May 20, 2004
Could things be more difficult?
I know, the answer is yes. No matter what the problem is, there's always something bigger that could be wrong, right?
So, ok, to catch everyone up:
Back when we made the hotel plans we contacted Radford again to start working on the details for ceremony location and reception location/catering. Catering gave us a lot of problems initially saying they didn't work Fall Break. But somehow Jeff got them to at least consider it, but they wanted to wait until after Graduation to talk details. (And yes, Catering is very importatnt because they determine whether the reception can be held on campus or not).
So nothing has really moved forward lately because we were waiting on Catering. Well, Graduation was on the 8th, so Jeff began calling and leaving messages this week, wanting to schedule a day we could go down and talk to them.
He finally gets a call back today saying the person we need to speak with will be calling soon to make an appointment. Good news, right? Yay!
However, she informed us that Radford has decided to move Fall Break. That's right folks, instead of being the weekend of Oct 16th, it appears they lumped it in with Thanksgiving Break, giving the students about a week off. The one year they do this...oy.
So, if we still want to have all this hoopla at Radford, on the Heth Lawn, we will have to deal with all those students. And that's just not something I want to do.
Another option we may have is to do it in the Alumni Gardens, next to the library. Weddings have been done there before, so they say. But I know neither one of us really want it there. The whole point of doing it on campus was to do it on the Lawn.
As you can see we're going to have to make some major (and quick) decisions now. Any thoughts and ideas would be greatly appreciated!
Posted by Olivia at May 20, 2004 12:56 PM
One option is to do the wedding early, like 11am, and then have a "lunch"-type reception wherever you like. When I used to be a tour guide, and do 10, 11, even 12 o'clock tours on Saturdays, the tour people always asked me, "does everybody leave on the weekends?" because it was so quiet. I figured I would let the students find out on their own that they would be up Friday night until 3am or so and have to set their alarms to make 2pm lunch at Dalton. So, basically, you can guarantee it will be a ghost-town until about 12 or so.
Also, Heth Lawn is a nice place to do it anyway because it's not surrounded by dorms. You have Heth and a lot of academic buildings behind you, the library on your right, and a few dorms on your left, but generally inhabited by the older students, who, after 6pm, will either be napping or elsewhere. So I think you could also do an evening wedding without too much disturbance.
If you've never seen the alumni gardens, you should at least check it out when you go there. They are beautiful. The wall that surrounds them is made up of the stones that originally surrounded Radford in 1910 when it was founded. It's very private.
Another private area on campus that will have better seating opportunities than Alumni Gardens would be that area behind the arts buildings (the place where the ceramic couch now resides). I've been to ceremonies in there that were pretty neat.
I sent you something in the mail that I thought you might enjoy, now I'm realizing it couldn't be more timely. :) We're behind whatever you do!!
There are also pretty areas between the library and the alumni building and the alumni building and Muse.
Overall, honestly, I think Heth Lawn is a good location and on a Saturday, there won't be too many students running around. You could even ask the Heth people (Damn you Sally, maybe she retired) to block the back doors during your ceremony so students won't get in your pictures (though my coworking holding an umbrella is in ALL of my wedding photos--damn you DAVE) As you can see, it's not a big deal :)
I promise, this is it.
The silver lining to all this is that Catering has to work with you now because it isn't Fall Break :)
Now that they're back on schedule,though, you should probably book them FAST.
I'm sorry that this happened. Looks like you still have options though, which is nice. I agree with Lauren about the morning wedding. You guys remember (or actually, being Jeff and Olivia, notorious sleeper-inners) I doubt you do... but anyhow, NO ONE is out there around 9 or 10. Plus, Heth is far enough away from any of the normal college noises (cars with bass) and yelling, since it'll be so early, and not near dorms. I think Lauren might be onto something. Sorry to hear that they reshifted schedules like that though. That bites. :(
Ah! Another idea- Porterfield and Davis both have areas in front that might be nice for sites. It may just take a road trip for you two to see for yourselves and get creative, but if I can help, lemme know!!
