Traci and I have been scouting some venues over the last month. Obviously, cost is what will end up determining the actual date and site of the wedding. Because of this we're not able to narrow things down or commit to putting a deposit on one place or another just yet. But the info and links below will help give a look into the planning process so far. :)
McMenamins Sites:
At the moment, one of the most appealing options, for us, is to have wedding at one of a few McMenamin hotel locations. These are large grounds and buildings purchased by the bar chain and maintained as fancy hotels on the edges of town. At the moment we've been feeling out two specific hotels: Edgefield and Cornelius Pass Roadhouse. Edgefield would be fantastic, as it's the place we went for our first anniversary. But Cornelius Pass is a great locale with a lot of vintage flare. We've also been looking at the Kennedy School which is a little closer in to town, and a lot of fun as well.
The advantage of going through McMenamins is the way they charge for the weddings. Each location has a set range of prices for each day of the week. You choose the day you want, and the specified price for that day is the minimum amount of catering that needs to be purchased for that event. Purchase that amount in catering and the wedding venue is free. Go under that amount and the price for the venue is whatever the difference is between the specified price and what you bought in catering. If done on the right day of the week / right venue, this could be one of the cheapest ways to pull off a really cool, local wedding.
Edgefield -
There's Blackberry Hall
Blackberry Meadow
The Ampitheater
And a few more locations in and around the grounds.
Cornelius Pass Roadhouse -
Click here to visit McMenamin's wedding website for Cornelius Pass Roadhouse.
Some of the fun places to get married at Cornelius Pass include:
An awesome hexagonal barn. This is an indoor / outdoor reservation. The inside is shown here, to the left.
Here's one shot of outside the barn. (There are more on the website, linked to above.)
Imbrie Meadow (outside only)
The Wedding Grove (outside only)
The Orchard (outside only - tent included)
There are others but that's those are the locations that interest us the most for now. The benefit of having the venue be the barn, is that the reservation covers an indoor and outdoor location. (Great in case of hiccups with the weather)
To download the catering menu options for Cornelius Pass, please click here .
The Kennedy School -
Click here to visit McMenamin's wedding website for the Kennedy School.
The school is a bit smaller than the other two hotels, but has a couple lovely spots to host a wedding. One is outdoors, but the site doesn't show a listing for it. We'll need to investigate further for this spot.
The second site is an indoor only one: The Gymnasium.
Alternative Sites:
If we end up not pursuing the McMenamin's route, there's always the option of having the wedding at a park, followed by an indoor reception. The McMenamin option includes indoor / outdoor locations and catering within the venue price. If we go with a park for the wedding and a separate location for the reception, the catering is not included, and neither are the tables or tent, etc.
Peninsula Park Rose Garden & Northstar Ballroom -
A great looking park in the immediate area is the Peninsula Park Rose Garden.
There are several scenic locations within the park to have a wedding. If we went this route, we'd probably do an evening wedding and have the reception at The Northstar Ballroom.
One site in Peninsula Park
The Northstar Ballroom
And that, folks, is what we've been up to so far. Looking forward to input and thoughts. :)
since I got married in Vegas (hey... if you have to do a wedding on a budget, head to The Candlelight Chapel... ;) ) I have no real constructive advice to give, but I did go to a wedding at Corn Pass a few years back... It was a delightful little chill deal, but the "barn" gets real dark. Like.... snipes.
ReplyDeleteThey all look awesome, perhaps minus the gymnasium (squeek! squeek! squeek!). Will you be doing some real-time recon at these sites to check out the ambiance first-hand? <>
ReplyDeleteTotally! We figured we'd give everyone the internet lookie loo, and when we get some time in the next month or so we'll go check them out.
ReplyDelete@Arwen, did they have the christmas lookin' lights up and stuff? Or will we be bumbling around with flashlights? ;-)
Mike is going to call you about a possible site on a bluff overlooking the river right outside Portland. :)
ReplyDeleteI called Adam about it this afternoon. it is called Menucha Retreat and Conference Center. It is in a lovely location in the Columbia Gorge. Here is the website: http://www.menucha.org/
ReplyDeleteI've looked up the location and will call them when we get back to get what wedding info they may have. :) Thanks for the suggestion guys!
ReplyDeleteThey all look lovely - besides the gymnasium at the Kennedy School. I've been there. It would be hard to dress it up and it is VERY small. I really like the outdoor ones or the one with the big tent or the indoor/outdoor option.
ReplyDelete