Sam and I are getting married at the Cambridge Multicultural Arts Center. I really love our venue. But, before I get all gushy about the reasons why- Let’s take a look back at the contenders that we didn’t pick, shall we?
I looked around online at a bazillion potential venues and emailed maybe 10. Some were waaaaaay out of budget. Some took a really long time to get back to me, and I forgot about them. We ended up visiting two and a half potential venues.
Stonehurst (the half) wasn’t open when we popped by so we evaluated it based on the outside and crossed it off the list. It’s a very cool building, but a great deal of the beauty lies in the grounds, and we just would not get the whole effect in December. The area where guests drive up and enter is also kind of around the back, so you never really get the pretty view of the whole manor that is shown on the website.
I had really high hopes for Stonehurst, to the point that I was kind of considering the actual visit just a formality. The pricing was great, and I just loved the rustic look of the building in their online pictures. But, in person, it just didn’t excite me.
It was at this point that Sam felt compelled to tell me that I should be prepared for the possibility that every place would be prettier on their websites than in real life. We decided to book appointments at the next two places quickly, before I had time to build them up in my head and set myself up for a letdown!
Next up was Massachusetts Horticultural Society. Again, I loved the pictures on their website. However, the area where we would be holding the wedding is just a plain white room. This is awesome if you have a very specific color scheme and vision for your decor. It’s basically a blank slate upon which you can execute any theme you choose. But we don’t have much room in the budget for decor, so we really wanted a venue that can stand alone. In order to make it look as pretty as the pictures shown, we’d have had to hire a lighting company, and order tons of rentals.
All that being said, this is a really great venue! The woman we met with couldn’t have been nicer, and the pricing is very reasonable. We might even book with them for a future Spring fundraiser for Black Cat Rescue.
Later that same day, we visited Cambridge Multicultural Arts Center, and we both loved it. So much so that we booked it, and it gets its own post!
