How Do You Measure a Year?

In checklists, obviously.  (I've been on a big musicals kick lately, and so of course Rent).

I can't believe this is the end of 2013.  It's been a crazy, busy year and it absolutely flew by.  Doesn't everyone always say that?  Maybe we should ajust our perception of how long a year is.  Still, even more amazing is that tomorrow is 2014.  It will be the year that we get married.  Holy cow.

With the wedding in May, we essentially have a semester to finish off everything for the big day - I've done more than this in that period of time before, right?  In honor of the completion of a year and the start of a new one, I want to take a look at some of the things that we've gottten done and when.

New Years Eve 2012 Fireworks Shenanigans- BM/FSIL Dino shooting her magic wand, and Sphinx being Sphinx.  Because why not?

If you're a newly-engaged Bee fresh out of a Christmas-season engagement, hello, welcome, and you should say hi in the comments!  The most overwhelming time for me was at the beginning, trying to figure out what to address first, so I hope this can give you some idea of what we prioritized.

I started out with lists on Wedding Wire to use as a guideline, mainly to make sure I wasn't forgetting anything.  I adjusted all the timing to fit our needs, since the app doesn't have you start doing anything until one year out.  Yea, my venue would have been booked up if I had waited that long!  So do what works for you, and make sure you realize the decisions that are depended on other decisions.  Like if you're getting married in a church, don't buy your dress (or the bridesmaids) until you've talked with them about the dress code.

Here's a rundown of what the Pyramids finalized every month in this engagement.

Welcome, Welcome One and All!

It feels like it's been forever, hive.  Bad, bad blogger! We're right smack in the middle of some wedding tasks (save the dates, food tastings, pre cana, oh my!) that I'll be sharing soon, so those have kept me pretty busy.  I also fail at all things required for Christmas - how did it still sneak up so fast when we've been complaining about it "being too early" since October? Note that I didn't write a "Holiday Gift Guide" for you guys.  Sorry, that'd be like the blind leading the blind (or just me telling you to go to Macy's two days before Christmas and pick out what looks good like we did).  It always turns out just fine but it's a crazy ride. Enough excuses for you?  Good.

Let's talk about something that we've got locked down and under control (and that I'm really excited about!) - the rehearsal dinner and the welcome party!
Two events?  How much attention do we want? Well, a lot, but that's not the point here.

Our church holds rehearsals for Saturday weddings on Thursday nights, as they usually have a Friday night wedding booked.  I thought this would be a problem since by the time of the wedding four of my five bridesmaids will live out of town, but they've all said they'll be able to come in by Thursday for the rehearsal (they're the best).  Most of our out of town guests probably won't be arriving on Thursday, though, so the etiquette of inviting those guests to a rehearsal dinner didn't really apply.

Sphinx's parents are graciously hosting these events for us, and when I spoke with FMIL Pyramid we decided that two partieswould work best.  Something you must understand is that FMIL and FFIL Pyramid are party people.  Every weekend they can be found going out to eat at somewhere cool or checking out some music at a concert or bar, so I knew that the events they are hosting would be absolutely awesome.  For the rehearsal dinner we decided it would be just those who were necessary at the rehearsal itself: close family, bridal party, and their dates immediately following the rehearsal at the church.  We had a restaurant in mind, and went there for FMIL's birthday before deciding and it secured the venue for us!

Photo via: Superior Seafood and Oyster Bar

Superior Seafood and Oyster Bar is a new-ish restaurant in the uptown area (not too far from the church), and it's got a lot of great New Orleans charm and creole dishes.  Several of our local guests probably haven't tried it yet, but it has plenty of classic foods for my out of town bridal party to get a taste of the city, literally.
We rented out the front patio that runs along St. Charles Avenue, and looks out on the streetcars running past.

The Color Purple - It's Difficult

You've seen some mentions here and there of my bridesmaids, and in total I've got five of them.  There's my sister, MOH Curls, Sphinx's sister, BM Dino, and my friends BM Perk, BM Taco, and BM Duffy.  These girls are my nearest and dearest and have been big parts of my life through some different stages, and I am so thrilled that they want to take part in the Pyramid wedding.

