the reception venue

I've avoided this subject for a bit because it's the only part of the wedding with which I'm a little disappointed. We were originally supposed to have the reception here:

neal marshall black cultural center

Or, more specifically, here, minus the chairs:

 

 (source)

Lovely, yes? The windows are amazing. I felt like it was a room that could take nearly any decoration.

Unfortunately one of the downsides of getting married on a campus is not every facility is truly equipped to handle a wedding reception. The coordinator here lost my original date request and refused to draw up a contract. He said he didn't "do" deposits. Well, a few months later and a nightmare or two about losing the room, we called him again. He had upped the room rate considerably and proclaimed that there was no dancing, as of last week when he got the floors cleaned.

Um, what?

So I had to move and I had to move fast. My caterer, who handles all of the rooms at the Indiana Memorial Union, offered what she could: the Frangipani Room and the University Club.

The University Club is a small-ish room (unfortunately can't find a reasonably-sized photo), that's fairly stuffy. There's a lot of wallpaper and red furniture, which doesn't jive with me. It's a cool room, but not right for my wedding.

Which only leaves the Frangipani:

This is by no means my ideal. At all. But it has a contract, dancing, and a non-flakey coordinator. For my sanity, a pretty reception room was a sacrifice I was willing to make.

But it's not all hopeless. IU has a gorgeous campus and the ceremony site is lovely. We'll get amazing outdoor shots and the photographer can just take those pretty detail shots :)

the IMU

Did you make any sacrifices in your wedding for the sake of sleeping at night?