~~The Reception Venue~~

We chose to use the original one-room schoolhouse next door to the chapel as our reception site. Most of you have heard me say that I MUST, MUST, MUST have a dance floor, the hardwood floors in this building are going to be perfect! Right now the school is going through a remodel that will be finished shortly before our wedding. Oh man, it should be gorgeous! The owner's daughter is getting married and is kind of indirectly directing how things should be done. LOL Like the chapel, there are some unique features that make me think we could pull off a one of a kind shindig. Here are a few pictures that were taken in September. (This is where you guys will need to use a bit of imagination!)

The area below is where guests will enter, it's about 12'x8'. My idea here is to place a table with our nontraditional guestbook (which I will describe in another post), & more flame-less candles, as well as some pictures. Because it is potentially going to be raining this would also serve as a place to keep umbrellas & coats.

Now for the inside...


 
 
What you cannot tell here is that the doorway next to the pot-bellied stove leads to the kitchen & bathroom that were added. (Yay for plumbing! I failed to mention that the chapel is not plumbed but has a very fancy port-a-pot just outside the backdoor!) See that wall with the map hanging on it? Well, that was once a bedroom that the previous owner had installed. I am thinking that we could use that for a photo booth area! Permitting that I find an inexpensive way to do so. Has anybody used a laptop/webcam for something similar? It seems silly to tie a guest/relative solely to that room. If a photo booth doesn't work out what could we do with it? What about a kids area? I believe it is 16'x20'. The long built in counter will serve as the gift/card/cake table. The desks next to the window are not permanent and if I remember correctly they are installing new velvet curtains.

It seems like everything we are doing has a unique twist and the setup for the reception is no different! Since I will be recruiting help to set things up I want to keep it pretty simple... the less stress for all of us the better! Some set up can be done the evening before, after rehearsal. Below is what I came up with when I attempted to provide our guests with formal seating.

Two things: 1.) My scale/dimensions are totally off! 2.) It's cramped and would require the rental of more tables/chairs thus increasing my budget and decreasing things that I feel are more important! LOL My current thought is to borrow or buy some hay bales, cover them in fabric/burlap runners, add throw pillows, and only use 2-3 banquet tables. If I have to buy the bales I am pretty sure that there is somebody out there willing to buy them at half cost & come pick them up. Score one for recouping some money, right?!? A setup like that is so flexible and if done correctly looks great.

Outside of the school is a large yard, or field, that is available if the weather magically turns warm. If anyone has an oversize outdoor tent we could use, it would be appreciated. The idea behind it is that it will open up the space for people to move around & mingle. This is important since 70% of everyone there is family, I would like them to get to know each other! I am working on another area for the smoking lounge, away from the main entrance. This will double as the BBQ tent, if the owner agrees to let us have flames... dangerous, I know! ha ha ha 

Off to bed for now, hope all of you are doing well!!! Love you!