From the get-go, I wanted to make sure that their bridesmaids dresses didn't suck.  Pretty reasonable, I think.  Oh, and I didn't want them to be expensive, please and thanks.  So one of the first things I did was to start a group Pinterest board and started pinning some ideas of styles I liked.  Currently, we are all living four separate cities and by the time the wedding rolls around, that will be five, so we have that working against us.  We couldn't go do a shopping trip altogether, and whatever we chose had to be accessible for everyone.  We're also dealing with a variety heights, sizes, and skin tones, so I thought that having everyone's input would be useful.

One option would have been to allow the girls to all pick separate dresses with some guidelines on color and style, but I wasn't sure that was the look I was going for.  I was drawn to the look of different necklines on similar dresses in the same fabric and color.

Lovely gunmetal dresses with different necklines. /Dresses by Freja Designer Dressmaking/Photo by Vanishing Moments Photography

Then everyone was able to wear something that is comfortable and flattering, but it still remains a cohesive look.

Looking at You, Looking at Me

You may have caught that I alluded to our pre-ceremony pictures in my post about transportation.  And I  meant it just like it sounded, we'll be doing all of the bridal party, immediate family, and couples photos before the ceremony.

So that means we're in the First Look Camp!

I don't think there's a right or a wrong way to go about the first look decision, so I'm just sharing our reasoning for it here and it might help if you're undecided.  I loved the idea of a first look since I first heard about it years ago, and I always felt like it would be a good option for us.  I really love surprises - both planning them and being surprised - and the idea of a first look gives me the same kind of rush as executing a good surprise.  Or maybe I'm just narcissistic and want some good pictures of him observing how good I look in my dress.  Same diff.

Once we get to wedding planning, I'm even more confident in this idea. First, do you remember our church, St. Francis?

St. Francis church aisle./Photo by Art de Vie

Okay, so the angle and the lens may be exaggerating the image on the right a little, but it's still a very long aisle.  Our first glimpse of each other in the church will be from quite a distance, and we certainly won't be able to see each other's faces clearly.  I'm sure it will still be an emotional moment, but I'd much prefer our reveal to each other to be at a proximity where no one feels inclined to squint to see the other.  I want to see that look in his eyes and his smile when he sees me as a bride for the first time, and I can't do that from the vestibule.

Need a Lift?

With our church uptown and reception downtown (right about a five mile distance), I figured from the beginning that we would need to rent some vehicles to shuttle us around for the day.  One of my first thoughts was to charter a classic New Orleans streetcar to take us to the church.  

Pretty bride inside the streetcar./Found on Munaluchi Bridal/Photo by Erik Umphery

Posing on the neutral ground with a streetcar uptown./Photo by MQ Photography

The Last Ninth

Today, December 9th, will always hold a special place in my heart.  Today marks one year since Sphinx got down on one knee and asked me to be his wife on the rooftop of the Contemporary Hotel in Disney World. And eight years ago, we hung out together for the first time and he asked me out on a real date.  It's been eight years of crazy twists, turns, moves, emotions, and lots of hugs.

Even though it's a little silly, we've always recognized the ninth of the month.  We don't give presents every month, but we always try and tell each other "Happy Ninth!"  I was the one who started it, after I got up to college and realized how much I missed him.  He could have looked at me like a crazy girl...

Found on College Humor

but he played along with me instead.  And we've now gotten to 96 of these months together.  We'll be getting married just after 101 months of dating, and then the clock resets.  I suppose we can always acknowledge the date, but we'll have a whole new anniversary to celebrate together.

For now, I'm a little choked up at this being our last dating anniversary and our only engage-aversary.  We're keeping it low key and grabbing some dinner together, but the date has caused me to be very reflective.  While this last year has flown by with dresses, venues, food, and invitations, the heart of all of this is our commitment to each other.  It's sometimes easy to push the relationship aside when there are planning decisions to be made, this is what we'll have when all of the party-stuff is said and done.  Living together, planning a wedding together, and just growing up together in the last year has only helped to confirm that Sphinx is absolutely the person I want by my side for every single day going forward.  His very presence or voice can cheer me up when I'm having a bad day and he's my partner in crime for all of the adventures that we take on.

Some recent pictures - LSU vs. Arkansas game and Saints vs. Panthers game.

Dear Sphinx, I love you with all my heart.
And you'll only have to deal with crazy bride brain for a little longer. You can handle it, dude.

