The details of the PLACE, however, were...fuzzy. White and gauzy and filled with ribbon and flowers. LOTS of flowers. But...was it a church? Or a cathedral? Or a little country chapel? Hmmm...I'm not actually sure. Maybe it was on a beach; no, I'm sure I pictured myself descending a wide, sweeping staircase, something in line with the staircase at Ashley Wilkes' Twelve Oaks. Perhaps in a mansion somewhere... Or a castle. Like Cinderella's castle. Well, as I said, the details were fuzzy. Maybe that's because it's nigh on impossible to find the perfect wedding site.Now, I'm sure that if one has unlimited funds, finding a venue is not that difficult. But, on the budget laid down by Fred, it is one doozy of a challenge.
Our plan was to find a site that had a nice scenic outdoor area for the wedding ceremony and a more comfortable, AIR-CONDITIONED interior for the reception. After all, this wedding was to take place in late July.
Fred, wedding consultant extraordinaire, immediately had the plan: the wedding would be in our backyard, and the reception would be at the Coach House, a newish event center just a mile or so away. We had been to a live country music show there last year, and I knew it to be very nice, but also very traditionally decorated, if Spartan, and not at all to Ariel's taste. I described it to her and she pretty much ignored Fred's suggestion. But I had an idea: there had been an ad running for several weeks in our local newspaper, a new wedding chapel which was unbelievably inexpensive, right here in Pleasant View. 
Fred glimpsed at the ad, then did a second take: that $299 price tag was shouting his name. Oh yes, forget about the Coach House, he said, here's where we need to have the wedding; nothing would do but that Ariel call about it. Nobody answered. In the meantime, Eric reported that, even with employee pricing, the wedding at his hotel would be outrageous. Ditto for other hotels, which all had varying stringent requirements regarding in-house catering and alcohol purchases. Churches and chapels were out - the type of 'spirit' Ariel and Eric had in mind would probably be frowned upon in a house of worship. Ariel checked into several historic mansions and other possible sites: bed and breakfast inns, country clubs, golf clubs, an old historic village, even the Moose Lodge. She thought she had found the perfect place in the Vine, an event venue/dance studio/art center. She e-mailed pictures to me, and it looked great. Alas, the alcohol fee proved too expensive. I searched online and made phone calls. $1500 includes tables and chairs at this one, but no outside caterers; $3000 includes linens and china here, but no alcohol allowed; $10,000 will get you the whole enchilada here, but, sorry, we're booked for that week. That's okay: Fred would drop dead if we booked a place for $10,000. "What's wrong with our backyard?" he asked again. One more time, we went over the whole too-hot-and-we'd-have-to-rent-a-tent-in-case-of-rain thing. Not to mention that we wouldn't want inebriated wedding partiers celebrating on our suburban lawn late into the night.
At last, a great place presented itself: The Cumberland Room, a brand new event center in Clarksville. But...Clarksville? Clarksville is convenient for Fred and me, but is over eighty miles from Murfreesboro, and Eric could work out a discount on rooms for all the out-of-town guests at his hotel in Murfreesboro. No, no, Ariel assured me, he can get that discount at almost ANY of their numerous properties, including quite a few in Clarksville. The Cumberland Room looked great in the online photos, would allow outside catering, outside alcohol, had plenty of onsite parking, was available for all day rental, and the best part - was only $450 for the entire day. Wow. Of course, now, that was a weekday; weekends were still out of our budget, Ariel said, but she was fine with a weekday wedding. She arranged for a meeting and look-see, and we all drove up after school one day.
The torrential rains which had been falling all day turned to snow in Clarksville, and Mrs. Manager called to cancel, citing the slick roads; but Ariel, already almost there, has mastered the art of tactful assertiveness and arranged a self-guided tour. She could sure give me a lesson or two.
The Cumberland Room really is a great value, as wedding venues run. It's sorta Plain Jane on the outside, not bad, just nothing memorable. But inside is a whole nuther story. The front doors open into a large, high ceilinged reception room with the most hideous carpet; Eric pointed out that it was so busy, it'd hide most any stain. The next room is the huge stone floored ballroom, complete with a disco ball, DJ station and equipment, nice sound system, and rotating colored lights. All the chandeliers and wall sconces are uber contemporary and on dimmer switches. A game room houses two pool tables, an air hockey table, fun neon lights, and television. The kitchen is AMAZING. 
