Venue Envy

Miss Hydrangea's post from the other day brought up the interesting point that a lot of brides, at least at first, tend to be opposed to the idea of having their wedding reception in a hotel ballroom. I guess the issue with hotel ballrooms is that they're seen as not as unique as all of the amazing spaces people are using for their receptions these days. Warehouses, historical homes, tented outdoor spaces, and art museums are all on the list of extraordinary venues. And, since we live in an age where it is not uncommon to feel pressure to come up with the coolest, hippest, newest ideas, hotels often fall into the "not as cool" category.

Brother Cupcake and his wife got married in June at the stunning Angel Orensanz Foundation in NYC. The structure was originally built as a synagogue in 1849, and was converted into an arts/event space in 1992.

Photos via www.orensanz.org

Between the amazing venue and the personalized details, their wedding was nothing short of incredible, and I admittedly thought to myself "there is no way my wedding will ever be this cool!" That was alright with me, because they are two cool cats whom I expected would have nothing less than a spectacular and unique wedding, but I did feel a twinge of disappointment that I hadn't looked at some of the more chic and unconventional venues in Philly before choosing a hotel venue.

But then, I started to think of the pros and cons of my reception space, The Desmond Hotel, and I again came around to realizing how great it really is. I realized that The Desmond can be just as much of a blank canvas than any other venue, if I stay creative. It is also such a nice luxury to not have to search for a caterer or rental companies for linens, tables, chairs, etc. The bulk of what we need is included at The Desmond, so I can spend more time coming up with creative ways to make the space more unique.

Another main reason why I am so glad that we chose a hotel is that we don't have to worry about guests driving home after the wedding if they've had some drinks. A lot of our guests will be staying right at The Desmond, so we know they'll be safe, and we also don't have to worry about getting shuttles to transport people to an off-site location. To me, that peace of mind is worth the occasional venue envy, because it will still be beautiful and our guests will know that we tried to make things as convenient as possible for them.

Do you ever suffer from venue envy? How do you get over it?