You Must be This Tall to Attend

My sister, MOH Curls, has a tendency to exaggerate about some of my not-so-fine points, so if you find yourself in conversation with her, just keep that in mind.  Little sisters, right? She likes to remind me that I "hate kids."  And this is not true.  I don't hate kids, I'm just not very good with kids.  I'm not Robin Scherbatsky or anything, but I just feel like I don't connect with them very well. 

My sister and I used to tag-team babysit sometimes and I was always in charge of preparing their dinner, making sure they got to bed on time, and that we didn't leave a mess behind.  She was the one that played games and kept them entertained.  But I'm only human female, and precious little kids will give me some pretty hardcore baby fever and that's something I'm trying to keep at bay for a little while!  I feel like I'm getting better at interacting with kids - being a cast member at Disney World will do that to you - but I'm not really around children in my life

Suffice to say, we won't be having any children at the wedding.  It's not because I don't like kids, it's just that we really don't know any.  

Found on Lover.ly/Posted on Wedding Chicks/Photo by Amanda Watson Photo

Ready for Our Close-Up

After a few weeks of planning, the Pyramids decided that they were brave enough to face a bridal show at the Hyatt Regency New Orleans.  It was a free event and we had a few details locked down (like the date and venues), so I figured it was worth a shot to see plenty of vendors all at once.  Sphinx was one of about two other grooms there - oops, how was I supposed to know it was all geared towards brides and their moms? He's a trooper though, and we got through it.    

We tasted some cake, easily avoided any booths for receptions as we were already signed with the Board of Trade, and grabbed cards from photographers, videographers, and florists.  Eventually I went through all of the cards we received and checked out websites, but that very night I went home and looked up one videographer who stuck out in my mind.  Brock, of Brock Gomez Productions, wasn't pushy when we walked past his booth and watched the video they had playing on screen, which was the wedding trailer for Emily and Chris.  

Emily + Christopher: A BGP Feature Film from Brock Gomez on Vimeo.

It is a fifteen-minute trailer, so skip down a little further for a teaser video if you're short on time.  If you love indulging in wedding videos for people you don't know (like moi), I hope you enjoy.  

Brock explained some of the details of the wedding they were featuring: the groom is an Army veteran and the wedding was held on Veterans Day weekend, so that's why they incorporated the parade at the beginning of the video.  I loved how they included that, and I also was a fan of the equal distribution of time shown for prep/first look, ceremony, and reception in the feature film.  

A Place for Cards

Card boxes: they're probably something you can put on your Skip List if you're short on time, money, or energy.  But people do need a place to put cards that they bring to the wedding, so I put it on my Don't Skip List (which, frankly, is probably way too long).  I figured it was a project that I could do well ahead of time without too much effort or money.  In my search for inspiration, I really loved the card boxes inspired by the Disney/Pixar movie UP, like Mrs. Fox's.  

Mrs. Fox's adorable UP inspired card box./Photo by Exclamation Imagery

However, we'll be using our balloon engagement pictures in a few areas, so I didn't want it to look like we were doing an UP themed wedding.  And I didn't like that it would probably go to waste after the wedding - our current neighborhood uses wall-mounted boxes as opposed to those mounted on the street so we couldn't actually use this.

In the search for more options, I came across pictures of  bird cages and decorated gift boxes, but those didn't feel quite right.  The card box will sit at a table at the entrance to the venue with our guest book and some pictures as one of the first things the guests will see when they walk in, so I wanted it to fit in to our decor well.

And at some point, I thought of lanterns and went searching to see if I could find any inspiration pictures.  Sure enough, I was able to find a picture of another wedding, and it looked like the cards fit in fine and it was pretty!

Lantern card box with a hinged top./Found on Style Me Pretty/Photo by Alders Photography

I went searching at Hobby Lobby one day when they were running a 50% off sale on lanterns, and decided to go with this one.  Actually, I had to peruse the shelves of lanterns from behind a couple who was standing in the way and bickering about whether or not they needed some lanterns and where they would put them in their house (she was for, he was against, if you can imagine).  There was only one left of the one that I wanted, so I snuck past them with an awkward "excuse me!" and grabbed my lantern and carried it around like some strange cave goblin while I finished my other shopping in the store.  And maybe it was a coincidence, but I swear that girl was around every turn I took, perhaps waiting until I put it down.  However, I had made my decision so I hung on to my lantern and proceeded to the checkout.  Hobby Lobby is not for the faint of heart.