Over 700 square feet, as big as my sister-in-law's entire house, with miles of counter space, plenty of ovens, range top, deep stainless sink, ice machine, rolling cart, some piece of equipment I could not identify, and the island to beat all islands. That kitchen sold the place for me. The 'landscaped courtyard' is a bit of a let-down, though: really just a concrete patio with a high privacy wall, lanterns, hum-drum picnic tables, and a few tiny evergreens with Christmas lights. But the kitchen...oh, yeah...that kitchen makes up for everything. And the tables and chairs are included in the $450 rental fee.Fred forgot we had a backyard as soon as he saw those pool tables and the PA system.
Ariel called Mrs. Manager on the spot and told her we wanted it. We'd need to come to the office during business hours to secure the reservation and sign the contract. I told Ariel that Fred and I would do that on Monday. The only problem with this place was that courtyard; it just wasn't the idyllic outdoor setting Ariel had envisioned for the ceremony. How about a park? There should be a nearby park that would have trees and flowers and scenic vistas. We could have the short ceremony there and then move everybody to the Cumberland Room for the reception. It was too dark and snowy to start looking then, but the following day, Ariel and I did some online research and came up with a few possibilities. The plan was for Fred and me to go to the Cumberland Room's office on Monday morning, sign the contract, then scout out those parks for good sites. But come Monday, Fred had other ideas. That Pleasant View Wedding Chapel just sounded so good...(note: good = cheap.) Ariel said no, she had made up her mind about the Cumberland Room.
Fred, never one to be easily discouraged, called the Pleasant View Wedding Chapel anyway, and arranged a tour for the two of us that morning.
Pleasant View Wedding Chapel. Can't you just see it? A quaint white wooden country church, tucked away in the woods, with a small steeple, wide double doors with rose wreaths, symmetrical arched stained glass windows, tulle draped railings on the diminutive porch, and a lovely little white gazebo sitting smack dab in the middle of a picket fence surrounded rose garden.
That's the image I had. WRONG! The 'chapel' is at the end of a dead end road, set back in the woods a bit, but is nothing more than a large concrete block structure with a wooden two story addition tacked on one end. It has a huge covered porch that wraps around the left side and a large gazebo out back, but is neighbored by a metal warehouse of some sort and a day care center. Out back, in view of the gazebo, is the big ugly propane tank that supplies heating fuel for the building.
I took one look and said,"Oh, Ariel's not even gonna consider this." Fred nodded; he didn't need to say anything - I could see the disappointment in his eyes. However, he had arranged for a tour, and we were obligated to wait for the owner. While we waited, I walked around. You know, I told him, this porch IS nice, and it's got these arches and all these little globe lights... if we could get rid of this conglomeration of furniture and maybe dress up those pews and the arches, and hide that big ole Gatorade barrel... and that gazebo's not picture perfect, but it's not bad, and it's BIG...why, with a bit of tulle and ribbons and maybe some flowers... And I bet these woods are really pretty in the summer, with everything all leafed out... The owner pulled up, apologized for her tardiness, (she wasn't; we were just early,) and led us inside. What a surprise! This place was great! No, it wasn't as big as the Cumberland Room, but it was still quite roomy and had a great tiled floor. There was a fine groom's suite and she told us the bridal suite upstairs was still under construction, but would include a jacuzzi tub! The bathrooms are FABULOUS, absolutely FABULOUS. 
Turns out these people own a flooring business, and they really do know what they're doing. Lady Owner showed us photos of a wedding from last summer - the gazebo and porch were decorated, the four acres was covered in wildflowers, and the big room inside was filled with long banquet tables, included in the price. Tablecloths and heavy damask chair covers are included, too. And the rental period is longer than the Cumberland Room's: we would have until 8:00 the next morning to clean up. The kitchen, though, is on the small side; but that really didn't matter, since the meal would be catered, and I'd only be doing appetizers and salad. Fred, who can talk the hind leg off a donkey, had met his match in Lady Owner: we learned her entire life history in the half hour we were there. She made no apologies for her loquacity, and I found myself liking her. I wandered around while she and Fred chatted, took loads of pictures, and e-mailed them to Ariel.Spring break was coming up and Ariel and I wanted to get so many things settled during that short week. She and Eric would make a decision about the wedding site any day now...
Next: Busting the Budget with the Wedding Gown
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