I've hinted a bit about my venue in previous posts, but I realized I haven't yet really described it. When I was looking at venues (and I say "I" rather than "we" because it was mostly me doing the looking) I knew that I probably wouldn't like any of the typical banquet halls. First of all, I wanted to have the ceremony outside. Many wedding venues have an outdoor ceremony area, but even in pictures they all look so "staged". I did visit one banquet hall that had lovely gardens, but it was so close to a major highway that I could hear a lot of car noise, and the staff was so inattentive that we actually left before they showed us around the interior.
Since we live in the Hudson Valley and most of our guests are from outside the area, I really wanted to find a venue that epitomized the beauty and history of the region, ideally with a river view. The first place I fell in love with had all of that. Exhibit A: Sunnyside
Sunnyside was the home of Washington Irving, the author of The Legend of Sleepy Hollow among many other works. I loved the wisteria-covered house and the grounds. We went to visit on a beautiful summer afternoon and paid to take a tour of the house. Personally, I thought it was perfect, though I was slightly dismayed at the amount of noise when a MetroNorth train would pass along the river below the bluff. RogueFiancé worried because there was no indoor location in the event of rain (at the time, we were planning on getting married in late September—I thought a tent would be sufficient protection if it rained). So, Sunnyside was not happening.
Eventually, after struggling to find a place that fit my "dream location", I broadened my search parameters. We're only a few miles from the Connecticut border, so I decided to look into venues in Western Connecticut. I wouldn't have my Hudson River view, but at least I could manage to find something with an historic angle. When I first looked at the website for the Keeler Tavern Museum , I was skeptical. The pictures on the site really don't do it justice. Still, I went for a look on a late-September Sunday. I fell in love with the place right away. The main building is a Revolutionary War era tavern, but events are held in the Garden House and adjacent gardens. The Garden House was built in the early 1900s by architect, and former Keeler Tavern owner, Cass Gilbert (he designed NYC's Woolworth Building) so that his wife would have a place to entertain guests. It has a fireplace, hardwood floors, chandeliers, and an entire wall of French doors that lead out into the walled garden. The garden itself has a fountain and reflecting pool. And, as a bonus, it was fairly inexpensive to rent the place for an entire day.
The only other hurdle was convincing RogueFiancé. He was out of town when I first went to visit, but I convinced him that we should book the place. When he finally went to see it several weeks later he agreed that it was a great find. My parents were concerned about the size of the place (maximum 90 people, and we'll be pushing it with our guest list) and that there wouldn't be enough room for dancing, especially if it rained and we couldn't do anything outside. I assured them that I'd figure everything out, and when they finally got to see the location my mom fell in love with it too (even though it was February and the gardens were not at their best). I think what really impressed them was that, for an extra $50, the museum will have someone available to take guests on a tour of the tavern. We were treated to a mini tour on that visit, and really enjoyed learning a little more about the location.
We also took some pictures in the gardens to get an idea of where we want to have the ceremony.
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