Here's a picture I found of the lanterns used in a beautiful rustic centerpiece.  I love that you don't have to do much to it, it's already a nice color and has the pretty scroll work.  

The lovely lanterns used in centerpieces./Found on Rustic Wedding Chic/Photo by Miles Witt Boyer Photography

With a card box, though, you'll want to label it so that people can tell what it is.  I was going between hanging the little wooden letters from pearls along the top and putting these pearl stickers on the glass.  I figured the sticker pearls wouldn't show up well enough, so I went for the wooden letters.

I played around in store trying to decide which would be the best way to label it.

I ended up painting the letters teal and hot gluing them to the side since the pearl strand was hard to work with, and I love the pop of teal next to the grey-ish color of the metal.  

  

Finally, I needed a way to get the cards into the box.  This lantern did not have a hinged top, and I didn't want people opening the door to put in cards.  So the only option was to cut a slit in the top, which Daddy P did for me with his dremel.

Daddy P cutting a slit to put the cards into the box.  

After I touched up the slit with sandpaper so that it didn't have any sharp edges, we had a finished card box!

The final product.  

The open door now faces to the back and the slit is right in front, so I hope that's self-explanatory enough for guests.  Depending on how much we decide to do on that entrance table with candles and flowers, I might add some flowers to the base of this lantern, but I really do like it just as is.  I think it fits in pretty well with our chandeliers and other courtyard decor.  And the best part - it didn't cost too much and I didn't have to put in too much time on it!  

I can also see us reusing this (without the letters) on our backyard patio as decor with some large pillar candles inside.  That is...after the wedding when we'll be able to put in a backyard patio to decorate!

What did you do for a card box?

Rings and Things

Way back in the day, I found Weddingbee through searching for information on engagement rings.  The Ring Boards on the forums were so helpful to learn more about diamond ratings and some terminology - even if it was about a year and a half before we'd even get engaged.  If you never looked at any rings or anything online beforehand, then you're a stronger woman than me!  But really, it seems like plenty of women are becoming more active in picking out their rings to some extent or another - and here's how the Pyramids did it!

Picture this: we've been dating five years, I've graduated from college and am returning home to begin full time work - an engagement must be right on the horizon, right?  Even though it didn't work out quite that way, I started thinking about rings and how we would approach that.  The typical idea is that the guy will propose with his own pick of a ring.

I saw quizzes and guides online that give guys advice to research her style by paying attention to the jewelry she currently has or to take a friend shopping to help pick one out.  Those freaked me out - did my current jewelry say enough about my style to lead the way to the perfect ring?  And why does my friend or sister get to have the fun of picking out my ring?  And then the more I thought about it - I didn't know what my perfect ring even looked like!  

Proposing like Patrick Dempsey in Sweet Home Alabama would solve a lot of problems./Photo from The Yes Girls

After some online research and one or two really nervous clandestine stops in a store, I got really brave and started showing some of what I was looking at to Sphinx, and he was on board with me helping to pick out the ring!  Sphinx is really good at buying my jewelry, but I think he was nervous about the idea of doing this on his own. 

Perfect Pyramid Proposal

So I have alluded to our engagement, but I haven't told you guys the full story!  Where we last left off with the Pyramid relationship, our trip to Disney World had to be canceled because of Sphinx's job, but things were looking up as he got a new job and our vacation was rescheduled for December - and it just so happened to be the week of our seven-year anniversary.

On Saturday morning, the Pyramids drove down from New Orleans to Orlando, stayed off the grounds that night, and hit up the nearby outlet mall.  I had the greatest luck ever and found a purse in the Kate Spade outlet that had been stalking online for months.  It had gone out of stock on the KS website right when I decided I wanted to buy, and I had found some on ebay but you just never know with that.  But there it was, sitting right in the outlet for me!  Ok, so not entirely relevant to the story but it sure was a sign of a great week to come.  We also got some coordinating shirts at the Disney store and we both got some new kicks.

Showing off the new purse new purse, Keds, and Duck Tales shirt!  Silly Miss P, she thinks the purse is the most exciting souvenir of the trip!

Building Pyramids: One Block at a Time

Alternative post title: Everything Happens for a Reason

As a long time reader on the Bee, I always like to get to know the couples I am reading about and I hope you do too; it puts everything in perspective for us here.  If you don't like this kind of thing, then I've got plenty of wedding planning posts coming up soon!

