wedding venue updates
Ann and I went around to a few prospective wedding venues this weekend, accompanied by J and Amanda- I've uploaded some pictures, if anyone is interested in seeing them- I'm linking each in their respective paragraph. We've previously visited the Umlauf Sculpture Garden and Mayfield Park- this weekend we did The Vista on Seward Hill, Hamilton Twelve, and Red Corral Ranch in Wimberly.
The Vista on Seward Hill is really nice- great trees, nice indoors areas (one building for catering and eating, another for dancing, cake, and bars). The decor is, at times, approaching "over the top" - Morgan, Ann was thinking that this is the place with the fire-spewing pillars that your parents had mentioned for your own wedding. However, the pillars don't have to spew fire, and the rest of it is nice in a "lots of fake ivy draped on things" kinda way. The owners were really agreeable (which, I'm realizing, is something you've got to consider), and when we left I put it firmly at the top of our list of places we'd visited thus far. Oh, also, they offer one feature that really seals it for me (and is, apparently, NOT OPTIONAL): special WHITE WEDDING LAZORS THAT BLAST U DURING UR FIRST DANCE!!!1
Yes. White wedding lazors. I almost started to explain the veritable landslide of scorn that would be heaped upon me for having an argon laser within five miles of my wedding, but decided to cross that bridge if we come to it. They seemed really emphatic about the lasers. I think the lasers were like their babies or something.
Hamilton Twelve was a bit of a disappointment, actually, although from what I'd seen on the website I wasn't really expecting it to clear the first round. The front is really cool looking, and the architecture of the building itself is really impressive (not to mention the awesome shower in the bride's bathroom). The back, "outside" area was cool, with paths of crushed granite surrounded by semicircles of some kind of gravel, and a pool. However, there wasn't hardly anything growing anywhere, except for maybe a few plants at the very back of the lot. The land in front and surrounding didn't look particularly (meaning, remotely) tended... so while the building was cool and the courtyard area was nice, without at least some areas with serious greenery as a counterpoint, the place overall kinda seemed... I dunno, barren. It would be cool for a party or something, but for a wedding, we really want lots of trees and such.
After those two spots, J and Amanda went off to do their own thing and we headed toward Wimberly. As a side note, we stopped on the way in Dripping Springs to check out Sol'stice. We drive by this place every time we head into Austin, and always say "we should stop there sometime". Well, since we were ahead of schedule we did. This place is pretty damned awesome- they have a lot of outdoor art, particularly kinetic art, which I'm a big fan of. If anyone is looking for some lawn art, or indoor art, for that matter, it's worth heading out if you feel like a short road trip. Chris, the owner, is a really nice guy, also.
So, we got to Red Corral Ranch on time- apparently there'd been somewhat of a booking mixup, as another group was there to tour at the same time. Luckily there were two people there available to give tours. So overall, we were REALLY impressed with RCR- the place as a whole is about 1100 acres, although not all of that is necessarily included as a wedding venue. In addition to the "main" area, there are a few cottages for housing and a "party barn". There are pictures of some of the cottages and the barn.
Anyway, RCR is a ranch- the decor is, well... ranch-ey. Anyone who knows Ann and I will know that generally that's a mark in the "con" column. I've lived in goddamned Fredericksburg almost two years now, and I swear that if I ever live in another town with this much antler art I'm going to turn into the unabomber. That said, in defense of the place, the outside areas aren't particularly ranchey- the design of the chapel and the exterior of the main house are neutral enough that you don't feel like you're at a cheesy dude ranch for people from Chicago. The interior of the houses is pretty ranchey, but in more of an... I guess, honest kind of way, which is much more tolerable. Yes, it kinda looks and feels (and smells) like my grandma's house, but that's because it's full of stuff that's really been accumulated by the owners over the past eighty or so years. Bed and Breakfast places in Fredericksburg, on the other hand, always have this sense of being chock-full of "ranch style" decor that was bought in the last twelve months by a transplant from Houston who got his Stetson at the mall and works in a high-rise.
God... I sound entirely too defensive of the stereotypical Texan right now. I guess what I'm getting at is that RCR is obviously in Texas, sure, but it doesn't beat you over the head with it, so it's tolerable. Anyway, that's in reference to the interiors of the housing parts, which aren't that big of a part of the whole process anyway. The main area, again (and you can see this from the pictures) has some great mature trees and landscaping, not to mention my favorite part: the labyrinth. I didn't really know jack about labyrinths (aside from nightmarish recollections of David Bowie's codpiece) before visiting RCR, but it's one of the things they really tout as a feature. There's more info about it all on their website, so I won't rehash all that, but I'm just saying- the fact that this big "ranch" has something associated with an interfaith meditational technique, not to mention sacred geometry, says something about the owners which is a big plus in my mind. Unless they start running around our wedding with smudge sticks and quartz crystals, of course.
