So You Want To Get Married At...Lake Isle

Immediately after the tour of the most improbable wedding reception site ever, my sister (MOH) yelled at both me and my betrothed (just trying something other than FH) for looking at possibly the most expensive wedding reception site in all of the Bronx (we'll get to Wave Hill later). She then packed up her car, her child, my betrothed and myself into her car for a whirlwind tour of the catering halls of Westchester County. Our first stop was Lake Isle.

Sidenote: Lake Isle is more a community pool and golf course than country club, but their community happens to be Westchester, one of the wealthiest counties in NY State, if not the whole country.

I have to say, that for someone coming off the high of Abigail Kirsch and her loverly set up at the Botanical Gardens, I was pleasantly surprised by Lake Isle. The catering manager was friendly and nice. More importantly, he was willing to NEGOTIATE when he heard we didn't want everything included in their standard package. Johnny Walker Black means nothing to me, as I'm a beer and wine kind of girl...maybe a mojito, definitely a margarita, if the season/location allows.

The space was ample and recently updated and honestly, again, nice. And that is fine. But we weren't looking for nice, we were looking for a place that would be US. For a little over $100 per person, you can get the cocktail hour, full open bar, apps, salad, main and dessert. This is reasonable for New York and Lake Isle is a nice place. If you want the traditional country club like wedding, but don't have dad's membership to Winged Foot to fall back on, go for it.


Surprising also in this visit was the fact that Autumn wedding dates are the most popular in the North East. I thought it was the summer, with the June bride phenomena and all. Turns out most of my summer weddings have been of teachers who just happen to have the whole summer off after their June weddings.

Came across this nifty website for couples looking for a reception site in Westchester. Anything that strikes your fancy, be it castles, country clubs, mansions, etc.

i'm lovin' it

duh na na na NA... I'm lovin' this dress, but not the teal color for the October wedding. I also love the idea of everyone just getting their own dress (possibly black) and just having the team hold flowers.

dress by Suzi Chin Maggy Boutique via Nordstrom's

Wow

The fat me and the skinny me have very different reactions to this. The Google krispy kreme bacon cheeseburger. I'm not saying people should serve this as part of their receptions, but wouldn't it be fun if they did? Prob not for the old people with heart problems. egg whites on bran muffins for them.

ccaviness via flickr

Day-Of Coordinator Swap

I'm a frequent checker of the indie bride board, kvetch, and noticed something interesting. Swapping your services for that of another bride in need. What made it interesting to me is the possibility of hiring a day-of coordinator for the price of your own labor.

I'm not sure that I would be comfortable with a total stranger doing this for me, but then I got to talking to a good work friend about it and she mentioned a friend who took advantage of all of her friends' talents by assigning them tasks for the wedding, including a party coordinator. The party coordinator made sure that everything happened on time by checking with the restaurant staff and dj. This worked because it was an informal wedding...like mine...

This seems interesting to me. I know that the traditionalists will say that guests should be guests, but I know some of my friend-guests would be great at helping out with a few things, and it would make them more involved in the wedding itself.

Snap out of it!

Exactly. Thanks Cher, aka Rachel. In that vein, sometimes, when I'm walking to work I like to have a really kick ass song to get me pumped up for my day. Like "Beverly Hills" by Weezer, "Lost" or "Viva la Vida" by Coldplay, "Celebration" by Kanye (I heart me some Kanye), "Do You Realize" by the Flaming Lips. Then I had the great fantasy of walking down the aisle to a kick ass song. And strutting down the aisle. And the scandel it would cause. and I laughed. heartily.

So, I've also been thinking about what songs I would want to hear during the party/reception that would automatically make my guests want to dance with the raging loon of a bride who is already sweating uncontrollably on the dance floor. I've come up with the following:

Escapade - Janet Jackson
Rock With You - Michael Jackson
Cecilia - Simon and Garfunkel
The Way You Make Me Feel - Michael Jackson
Friday I'm In Love - The Cure
Heaven Is A Place on Earth - Belinda Carlisle
Young American - David Bowie
Just Fine - Mary J. Blige
Sweet Escape - Gwen Stefani
Touch the Sky - Kanye West
Girlshapedlovedrug - Gomez

any other suggestions?

Sigh

Reading around in the wedding blogosphere can get you a little down sometimes, especially when you inevitably start comparing what you yourself are doing to others. Whether your ring is too big, or too small or not politically correct. Whether you are gocco'ing and hand-stamping your invites. Whether you are arranging your own flowers, or hiring the most in the know floral designer recommended by the martha stewart blog (i'm starting to almost hate that blog).

I know that most of these posts are meant to share and be informative, but sometimes I get just plain jealous of the backyard wedding, the bride wearing cowboy boots, the handmade invites, the beautiful nature backgrounds and the flower arranging relatives. I have no backyard to have my wedding in, as New York is my backyard. And none of my relatives would want to camp out the night before or after my wedding. I've never owned cowboy boots, but would love a pair of blue satin numbers. I know I do not have the patience or ability to do my own invites. I am getting married in a concrete jungle. And most of my relatives have been spending most of energy trying to dissuade me from doing my own bouquets.

and my wedding is not going to cost $10,000. sadly. ugh. at least i can live vicariously through others and try not to let the green monster take over.

So You Want to Get Married At...The Bronx Zoo

Asian Gate, via Wikipedia

Because who wouldn't want to get married and have a party amidst all of the wonders of the animal world? I wouldn't suggest for the summer, but we had picked our date (Mid-October) and thought the animal smells wouldn't be that bad. Maybe a whiff here or there.

After searching around for the right person to contact, starting with the Wildlife Conservation Society, patched through to the Central Park Zoo, I finally got in contact with Jacqui Dauphinais, Reservationist, Catering and Events Services (718)741-3836 at the Bronx Zoo. Helpful and full of information. In fact, I'm not sure why we didn't go with the Zoo other than we feel in love with the place we ended up booking.

They have a variety of packages and things you can do, including a cocktail reception, which is what I intended to do in the beginning. A cocktail reception with a cash bar starts at $50 per person with 10 hors devourers, go for their basic bar feature and you will add $27 pp. In fact, I'm really seriously shaking my head wondering why we didn't pursue this. If you do sit down dinner, one nice thing they do offer for a sit down dinner are centerpieces for all the tables. I've never been offered that before.

via Bronx Zoo Website

Elephant House! They no longer house elephants, by the way.

Could do something fun with this print, ala save the dates (if i was doing save the dates)

from allposters.com

Post Script: This post is almost a year old, and while I've fulfilled many requests for information, at this point, my information is dated. Please contact either the Bronx Zoo or Central Park Zoo for more information!