Where we left off, I was telling you about how Mr. Sphinx and I started dating when I was a senior in high school, after meeting on a trip to Europe.
Most of our relationship has been long distance; we weren't very far away but it did last for several years.  I moved to Baton Rouge, LA, for college for four years, and Sphinx worked in New Orleans.  It's only about an hour apart, but we were limited in how much we were able to see each other.  He got plenty of frequent-driver miles on I-10 over those years, coming up to see me whenever I had a free-ish weekend.  And of course, as a good LSU student I was able to make it work it by getting him some tickets to see his favorite football team play.

Attending LSU games through the years.

How I Met Your Pyramid

I know I may be biased, but I love our "how we met" story.  Sometimes I just start with "We met in Rome," which prompts the question "Wait, he's Italian?" Nope! His hometown is just down the road from mine and we went to the same high school.  See, Mr. Sphinx (yea, we decided on Sphinx!) is four years older than I am, so we were never in school together.  But his sister, BM C, was in high school with me and brought home word that a few teachers were organizing an EF Tours trip*.

Most of our group - that's me and Sphinx on the very left.

Myself and several of my friends signed up for this trip, as it was right before our senior year, so what a great senior trip option!  Sphinx was unable to find any friends to accompany him on the trip but travels to Rome and Athens were enough to convince him to sign up too.  If it involves Caesar, SPQR, the Spartan 300, Alexander the Great, etc., he is all over it - and can probably tell you enough over a beer to write a paper about it.  

Presenting Pyramids

Helloooo Hive!  I can't believe I'm actually writing an introductory post here!  Somebody pinch me, please!

I received the email from Mrs. Mouse while relaxing on my couch after a hardcore kickboxing class, and I totally screamed out loud!  We're lucky the neighbors didn't knock on the door to see if something was wrong.  Mr. Pyramid wasn't home yet, so I nervously went into cleaning mode around the house while bursting into random dance moves of excitement!  When he got home, I shared my exciting news and he let me squeal some more and I was all like...

GIF from Giphy

And then we were all...

GIF from gif database

And that continued for the rest of the night...

So who are these Pyramid people and what's their story?  

At the Orpheus Mardi Gras Ball this year.  There's an evening gown under all those beads./Personal Photo

My First Wedding Nightmare

So I can finally say that, like Miss Filly, I've checked into the bridal brain club - I've had my first wedding nightmare!

While we still have about seven months to the wedding day, in my dream it just was the day with nothing else done besides what we have right now.  I was in my hotel room with BM E and realized that time must have just flown by!  I told them to wear any dress that they wanted, since apparently we never got around to picking out bridesmaids dresses.  While sitting on the bed trying to figure out how time had sped by, I saw the setup crew for the venue unloading boxes of my decorations and looking confused.  Nothing was completed or organized, and some of my chandeliers weren't even assembled yet (oh yea, I got the chandeliers and I'll be sharing them soon!).  I wanted to go rush out there and help put them together, but I was also worried about messing up my nails - hey at least I had those done, right?  Then some weird secret agents from the hotel took me into a bridal backroom store to pick out special cards for my family - it started getting pretty weird from there.

Google "sleeping bride" and this is what you get. Good to know./Source: Science Reflections Wallpaper

Tips for your Tips (Nail Care!)

If I were a superhero, my tragic flaw that ultimately leads to my demise would have to be somehow related to my fingernails.  I'm not exactly sure how my archnemesis would use that against me, but he's probably pretty crafty and can figure something out.  The truth is, I'm a nail biter, nail picker, cuticle harasser, etc., and my nails have always plagued me. For a while in college I would get acrylic french manicures, just so I would have something there, but it destroyed my nail beds, making the problem worse and I really don't like the look on me.  So sometime around the senior year of college (when I was also exploring the great, big world of cosmetics), I found that I was obsessed with nail polish too!

When I got swept up into the hype of buying all these pretty nail polish colors, I realized it was kind of dumb to have six different kinds of griege nail polish, but really crappy nails to paint.  So I did something about it.  My nails are in no way fantastic, but I've figured out some tricks to get them healthier and better looking with a little bit of maintenance and care.   I also do all of my manicures at home to save on time and money.  Since I'll change out my polish 2-3 times a week, it's much easier and cheaper to just do it while watching some TV.

