The Venue
February 7th, 2008 @ 11:07 am by Mrs. Sundae
Approximately 37 seconds after Mr. Sundae popped the question, I started rattling off lists of potential venues and locations (I remind you, we’ve been together for 9 years, I’ve had a lot of time to think). We briefly tossed around the idea of a destination wedding but ultimately ruled it out due to some family concerns on his side of things. I’ve secretly been thinking about getting married in Lake Geneva for years and it’s almost a perfect substitution for a destination wedding. Far enough away that 90% of our guests will make a weekend out of it but close enough to drive up on weekends to meet with vendors, etc. It’s a special place for us because Mr. Sundae spent nearly every summer of his childhood there and we’ve made countless memories at the lake while we’ve been dating. Needless to say, Mr. Sundae lit up at the suggestion, and that was that.
Two weekends later I had set up meetings with 6 potential venues and we made the trip up to the lake. I won’t bore you with the details of each one we saw (unless you do actually want to know, of course, just tell me) but seconds after walking into The Abbey Resort I knew that it was our place. I’ve been dreaming about a reception in a big white tent since I first saw Father of The Bride, so that was my main criteria when looking at potential locations. One place explained that their tent had no sides and a concrete floor, another was located just behind a driving range in which they “couldn’t guarantee” people wouldn’t be golfing. I can’t imagine anything more romantic than saying “I do” in the middle of someone’s backswing.
The tent at The Abbey is a semi-permanent structure complete with heating, air conditioning, and removable sides. I like options. There even is a mini-tent towards the back of the big one where they can stage and plate all the food so that it’s not transported all the way from the main kitchen to the back of the property. Here she is, in all her glory (all pictures in this post courtesy of yours truly):
This is the private patio on one side of the tent:
I would realize later that if not lit and/or decorated properly, the inside of the tent can look very much like a large shed. But that freak-out story will most definitely be another post.
Did any of you know right away that you wanted to get married in a certain place? Anyone out there also taking the tent route?
Related Posts
14 Responses to “The Venue”
We always knew that we wanted to get married in Monterey, like you it’s close enough for most people to attend and we get the beach ceremony of our dreams. 
Also, since it was the first place we lived together and dated it just seemed perfect to begin the next step of our lives there too!
Your place looks great and I do love the tent!!
I am having my reception in a tent as well, and having looked at dozens of pictures of tent weddings, also realized that tents can look horrible if not decorated nicely. Looking forward to hearing about what you do with yours!
I’ve stayed at The Abbey and it’s a lovely spot - no matter what, it’ll be wonderfuL!
Miss Sundae, you and I are the same! FH and I were together for 9 years before he popped the question and we also met at college drinking cheap beer where all of the students hang out!
Needless to say, I had plenty of time to think about our wedding! We knew we needed a large venue, so that narrowed it down.
Your venue is beautiful! Good luck!
The Abbey looks amazing! I like the private patio. You can use that for your cocktail hour. I always wanted a traditional church ceremony and a hotel ballroom reception. However, I found great reception venues at country clubs and gardens. I have one requirement though - it has to be indoors. I’m a bit anal when it comes to the weather. =P
We were the same way. I’d heard about a B&B not far away overlooking our river. The pics I’d been eying on the website were beautiful. This is the first place we checked out - and we knew right away it was the place!!
So much of weddings are about the ‘bride’. Since my hubby loves the outdoors, canoing, fishing etc - I loved that this venue suited us both and gave a little nod to his passions by having the river as our backdrop!
We looked at many places to get ideas, and met certain criteria… When we walked into “the one” we both gasped, “this is it!”. We have our outdoor, pretty yard for the ceremony, and the grand ballroom with stage for the reception dinner and dancing with band, and it is big enough to fit everyone.
We were kind of “eh” on the tent idea, until a coworker’s wedding about a year before ours. It turned out to be basically a dry run of our event: we discovered that some tents are genuinely attractive (inside and out), you don’t need two sets of chairs for the ceremony outside the tent and the reception inside it, and some caveats of having the reception in someone’s backyard rather than at a fully-stocked restaurant or hall (example: we made sure to pack bottle openers).
I’m having a tented reception too, in a large marquis tent (with walls that come down like yours) at a golf n’ country club. Decorating that baby is definitely going to be a challenge, so I’m excited to see what you come up with. so far I have:
flowers
flowers
more flowers
tons of candles
more flowers
good linens
so pretty =)
:sigh: Why don’t you twist the knife, Miss Sundae? It’s going to be gorgeous. I’m so sad I won’t be there.
I am getting married at a vineyard and the reception will be in a big white tent! Here is our venue http://www.pontewinery.com
I was definitely thinking of doing a lighting scheme plus lots of color to enliven the place. But I think it’s great because the white tent is the perfect blank canvas, and you don’t have to work with any existing colors that the venue has in place. Good luck and congrats!
[...] we signed the contract with The Abbey we intended on having the ceremony in this little gazebo on the bay. I actually wasn’t wild about [...]
Mrs. Sundae, Chicago/Lake Geneva, WI
Age and Occupation: 28, Knowledge Manager
Fiance's Age and Occupation: 29, Investment Advisor
Engagement Date: July 20, 2007
Wedding Date: September 2008
Blogging Since: February 5, 2008
Venue: The Abbey Resort
About Me: It’s hard to believe that by the time Mr. Sundae and I get married we will have been together for almost ten years. When we first met in college we split dollar pitchers and now we share the mortgage payments. Despite our love for the city we are looking forward to tying the knot in Lake Geneva, Wisconsin.
we actually originally thought of having it in a church, but fi and i have no connection to the church (except for his mom). so we threw that idea out and decided that having it in the boston public gardens was the best idea since fi and i spent part of our first date there. i definitely knew which reception venue (chinese restaurant - banquet style) i wanted though and was excited to find out it was available!