals sprinkled around it.

Here''s a shot of the dance floor, however our set up will be different. I want to have the seating surrounding the dance floor.

 

[robbie3982]

Here''s the entryway when you first walk into the hotel

 

[robbie3982]

Here''s the exterior of the building

 

[robbie3982]

Here''s the fireplace in the ballroom. It doesn''t come with the flowers or the bow.

 

[robbie3982]

Here''s a pic of the head table which we most likely won''t be using.