Decisions, decisions

We are torn. Actually, it's more like one side vs. the other as far as our wedding venue goes. Not in a mean, nasty, "This is my day and you will agree with me!" way, but more in a "I see your point, but..." type of way. So maybe blogging will help me make a decision. Venue #1: Paraiso Maravilla We visited Paraiso last Monday and loved it. However, we both agreed that it looked a little better in pictures. For the price, we get the venue, security, tables and chairs, valet, and the candles that are along the handrail of the upper floor will be lit. Nothing else. No options for centerpieces, no food or drinks, no DJ, nothing. There is also no event coordinator who will be on-site that day to make sure things go smoothly. Now, I have attended several weddings but I have never been in one. I don't know how to direct this thing and make sure everyone gets down the aisle okay. I want someone who can do that for me! So that made me a little nervous. Here we would have a choice between eight caterers, at least two of which are comfortably in our price range. If we want someone else, it is $500 extra. The ceremony site at Paraiso is okay. I don't love it, but I don't hate it. It is in front of a brick archway that has a fountain behind it. We could probably string some lights on the arch, float orchids in the fountain, and line the area on the sides of the fountain with candles and it would be pretty. There would be a cocktail hour in a back room of the facility which I actually almost prefer to the front room. There are courtyards in the front and back of the building which we would light with tons of candles and would be nice for photos. However, as my mom pointed out, how many pics will we actually take on a summer night? There is also a nice area inside that is a long hallway with a fountain in it. We could do more orchids and candles there. Venue #2: Rockefeller Hall At first, I fell in love with Rockefeller Hall, but something we read somewhere made it seem really far out of pur price range. Then Andrew noticed it was the same # of dollar signs on theknot.com as many other places we visited, so he emailed about it. The estimate she gave us seemed affordable, so we went to visit. This place used to be the club Rockefeller's, which, incidentally, I have been to before. When my mom and step-dad first met, my now step-sister was dating a guy in a band who was going to be playing at Rockefeller's that night. (Yes, I am pretty sure my mom and step-dad went on their first date pretty much the day they met.) Anyways, me being 10 and my mom not having a babysitter on such short notice, they took me with them to the club since it was all ages. I remember being miserable, but it was the start to their marriage, so that is kind of a cool connection. Anyways... Rockefeller Hall is in the Heights and used to be a bank, so it is all cool and old-timey on the outside. One drawback is that we HAVE to use their catering, and it is quite expensive. That is one of the biggest things that is keeping us away from this place. Everything else there is "affordable" (I use that term loosely) enough so the catering isn't a HUGE deal. It is a big, open room with a raised area at the back where we can have the ceremony. Something is carved over the top of the raised area in the marble, but I don't remember what it is. We will get the greenery package that they offer so there are leafy branches hanging down. I like it when the outside comes in. There will also be candles and such around the top of the room, just like Paraiso. There is a big wooden bar on the side of the room and the chairs are nice and wooden (no need for sashes or chair covers!). For the cocktail hour, most of our guests would be directed upstairs where there is an even bigger bar! We kind of don't like that there is no illusion of two rooms and thus no big "entrance" for us to make, either. There is also no outside area for pictures. But, there are big windows upstairs that would be good to take pictures in front of. This place has all kinds of candles and things for you to borrow for the centerpieces, which I like. Only 121 people can sit downstairs, which might be bad for us. We are getting pricing based on 130. and I would hate to have to divide people so much, even though there would be a buffet and bar on both floors. The service is what keeps this place in the running- the women who own it are sisters and also own an event planning company. Their services come with renting the hall and they seem to know their stuff. We gave them our budget and they gave us an estimate above it. After I told her that I loved the venue but couldn't afford it, she worked with us to knock it down more. I think the attention to detail here will really alleviate my stress and be worth the added cost. For both places, there are decorating things that I want to do, but I don't know WHO will do them as I will be getting ready and so will Andrew and I don't want to burden friends or family with that. So, if you couldn't tell, Paraiso is Andrew's pick and Rockefeller is mine. We are going to an open house at Paraiso on Thursday (with Vivian and Chris!) to try out one of the caterers and maybe getting a second female opinion will help. If you are bored enough to read all of that, you should check out the venues for yourself and give me some input. I have been looking at people's flickr accounts too to see how these places look done up for weddings, but I still don't know what to do. On the employment front, it looks like I have a job at Limited Too. The lady there was really great and I think as far as retail goes, I won't hate it. She is supposed to call me today to finalize things. I also have an appointment to take a test and interview to sub in Katy ISD, so that should be good. Hopefully things will start to look up and we can save for our big party!