Potential Venues

Now I can imagine you are saying to yourself, Sam and Rachel booked a photographer.  Does that mean they set the date?  On the solid side of tentative, we are planning on September 17, 2010.  We should be finalizing the date in the next few weeks as we review quotes from potential venues.  Right now we are looking at Top of the Town in the Rosslyn neighborhood and the Arts Club of Washington in the Foggy Bottom neighborhood.  Both venues are reasonably priced and both capture a unique side of a DC wedding.  The most difficult part is deciding what kind of DC wedding do we want?

1.  There is the "DC Wow" wedding, which we would get from the Top of the Town.  It is located on the top of a condo and has a great view of the skyline of DC.  I wish I could be more articulate describing the view besides saying you can see EVERYTHING!  The view is stunning and we wouldn't have to worry about a contingency plan in the off chance it rains because it is an indoor space.  However, one thing that makes me wary is that Sam doesn't enjoy heights and the glass elevator made even me a little nervous.  I am going to have Sam check it out next Saturday morning to see if he will be comfortable and hope for the best. Images from cityvoter.com

 2.  We can also plan an intimate affair at The Arts Club of Washington.  The Arts Club contains a piece of DC history without being overtly DC.  It's a non-profit art gallery that is located in President James Monroe's federal-era mansion.  The courtyard in the back is lovely and can accomodate up to 130 guests for dinner and dancing.  If it rains, then our guests would be moved into the mansion and I can make the rain call very close to the reception to move it inside.  This is a nice option to have, but the mansion is comprised of several salons on several floors.  If we were to move everything inside, then our guests may find themselves on two different floors during dinner.  That part makes me a little nervous.  We plan on inviting around 140 people, but the ballroom can only accomodate around 95 people.  Brennan, the very kind catering manager, stated that on the upside, the overflow would be able to be seated upstairs, where they would have access to their own bar.  A nice perk, but I am not sure if it is nice enough.  Of course, this all depends on if it rains.  It has only rained once in the past ten years in DC on September 17th.  Images from cityvoter.com and artsclubofwashington.org.

At this point I am kind of leaning toward the Arts Club.  I love the courtyard and it is definitely what I envisioned for our wedding reception.  Plus Brennan is incredibly accomodating.   Is the risk of rain and bringing it inside too high, though?  Let me know what you think.  :-)