Previously on Waterfalls of our lives:
It took some time, (OK-
A LOT of time), but we picked a fabulous church that we totally love.
And though we didn`t
necessarily realize this at the time, choosing the church was a
HUGE first step toward choosing a venue because it significantly narrowed
down our venue choices.
We had decided very early
on that we didn`t want our guests to have to travel too much between the
ceremony and reception. Since our chapel is situated in the Old Port, this
narrowed down our choices to pretty much only Old Montreal and the nearby
downtown areas. In hindsight, it might have been a good idea to comparison shop
between different areas beforehand since we had no idea there would be
such a markup for a downtown/ Old Montreal wedding. That being said, we knew
deep down that we absolutely loved the look and romantic feel of Old Montreal
and the surrounding areas, so we figured that even though it might end up
costing us a little extra, it was worth it.
Initially, we wanted to pay for the wedding
ourselves and stick to a fairly low budget, which we thought was feasible.
Then, we started actually researching online and started panicking at
the cost of venues in the area.
Of course, we ultimately
ended up with a fabulous venue, but I can`t just tell you about it without
giving you the rest of the story now can I? (Well, I could. But where
would be the fun in THAT?)
Enter: ¨The
Steakhouse¨* (THE BAD)
* Since my review is a big negative, I don`t want to name this venue
To be honest, based on what
we saw on their website, Mr. Waterfall and I were not really wowed with
the Steakhouse, but with the lowest per-head cost of any venue we had looked at
in the area, we were willing to overlook a few imperfections. I mean, you can`t
argue with the budget!
We decided to drop by one
Saturday after church and were happy to see that it was a short walk away
(major points for walking distance!).
I can`t say exactly
what we were expecting, but the steakhouse turned out to be just
that; a steakhouse. And while Mr. W and I love steak, this was
far from what we had envisioned for our big day.
Our first impression was
that the atmosphere seemed very warm and inviting, some might even say cozy.
However, the exposed brick walls, distressed hardwood floors,
dark furniture and crackling fireplace were more reminiscent of a rustic
fall or winter wedding. Don`t get me wrong, I love the look of rustic weddings,
it`s just not the look Mr. Waterfalll and I were going for.
We were greeted by a
hostess who informed us that their wedding sales rep was not there, but we
could still have a look at the space if we wanted to. After walking up four
flights of winding stairs, with no elevator in sight, we arrived at the
top floor, aka wedding central.
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| Personnal iphone photo
We
instantly noticed how cramped the mismatched tables looked in the small space,
and I cringed... first at the banquet chairs, then at the thought of having to
pay money to rent ugly chair covers to cover them. I`m sorry if I`m offending
any chair-cover-lover bees out there, but I just personally really dislike the
look of them. After a second visit with MOH Long Legs, we concluded the place
would require a lot of work in order to fit my vision for the big day, not to
mention a lot of money in décor and rentals.
|
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| Personnal iPhone photos |
Also missing were two very important elements: a
bar and a dance floor. I was even more confused by the fact that an open bar
was featured as part of the package...This was a serious problem because I love
to dance and Mr. W loves the hooch...let`s face it people, we like to party! I
mean, not quite Jersey Shore levels of partying or anything, we party an
ordinate amount. Point being, it`s a wedding! Where on earth were people
supposed to do the conga line and acquire delicious alcoholic beverages to
fuel said conga dancing shenanigans?
The
hostess explained that tables could be moved aside to make room for a
dance floor. Having been to weddings where we had to stand by and watch
the staff remove tables in the middle of the party, we didn`t love this option.
As to
the bar, it was located on the first floor and people could
simply walk down and get their drinks there, or order them from the wait
staff... I couldn’t help but picture a tipsy Grandma Waterfall going up and down
four flights of stairs while attempting to maneuver a rum and coke.
Scary! The other option was renting an additionnal bar for the wedding, which
meant spending more money...
We left
feeling deflated and conflicted. While sticking to the budget was really
important to us, we also didn`t wanna just settle on a venue that we didn`t
love, and wind up regretting our decision afterwards. We figured that since
you`re spending all this money on a wedding, might as well spend a little
more on something that`s gonna make a big difference to you!
Were
you let down by any venues during your search?
To be
continued...
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