Location, Location, Location

"Now, Erica... I know you wanted to have your wedding in an old mansion"

My mother is, as always, privy to my innermost desires. Not that I remember ever saying anything about a mansion, mind you... but when mom took me out to see reception halls on Memorial Day I was actually very happy with three of the places I never would have found because I, unlike mother, never googled for "Old Mansion Reception"



Manakiki Ballroom: Located on a golf course of all things (and featured above), I fell in love with the outdoor space here immediately. I'm a bit nervous about an outdoor October wedding. Weather.com says the average high is 61°F, and the average low is 43°F. That's not so bad. On the other hand, the record high and low is 83°F and 29°F, respectively. The former would be wonderful. The latter... well, I don't even want to think about it.

The Lodge at Geneva on-the-Lake: My mother fell in love with this place on sight. It is, indeed, a beautiful hotel with a picturesque gazebo overlooking the lake. I like the idea of having a bridal suite (yes, with hottub), and the picture-taking opportunities are pretty ideal. It's also in the middle of Ohio wine country, which means it would be nothing short of beautiful in the fall. However, there are problems.

1. I mentioned it was in wine country. This is a nice way of saying "East Bumblefuck". It's not that I'm not willing to drive for an hour to go to my wedding... but it's all the other little drives, not to mention finding bakers, florists, hair dressers, photographers, etc...
   
2. Rob and I went last week to look, and the place was COVERED in midges. It was like something out of a Hitchcock movie. We were literally covering our ears, closing our eyes, and running full-tilt through clouds of the tiny insects in a failed attempt to make it to the aforementioned picturesque gazebo. I know there's another swarm in fall... and I'm not sure I'm willing to take the chance.

Mooreland: I think one of the first things I said about this place is that my friends Jeff and Becky Moore would find the name hi-larious. That aside, this is a really nice place. It's an old mansion on a college campus, catered by the culinary school (read: probably inexpensive). It might not be the best place for a ceremony, although the gardens are beautiful. The main problem is that it's an old mansion that has not been converted to throw a party for 100+ people. This means that the entire wedding would probably have to be broken up amongst several rooms. Now, depending on the layout this could be great or terrible.



I guess there are always going to be issues with sites, and I'm willing to take chances on things. We're just going to have to pick our poison. Should it be hours of driving with the possibility of having pictures with bugs in our teeth, risking my family missing the ceremony because they got a late tee time, or having to not only provide table cards for guests... but table cards along with room assignments and maybe a little map on how to get there.

Getting married is fun!