Need opinions from a guest POV

[robbie3982]

FI and I have been having a lot of trouble finding some place to get married in Pittsburgh, where we were originally planning on having the wedding. I want to have an aisle to walk down which is what seems to be causing the problem. We can''t get married in a church because it would make my parents uncomfortable, my synagogue won''t marry us because we''re an interfaith couple, and the other synagogues we talked to want way too much money. I''m not willing to budge on the aisle part, so we started looking elsewhere. I found a chapel in OH where we live that can fit 125, but we want to invite 150. I thought I''d try Eisenhower Chapel at Penn State since that''s where we both went to school and what do you know, it''s available! I have them holding it for us for 2 weeks. It can seat 150, so that part''s perfect.

Here''s the problem: apparently the reason it''s open is that it''s a home football weekend. FI doesn''t think this would be a problem, but I sort of do. There is a ton of traffic on game days and hotel rooms are more expensive and harder to come by. I guess if we got the word out early, people could still book rooms, but I''m worried that they''ll be annoyed at how crowded everything will be and at the traffic. Everyone will be coming from out of town.

So, if you were a guest at my wedding, what would you think? Would you be annoyed that we had it on a football weekend?

We have the chapel reserved from 4-6 and games usually start at 3, so we might be able to avoid the traffic...

 

[ammayernyc]

It shouldn''t be a problem... I''ve been to weddings where there were big conventions at the same time. So, it''s a little more crowded... people are there to see you!

When it comes to hotel rooms, if you send a save the date say something about how it''s a football weekend and they need to book early, early, early. No one is going to know that the rooms are more expensive that weekend.

 

[ephemery1]

Hmmm... with any other town, I would say no big deal... but anyone who's been to State College on a football weekend knows it's an experience unlike anything else!! Traffic will NOT be fun... but probably at its worst in the morning on Saturday, since a lot of people tailgate before the game. So maybe just warn your guests not to leave too early? Hmmm...

There are pros and cons to every location... the traffic and hotel room issues just happen to be the "cons" to Penn State. As a guest I might be slightly concerned, but only because I've spent many a game day at PSU and know what to expect. That said, some people might actually enjoy being there in the midst of all the blue and white craziness. It is definitely a fun atmosphere!!

ETA -- Will you have any PSU fans attending the wedding?? I don't know if I would trust them not to be sneaking headphones into your ceremony!!

 

[sumbride]

How many of your 150 might not show? If you have people from out of town or older relatives that might not make the trip, you may have a few people not able to make it. It''s a gamble to count on having 25 people decline, but it would also be unfortunate that you passed on your first choice but then could have used it. Look at the guest list closely before you go that route though.

 

[robbie3982]

A lot of FI''s family went to PSU and his sister and brother-in-law really want us to have the wedding there actually. I don''t know how they''d feel about it being a game day though.

I''m not really sure how many of the 150 won''t show. All of my family except my parents and sister will be from out of town, but I think most will still try to make it. I''ll be the second one from my generation to get married. The first is having her wedding this October, but it''s in California and everyone''s on the east coast, so most won''t be able to make it.

 

[griffitk]

I would call a couple of hotels and see if they''ll still do room blocks and at what rate.

I know in Phoenix on my weekend, because it''s spring training, most of the hotels won''t do room blocks at all. It is a real hassle to have to keep searching for hotels everytime a guest calls me wondering where to stay. I can''t even keep recommending the same hotels as their rates have been jumping all over the place (from $86 to $286 per night for one place in the two hours after I found the hotel for them!). If I was to do it all over, I would have chosen a date two weeks later to avoid the whole mess.

 

[tanyak]

Hmmm, that''s a toughie. I went to UNC Chapel Hill, and by no means are we a football super power, but traffic is still horrible on game days. I can''t imagine what it''s like at Penn State. I''m actually going to a game tomorrow and really dreading it. Another big question is the parking situation. Do chapel guests have special reserved parking spaces, or will they be fighting it out with football fans? If you can rent shuttles, that would be nice. As someone else suggested, I would call hotels first and find out if you can even block rooms. If you can''t, I think the inconvience factor goes way up.

I guess my answer as a guest is this. As someone who attended a big state school with all the hoopla, I would know what I was getting into and be ready for it. Other guests could feel overwhelmed, though.

 

[firebirdgold]

Why do you need a chapel/synagogue to have an aisle?

My fsil just got married outside and still had an aisle! There was a white tent covering the seating area with like 8 rows of white wooden chairs and an aisle down the middle of the seating. Every chair on the aisle had a waist-high shepherd''s crook type pole and a galvanized bucket of flowers hanging off of it. It was beautiful and so simple! They did the full-bore paired bridesmaids and groomsmen walking solemnly down the aisle one pair at a time, then the groom with his mother, then the flower girl, and finally the grand entrance of the bride with both of her parents escorting her down the aisle. Although they should have done the rehearsal with the decorations in place as they now no longer fit three across the aisle!

 

[FireGoddess]

You definitely don''t need a chapel for an aisle.

I had an outdoor wedding and set up the chairs so I would have an aisle to walk down. I tried to draw it out, but you get the picture. The black lines represent rows of chairs (imagine there are many more rows however), the red lines represent the aisle we walked, and the blue circles are where the bride and groom stood during the ceremony.

 

[FireGoddess]

Okay, let me work on the coloring...that didn''t work.

 

[FireGoddess]

Okay, let''s try this. I made a black background and changed the guest seating lines to white. Red is the aisle, blue dots are bride and groom during ceremony.

 

[FireGoddess]

This worked well for us, we could accomodate our 150 guests, have the ceremony outside, and still walk down an aise. When we exited, we walked back down the center row and instead of going the way we came, turned the other direction to walk out.

 

[robbie3982]

Well, it looks like Penn State is out for that weekend. Hotels will be too difficult with the game there. I''d love to have an outdoor wedding, but I''m worried about it raining. I like the tent idea, but tents are really expensive and we really can''t spend upwards of $1000 on the ceremony. If we had it outdoors, we would have to have a backup incase it rained. The place that we like in Pittsburgh for the reception won''t let us use them as just a backup incase it rains. I''m so frustrated with everything that the stress is giving me a migraine for the second day in a row.

 

[laine]

I''m glad you decided against Penn State on a football weekend. I''m here now (grad school), and that just sounds like a recipe for disaster. In addition to traffic in town, on campus its near impossible, and parking would be a mess. Not to mention hotels will book up, and many require a 2 night minimum.

Good luck finding a new location!

 

[RoseAngel04]

Keep looking robbie!!! You still have some time....Good Luck!

 

[flopkins]

I would definitely recommend AGAINST doing it at PSU on a game weekend. A close friend of mine had her wedding in State College, and it is a small town.. your guests will be hard pressed to find hotels, that would be my main concern.

personally, I think you should go w/the place that fits 125. You won''t get all 100% Yes, and some might not make it to the ceremony, etc... it''s not a problem, IMO.