Anyway, I'm way ahead of myself. That's all for now.
The Vista on Seward Hill is really nice- great trees, nice indoors areas (one building for catering and eating, another for dancing, cake, and bars). The decor is, at times, approaching "over the top" - Morgan, Ann was thinking that this is the place with the fire-spewing pillars that your parents had mentioned for your own wedding. However, the pillars don't have to spew fire, and the rest of it is nice in a "lots of fake ivy draped on things" kinda way. The owners were really agreeable (which, I'm realizing, is something you've got to consider), and when we left I put it firmly at the top of our list of places we'd visited thus far. Oh, also, they offer one feature that really seals it for me (and is, apparently, NOT OPTIONAL): special WHITE WEDDING LAZORS THAT BLAST U DURING UR FIRST DANCE!!!1
Yes. White wedding lazors. I almost started to explain the veritable landslide of scorn that would be heaped upon me for having an argon laser within five miles of my wedding, but decided to cross that bridge if we come to it. They seemed really emphatic about the lasers. I think the lasers were like their babies or something.
Hamilton Twelve was a bit of a disappointment, actually, although from what I'd seen on the website I wasn't really expecting it to clear the first round. The front is really cool looking, and the architecture of the building itself is really impressive (not to mention the awesome shower in the bride's bathroom). The back, "outside" area was cool, with paths of crushed granite surrounded by semicircles of some kind of gravel, and a pool. However, there wasn't hardly anything growing anywhere, except for maybe a few plants at the very back of the lot. The land in front and surrounding didn't look particularly (meaning, remotely) tended... so while the building was cool and the courtyard area was nice, without at least some areas with serious greenery as a counterpoint, the place overall kinda seemed... I dunno, barren. It would be cool for a party or something, but for a wedding, we really want lots of trees and such.
After those two spots, J and Amanda went off to do their own thing and we headed toward Wimberly. As a side note, we stopped on the way in Dripping Springs to check out Sol'stice. We drive by this place every time we head into Austin, and always say "we should stop there sometime". Well, since we were ahead of schedule we did. This place is pretty damned awesome- they have a lot of outdoor art, particularly kinetic art, which I'm a big fan of. If anyone is looking for some lawn art, or indoor art, for that matter, it's worth heading out if you feel like a short road trip. Chris, the owner, is a really nice guy, also.
So, we got to Red Corral Ranch on time- apparently there'd been somewhat of a booking mixup, as another group was there to tour at the same time. Luckily there were two people there available to give tours. So overall, we were REALLY impressed with RCR- the place as a whole is about 1100 acres, although not all of that is necessarily included as a wedding venue. In addition to the "main" area, there are a few cottages for housing and a "party barn". There are pictures of some of the cottages and the barn.
Anyway, RCR is a ranch- the decor is, well... ranch-ey. Anyone who knows Ann and I will know that generally that's a mark in the "con" column. I've lived in goddamned Fredericksburg almost two years now, and I swear that if I ever live in another town with this much antler art I'm going to turn into the unabomber. That said, in defense of the place, the outside areas aren't particularly ranchey- the design of the chapel and the exterior of the main house are neutral enough that you don't feel like you're at a cheesy dude ranch for people from Chicago. The interior of the houses is pretty ranchey, but in more of an... I guess, honest kind of way, which is much more tolerable. Yes, it kinda looks and feels (and smells) like my grandma's house, but that's because it's full of stuff that's really been accumulated by the owners over the past eighty or so years. Bed and Breakfast places in Fredericksburg, on the other hand, always have this sense of being chock-full of "ranch style" decor that was bought in the last twelve months by a transplant from Houston who got his Stetson at the mall and works in a high-rise.
God... I sound entirely too defensive of the stereotypical Texan right now. I guess what I'm getting at is that RCR is obviously in Texas, sure, but it doesn't beat you over the head with it, so it's tolerable. Anyway, that's in reference to the interiors of the housing parts, which aren't that big of a part of the whole process anyway. The main area, again (and you can see this from the pictures) has some great mature trees and landscaping, not to mention my favorite part: the labyrinth. I didn't really know jack about labyrinths (aside from nightmarish recollections of David Bowie's codpiece) before visiting RCR, but it's one of the things they really tout as a feature. There's more info about it all on their website, so I won't rehash all that, but I'm just saying- the fact that this big "ranch" has something associated with an interfaith meditational technique, not to mention sacred geometry, says something about the owners which is a big plus in my mind. Unless they start running around our wedding with smudge sticks and quartz crystals, of course.
Anyway, I'm way ahead of myself. That's all for now.