Alright, Really Need to Find a Location

Turns out the location I was so happily spotlighting in my last post is booked for 11/11/11. Darn. Wish I had reserved it sooner! Ah well, that's what happens when you don't stress about your wedding day! :)  Something will work out! 

Now I'm left with a dilemma though: Indoor or Outdoor? Can you think of any more pros and cons? 

Pros: outside is awesome
we'd like a nature-y setting
Cons: weather: most likely drizzling, muddy, and chilly

For some reason I can't think of any more pros and cons than that but I know there are tons! 

So, any ideas on new locations would be much appreciated. I will share a few that have been buzzing around in my head for a few days. :)

1) Meridian Habitat Park

We visited this "park" once but we don't really get good vibes from it. We've never been in the building though, so who knows. It's not very naturey, although it does have grass and a few trees. We'd prefer something more forest-y honestly, but we're willing to at least give it a chance. Thank you to C2 Photography for sharing these pictures of a wedding held there! I doubt our wedding day will be even half as fancy as theirs. :)

pond out front

some trees!

red carpet inside and icky decorating blech!
they seemed to overcome it pretty well though

2) Kapowsin Grange

Selena (I believe it was) at our Self Reliant Community meeting on Wednesday mentioned to me that Kapowsin Grange is available for events. We've never been there, and should probably at least drive by it. I found some photos online (thanks to Northwest Real Estate Photography). It looks like it matches, at least a little bit, but we'd certainly need to see it in person. Here are some pictures. 

I think the building looks cute :) (in this photo anyway!)

ewww this room is icky though. reminds me of zombie video games

this room is much nicer thanks to the wood floor, but I'm not liking the fluorescent  lights

bathrooms and tables!

nice big kitchen in the zombie room, great for potlucks!

I think the back of the building is pretty too. :) Seems like a pretty nice representation of how it might look in November!

3) Wildwood Park

Last but not least! Lisa and Ray suggested this place - that's where they got married! Ray mentioned that an added perk of getting married at a park is that on your anniversary, you can have a nice little picnic there! Wildwood Park is certainly a beautiful place, but it doesn't really have any indoor spots, just a bunch of small-to-medium shelters. They aren't terribly well-kept, either. Many have really awesome ovens and fireplaces, but they have all been cemented in and covered up except for the Girl Scout lodge - but it is too tiny for our guests and not safe for kids if we made a fire! There's another spot with clearing and a few shelters, but I'd be concerned about keeping everyone warm and dry and not too muddy. I took a bunch of pictures the other day, so I saved the most pictures for last. :)

tiny shelter

great view out the window. fun to climb though the window too.

tiny shelter

pretty in general, but not manicured. not that i like really manicured.... 

the only shelter with a fire pit

said fire pit, right in the middle

stream to the right, play equipment to the left in the distance

pretty, but you can see not quite so meticulously cared for like Frontier

thought that is a nice place for a photo op

neat table

nice little clearing

pretty plants

roof of one of the shelters

the shelter we would probably end up using (there are a couple others adjacent, too)

trees!!! :D

ferns! :D 

lots of ferns! :D

my toes in the stream

cute staircase

another one of the shelters we would probably use 

a new tree growing out of a fallen tree :D

the area where the shelters we'd use are

a shelter whose fireplace is blocked off on the inside. :(  That would have been cozy.

kind of creepy actually... we wouldn't use this one...

windows

there is indeed an 11 at this park... apparently i accidentally saved it three times and hey look! its our wedding date!
11/11/11

Donations!

We have received a handful! Thank you very much! We are now at $135 so technically I suppose my giveaway should be over, BUT one person donated $100 so I think I'll keep it going. Still haven't posted what sorts of things we will be giving away to our donators! Post coming soon, really! :)  I need to make an ad before my free $75 worth of ads expire, too! The lovely people who have donated will receive gifts, but I still want to give more!!!! Not sure how much more though. We'll play it by ear/shoot from the hip/see what happens. We'll go to at least $150 before the giveaway is over. :) 

More Pictures of the Prospective Location

Guess we should look into reserving the building! I e-mailed a Parks Department lady at the beginning of the year asking if we could take a look inside or something, but she was rather unhelpful and we didn't have any solid plans yet, so I just put it off.

front of the lodge

We've still been putting it off, not so much because of the unhelpful Parks Department lady, but more because I lost my job before we were "ready," so we don't have much of a money cushion. I was hoping someone would donate by now... all we really need is one person to step up and start. I'll have to make a chart or something to put over there by the donate button. :)  I was also planning on advertising with Google because I received $75 worth of advertising for free in the mail. I had made the ad and everything, but I used the word "LOVE" in all capitals so it was denied, and I just haven't gotten around to making another one yet. Gotta get on that too!

doorway is safe from rain!

If you don't have any money to donate, contact me and maybe you can still help out another way. Lisa from our local Self-Reliant Community offered to make decorations, take photos, and help out some. Treavor's sister offered to take pictures too, but she's not sure if she's going to make it. The owner of the awesome tea shop we go to offered to help us too, and she said she'd bring tea! :D Our friends, Northwest Roads, also offered to perform! We're looking for more people to play music, too. I'll work on more solid "plans" so we actually have some idea of what we need help with.

no shortage of light in the doorway either!

Honestly at the moment monetary donations are what is needed most though. There's no set amount - you can donate $1, $3.50, $5, $11.11, $20, $1,000 - seriously any amount you want. It's through PayPal, which is the most secure way to use money online. Additionally we have a giveaway going on, so you'll get a yummy little thank-you gift worth up to like $20, depending on how much you donate. More info on that coming soon as well.

Above is a snapshot of what it will cost to use the building at this park, not including $150+ refundable deposit and whatever it would cost to get a permit to have alcoholic beverages if we choose to do that. Not sure how much room we'll need though - we're not sure how many guests we'll have yet. Not sure if we'll need the kitchen, either, hmm...

gazebo!

Anyway! On with more pictures from this awesome park! I love this place. (Although I do admit I wish they hadn't torn down the awesome wood/metal playground... Safety shmafety! Kids don't need to live in plastic bubbles. The playground wasn't falling apart or anything! But I digress.)

Hope you enjoyed the little tour. :) There's a horse arena, so feel free to bring horsies! That would be cute. :D I don't think they can join us in the lodge though. So many spots begging for wedding photos. So many 11's too, this MUST be the place! E-mail has been sent to Parks & Rec lady again, asking if the place is available on 11/11/11. Cross your fingers!