And if you've been neglecting your nails and find that you are hiding your fingertips while showing off your shiny new ring, these tips will help you to put your best hands forward!

I want to start by debunking a myth.  You can have a beautiful manicure without growing your nails long!  So if you have weak nails that always break or a job that requires them to be trimmed back - fear not!  Take a look at this pretty manicure, and her nails aren't even to the edge of her fingertips.  You can see through the sheer polish that she's only got a little bit of the "white" nail grown out.

Or just add glitter - it makes everything better!/Photo credit to Glitter and Nails

So what's the takeaway here? I believe that the keys to a very impressive and polished manicure (pun intended!) are healthy cuticles, a smooth, even edge to the nail, and a nice shiny finish.

Let's Take It There...

Do you remember the instructions given to you in school for a creative writing assignment?
Okay, I was probably a high school junior the last time I did that and I don't fancy myself a writer (Momma P's response to hearing I was accepted as a Bee: "But you're not a writer!" Thanks Ma.) but I still recall the premise.  I know that my teachers would always tell us to start off by writing down words or phrases, just getting all the ideas out there on paper and whittle it down later.

Well, this very non-creative engineer bride was able to apply this idea to wedding planning!

When I was trying to figure out what my inspiration was for wedding decor, I realized I was being too picky and couldn't figure out what I wanted.  Of course I wasn't going to stumble across one picture online that would perfectly sum up what I want, so I applied the creative writing technique!  Anything that appealed to me on Pinterest or other wedding blogs would get saved or pinned.  I didn't stop to question "oh no, how much would that cost?" or "now how would we be able to set that up?" or "does that go with my theme?"  No, none of those idea-squashing questions were allowed!

If you're going to come along with me now, I ask you to suspend your disbelief (and any thoughts of a budget) for a few minutes because I'm going to take it THERE.

Floral and draped altar/Photo via June Bug Weddings/Photo by Alante Photography

My Something Old

My mom was so excited right after we got engaged that she pulled her own wedding dress out of the security of its vacuum-sealed box for me to try it on.  Somehow I was able to smush into her dress and get it zipped up (my mom was tiny when she got married!), but that didn't help that it was a too short, long-sleeved, full-skirt, satin gown!  I'm still not sure if she was serious about me wearing it or not, but I didn't waste any time entertaining those notions.  It's a lovely dress for being married in December 1983, but it wasn't what I would want to wear to my spring wedding in the twenty-first century.  Either way, she wasn't broken up about it and we both decided it would be a good idea to incorporate another part of her wardrobe: the cathedral length veil. 

My mom's bridal portrait, doesn't she look like she could just be a bride doll?/All of  my parents wedding photos by John Darre Photography - still around!

Reception Reveal

When I shared our reception options, I tried my best to be very objective so that you wouldn't be able to guess which one we picked.  I probably did a very bad job at that, because our reception venue just has so many positive points!  If you weren't able to guess, our wedding reception will be at...

Photo from the next door St. James Hotel

New Orleans Board of Trade!

Photo by Kristin Guin Photography

You can see in the above photo that guests enter through the covered "arcade," with the courtyard to the left and the ballroom in the building to the back.  Self-contained, and a gorgeous indoor area with an outdoor option. This place hit all of my requirements!

Photo by Arte de Vie

The courtyard all glammed up/Photo by Penton Studio

Photo by Babs Evangelista Photography

Photo by Kristy May Weddings

Photo by Oscar Rajo

Nice bar, from Style Me Pretty by Ooti Billeud Weddings

Wide view of the ballroom, the draping isn't there anymore./Photo by Studio Tran

So aside from being absolutely gorgeous and historic, the Board of Trade had plenty of other selling points. All of the tables, chairs, and linens were included - that means the indoor tables, the indoor chivari chairs, and the outdoor folding white tables and chairs.  That's right - gold chivari chairs came included!  I mean, I could have just signed the paperwork right there!  To make this even better, uplighting is included - I love how the pinks and purples look in there!

When we went to visit the BoT in January, they were actually in the middle of construction. Pigeon Catering (pronounced Pee-jeanne, not like the bird) had received the contract as the exclusive caterers/event managers for the BoT, and they were doing upgrades on the interior and exterior.  It said a lot that they were so committed to making this a premier wedding venue by fixing up the carpet, walls, and columns - I knew they wanted their weddings to be quality.  

