Weddingbee Blog

Remember how I told you we booked a reception hall near our hometown for the at-home reception? Remember how I didn’t mention much about it, except that it was booked? Yeeeah…that’s because I was not particularly excited about it. It was a nice hall, but there were a lot of issues that I had with it. Exhibit A: The ugly carpet:

Blahhh. Why, oh, WHY do reception halls have to have ugly carpet that doesn’t match anything?! I was convinced for a while that I would someday come to the rescue and open up a reception place with neutrality so that brides could rest assured that their colors/theme would match regardless…or at the least not completely clash like in this picture above!

Exhibit B: They required alcohol to be purchased through them, which of course means higher, inflated prices.

Exhibit C: Red banquet chairs that would not match whatsoever, therefore requiring chair covers, which cost more money.

The direction of the reception as far as a theme or style goes was in the middle of an identity crisis. I could not decide between something bold like a bright color paired with a damask pattern like this:

Image via Hostess Blog / Photo by Jennifer Skog

Or more of a laid-back, rustic vibe like this.

I ended up deciding that, overall, I liked the rustic vibe better since we’re having a mountain wedding, and I could already picture lots of DIY projects to ease costs. (Plus I doubt damask and bright colors would really complement that lovely floral carpet so well…) I was having a hard time picturing, however, how this nature-inspired theme was going to fit into a banquet-hall type setting. I mean, it can be done, but to make it look decent in such a large space, it still wasn’t going to be as cheap as I was hoping. All the while, Mr. Balloons was insisting that we are already having a gorgeous wedding in Colorado, so we don’t really need to decorate the at-home reception much, if at all. OK, now, while I am trying my best to save money in every way possible, I cannot just half-ass the decorating for the reception because I do not want it to look as though I tried to decorate but just failed miserably. Also, the aesthetics actually are really important to me, and I feel like if I didn’t decorate at all, it wouldn’t really be representing who I am.

One Love Photo via Intimate Weddings

I started pondering what my dream reception venue would look like if I could choose it. The more I researched, the more and more I fell in love with the rustic-chic type style. Some of the most beautiful receptions that I’ve seen took place in old barns or outdoors.

Image via Karen Wise Photography

…but of coooourse, my search turned up no such venues in my area. Looking at all the barn inspiration, however, did make me think of an old red barn that stands on some land that my dad owns out in the country of my hometown. This barn unfortunately is beginning to fall apart with a caving roof. :( My dad had joked to me before that we should have our reception there, though, because we’ve had some pretty good parties out there. So after starting to really doubt that the reception hall that we booked was the best place for us, I told my dad that I was serious about looking into having it out there, and he was all for it! He said that he has been thinking for a while about building a new shed-type building out there and burning down the old house anyway! Long story short and zipping past some other details such as exploring the site, getting most of our deposit back from the reception hall that we originally booked and then cancelled, and starting to deconstruct the old house…I am RELIEVED that I’m going to get the (half) outdoor, nature-inspired reception that I was longing for! More inspiration and before/after pics of the space to come!

Anyone else feel like they had to settle for their venue? Anyone end up changing their original plan?