We FINALLY have a reception venue! {Cut to image of me doing a happy dance!}
For those who read my earlier post on Weddzilla, we chose {drum roll…please}: Location One – The FireView.
To recap: It’s contemporary, in downtown DC {near Gallery Place & Chinatown…aka, DC’s wannabe Times Square}, near the DC City Museum and my FAVORITE Smithsonian museum – The National Portrait Gallery {can you say a plethora of photo ops?}.
Unique features? Fireplace, beautiful art glass, and tons of natural light {it looks like a greenhouse from the outside}. I found it on a whim. I was dining out at a neighboring restaurant and stumbled upon it! My only compromise? I had to lose my original blue-focused color scheme since the FireView’s color scheme includes colors are traditionally associated with fire and Fall…red, orange, yellow, brown {that’s it in the photo above}. At first, I didn’t want “traditional” fall colors or the have it in a hotel {the restaurant is in The Renaissance Washington DC Hotel}, but I let that go based on the FireView hitting all of our other important factors:
- Must be in DC – not the ‘burbs – and close to the ceremony location {it’s a 10 minute drive, literally a straight shot with one left turn into the parking garage}
- Must have tasty American food and contemporary decor
- Must have natural light and unique features
- Must haveplenty of parking
- Must be within our budget
With this location, we are able to shave several thousand dollars {I repeat, several THOUSAND dollars} off of our reception budget… For that, I think I can compromise and come up with colors that will compliment both the space and our wedding day vision. At the end of the day, we want our wedding to be special, but we also want to do it without breaking the bank.
The FireView is where we will have cocktails and dancing, the second photo is where we will have dinner. There is tile and hardwood floors throughout so no dance floor required and we are doing a total buy-out so the entire restaurant is ours for the evening. No need for rentals because, the price includes upgraded linens {it pays to ask!}. We get the vibe we wanted with the service, support and experience of a hotel chain {not to mention Marriott rewards points towards our honeymoon!}. Imagine this room with the furniture reconfigured, with upgraded linen, bathed in candlelight.
Now that that’s done…I can focus on {stress over?} the other 2,000+ details!