Since Pigeon is the exclusive caterer for the venue, I had to look into them too before deciding on BoT.  The reviews that I found were nothing short of awesome, and their menu sounded great!  The prices were reasonable and we would be able to choose exactly what we wanted, so that we were not paying for anything that we didn't.  I'll discuss food at another time, but let's just say the world is our oyster when it comes to menu items (get it, oyster? har-har).  Things we're thinking of including are praline brie bites, crabmeat cheesecake, mashed potato bar, crepe station, and passed mini beignets as a late night snack.

Hors d' oeuvres, photo from Pigeon Caterers

The venue coordinator there also was great to talk to, she answered plenty of my questions and seemed very flexible based on what we wanted.  Since we're still undecided about our seating plan and layout, I was glad that that decision could be deferred to another time.  

We also took into consideration, that we didn't know anyone who had been married here before - it has kind of been under the radar, even though they've been doing weddings here for several years.  With these upgrades, and management by Pigeon, it seems like this is becoming a much more popular wedding venue.  I liked the idea of getting married somewhere that people probably haven't been to before, just so our guests can experience somewhere new that they might not know about.

I was happy to find a venue that hit on so many of our "must haves," and for that reason I was leaning towards it before we even visited all the other locations.  I think the venue also fits with our idea of classic and elegant, but with a little twist.  

Pyramids Ponder Places

Last time I discussed what we were looking for in a reception venue, and here are the venues I took the time to check out in person.  My mom, sister/MOH, Nanny and I had a marathon day on a Friday I had off of work (9/80s are awesome!) visiting all of these places.  Sphinx got the rundown of each one later.

Let me start out by saying that all of these venues are great.  If you're searching for a reception in New Orleans, any of these would be a great choice.  I'll give you some of the main points of each, what I took into consideration to reach my reception decision.  If you're looking for a venue in the NOLA area, hopefully this will help you learn a little more about some of my favorite places!

Race & Religious

http://raceandreligious.com/

Photos via Poptastic Bride by Blair Bennetts Photography

Photos via Poptastic Bride by Blair Bennetts Photography

This venue consists of two historic houses and the courtyard between. It's gorgeous in that very exposed brick, vintagey, antique details, and wrought iron kind of way.  It's breathtaking in pictures and has been featured in Style Me Pretty and other big wedding blogs.  You are open to bring in any caterer, which could be a big money saver.  It does have indoor and outdoor areas like I wanted, but the only space large enough for a dance floor, band, and a lot of people was in the courtyard.  If it rained, we would have to go with a tent.  Also, this style would probably feel too cramped with the amount of people we were inviting. Race and Religious is very cool and trendy, and very New Orleansy - I think it's a great option for out of town brides.  It's also available to rent for the full weekend.  The location is a little weird as it's not walking distance to any hotels, so transportation might be in order.

Audubon Tea Room

http://www.auduboninstitute.org/events/private/venues

Source: Your Event Delivered

Source: Studio Tran

The Tea Room is connected to the Audubon Zoo, which is totally one of the best zoos in the country.  They let you in during the reception to take some photos on the carousel which is adorable!  The zoo and Tea Room are very close by St. Francis Church (uptown), and it has its own parking lot.  This venue was the most expensive, and had a food and beverage minimum, but the menu is huge and has plenty of add-ons (like a martini bar!) to help you meet the minimum.  They also have a patio to accommodate my indoor/outdoor request, but it cost extra to add chairs and tables out there.  For brides looking for the ceremony and reception in the same place, there are several options for the ceremony site either on the patio or inside the zoo (like the Sea Lion Exhibit shown here).

Board of Trade

 http://www.neworleansbot.com/

Photo by Maile Lani Photography

Photo by Meg Baisden Photo

 The New Orleans Board of Trade was built in 1880 and operated as a trading floor for all of the goods that came into the port.  It is located downtown, a couple of blocks away from the French Quarter.  The closest paid parking lot is on the corner, which could be a problem for our older guests.  This also includes a nice courtyard at the front, complete with fountain and provided tables and chairs.  The indoor ballroom has very high ceilings, a dome mural, and a cool clock tower balcony (not accessible - I asked!).  The catering is through a single company, which had several package options at varying price points.  Most of the packages stayed within "reasonable" territory, but the coordinator said we could change anything out and sounded like they customized a lot for weddings.  The tables, chivari chairs, linens, and uplighting all came included.  The space is naturally beautiful with the columns and wrought iron fence, but it is large and would look a bit plain without some decor in both the courtyard and ballroom.

