hoping for a transformation.

This weekend we'll be driving up to the UP to meet with several of our wedding vendors. I've been trying to finalize our plans for decorating for a few months now, and it has been difficult to say the least. We will be meeting with the decorators on Saturday to see what they have that we can borrow, rather than buying ourselves, as well as to go over their vision for the event. Why don't we just do the decorating ourselves, you might ask? Because we're having our reception here...

at the local armory. And it's hideous. But it is big enough to comfortably accommodate all of our guests, which we cannot say for many other of the indoor venues in the area. It is also the only venue that isn't split up into a bunch of smaller rooms. My only requirements for our reception venue was that it was indoors (not willing to chance the weather, I would worry too much) and that no one would be sitting in the "reject room", where they can't even hear the toasts! Is the armory pretty? Of course not, but at least no one will feel left out!

I'm praying that we can work some magic to make the place look less like a gym. I'm sure it will be difficult but my decorators and I are up for the task! This amazing transformation by One Source Weddings is giving me hope!

Does anyone else have a venue that needs some work? I hope I'm not all alone on this one!

ceiling inspiration.

I don't think I ever mentioned it on here, but we decided on our reception location awhile ago. We decided not to go with the ballroom. Too many less-than-stellar reviews from people who have attended weddings there. So we have decided to go with the armory. A gorgeous location? I think not. But it is one large room where no one will feel like they have been left out of the action, which is more than I could say for any other location in the area. Hopefully we will be able to disguise the gym-like qualities by doing some serious decorating. I'd like to lower the height of the room with some fabric swagging to cover up the military paintings and make the size of the room a little less overwhelming. Here is my ceiling inspiration.I'm loving the chandeliers, but we may have to substitute chinese lanterns as a more budget-friendly option.

And maybe I can throw in a little color, like this.

I'm hoping with all the details above, people won't notice the free throw line on the gym floor below! I think the tables will help disguise that as well.

Lantern photos from WeddingFanatic. I cannot remember where the chandelier picture is from...but if you know I'd be happy to post the source.

i wish i was getting married in chicago.

Does anyone know of any places to have a reception in the Iron Mountain area? The Premiere Center got torn down and now there is nowhere to go. Not that the Premiere Center was that great in the first place. My dad wants me to use the Elks, just like all the other events my family puts on. Its not big enough and is hideous inside. Pine Mountain is nothing special and its expensive. The Kiwanis building is at least big enough but then we need to do some serious decorating to cover the walls, and we have to use porta-potties. Call me crazy, but I don't want porta-potties at my wedding. Pine Grove is already taken that weekend, plus its not big enough and I don't want anyone stuck in other rooms where they can't see what's going on.

I've been trying to think outside of the box for more interesting locations. Encore on Central is the frontrunner right now but I still have some concerns. Its a really pretty ballroom in Florence. It is going to be tight though to fit about 300 people in there. And I'm quite concerned about the food, because I've never had it and I haven't heard very good things about it. I also thought about having it in an airplane hangar, but again, we'd need porta-potties. I don't think my dress would like me very much if I had to use one of those.

Do you guys have any other ideas of where to have the reception? I'm looking for a big open space. I never thought it would be this difficult to find one! I'm tempted to quit my job, move home, and build a reception hall in IM. That could be fun, right?