Le Pavillon

http://lepavillon.com/

The ballroom set up for lunch/personal photo

The adorable bar/personal photo

Photo by MQ Photography

I talked about Le Pavillon when I mentioned loving their chandeliers in the lobby.  So you know I didn't pick this location, but we did check it out that day.  The prices were a little higher here, and the hotel provided the catering.  It is a very fancy and beautiful hotel, and you get the benefit of getting ready and staying in the same place as the reception.  It ultimately wasn't at the top of my list because the ballroom was a little small, and I couldn't visualize how to decorate it.  I also found myself saying "I really love the bar!" but I didn't love the ballroom enough.  The bar is in the lobby, just outside the ballroom, and I felt that a lot of people would end up sitting out there.  The coordinator there was really great though, just one of those people you felt would have everything under control.  The hotel is right on Poydras Street, so it's downtown and close to the French Quarter.

Federal Ballroom

http://www.federalballroom.com/

photo via Federal Ballroom

personal photo

Photo by Art de Vie

The Federal Ballroom was built in 1923 and was a Federal Reserve Bank, so it's definitely a cool, historic place!  This is in downtown, very close by several churches, but no parking provided.  The Federal Ballroom was one of the more reasonable options for a wedding in the city and everything came included with the price.  The food was through one certain caterer - not a huge variety but it did sound good.  The ballroom is on the second floor, with all those windows looking down on the streets below.   I love the columns, and the ceiling had a very art deco feel.  In the pictures of us walking around, it looks pretty plain.  But add some uplighting and those details pop and not much decor seems to be required.  This doesn't have any secondary location like a patio - if any guests want to step out they have to go downstairs to the sidewalk.  The coordinator here seemed very on top of it too.  

Riverview Room

http://www.riverviewroom.com/

personal photo

Photo by Michael Caswell

Photo by Studio Tran

The Riverview Room is located on the top floor of Jax Brewery, right on the Mississippi River. This is right in the French Quarter, and there are paid parking lots on either side of the building - they just might get crowded if there's something else going on in town that weekend.  This only had two catering packages, but there was a lot included in each of those, and they are flexible with the choices too.  The Riverview Room was definitely roomier than a lot of the other venues - and it has several small porches that overlook the river and the city (shown in the photo above), which touched on my requirement for an outdoor area. The linens, chairs, and tables all came included - although using these straight up was a bit of white overload for me.   This is a great New Orleansy option because of the views and the proximity to hotels and bars.  My concern with it...does the ceiling look too low? I didn't notice it in person, but in pictures it kinds of looks like a something inside of a ship!  It's a blank slate of a room that you could add a lot to, but I'd be worried about the decor coming together because of the size and the "U" shape of the room.

Pavilion of the Two Sisters at City Park

Photo by Daniel Taylor Photography

Photo Source: Tying the Knot Wedding Coordination

Photo by GK Photography

Through the years of our relationship, I always imagined our wedding at City Park.  It is where we had our first date for the "Celebration in the Oaks" Christmas lights in the park.  There are several venues in the park, but this one was the best match for our size and budget.  The City Park catering has a couple of packages, and the prices are reasonable, but not too much variety.  The ballroom is a good size, with lots of open space for dancing and it has some patio space that looks out onto the gardens.  A great plus of using City Park is all of the places to take pictures - like the fountain above or the sculpture garden.  Also, City Park brides are able to use the park for their bridal photo shoot for free - normally there is a cost for a permit.  City Park does have its own free parking lot, but the park is about 15 minutes outside of the city.

At the end of the day, we each ranked the venues from favorite to least favorite and compared.  We all had different choices on top, but everyone placed my top venue highly.  When we talked about pro's and con's of each, what was important, and then we were all in agreement on my top venue (and we got a Sphinx stamp of approval).  It was a long and tiring day, but I had made a promise to myself that this would be it - we would have one really long day visiting and then make a decision.  It worked for us, and I was able to have all of the venues fresh in my mind while making a decision.

The big reveal is up next time!

Did you go visit a lot of places back-to-back or did you take your time to visit? Which one do you think we picked (okay, I know the venue name is listed in my bio, but just play along!)?