The chapel was a special place for Danielle, since she'd attended services there almost daily for five years. She'd seen the room renovated from its former state to a pristine hall with glistening windows, tons of sunlight, movable chairs, and a brand new organ. She thought the space would be perfect, and so when it was finally time to plan her wedding, she assumed that booking the chapel would be the first port of call.
And then she discovered the Two R's: the Reality of the Reception. With a wedding ceremony had to come a wedding reception. But where to have a reception around Yale? The college didn't allow alumns to host events in most locales, and neither the Tumminios nor the Hansens had much knowledge about reception sites in the area. But they had to book something and quickly if they wanted to get married in the fall! Here's how things unfolded.....
After their first dress shopping experience at Sak's, Danielle, Peggy, A&E went on a stroll down 5th Avenue to the Yale Club. They didn't think they'd actually have the wedding there because D wanted to have the ceremony at Yale, but they wanted to check it out because the location would be terrific. Once they got to the Yale Club, they met Donna, who showed them around and lavished attention on A&E. A flirted with everyone and even got the nice folks at the Yale Club to lower their hotel room prices! Danielle and Peggy were both really taken by the convenience, the great service, and the beautiful venue. But Danielle really wanted to have her wedding at the Divinity School, and she was committed to not becoming a bride who put her reception ahead of her ceremony. So the Yale Club went on the backburner....temporarily at least.
A&E at the Yale Club, getting ready to head back out into the cold. They were happy in their strollers the whole time, except right at the end, when E wanted to be part of the action!
So after visiting the Yale Club, Danielle and Peggy picked up Eric and returned to CT to do some serious venue shopping. Joining them was their friend and attendant Dawn, a CT native who had lots of wisdom about the area. They began their location scouting at the Waterview, a catering hall near Danielle's parents' house. It was right on the water and rumored to have terrific food. Though many dates in the fall were already booked up, D&E liked the place. The problem: it was about a 45 minute drive from the Divinity School, and wish so many out-of-towners coming to the wedding, everyone agreed it would probably be a far drive. Nonetheless, it became a contender.
The Waterview. Out the window is the water!
From there, the location scouts left the area around the Tumminio household and ventured up to Middletown, a location between the airport in Hartford and the Divinity School. They checked out the Wadsworth Mansion but left as soon as they arrived--the location was too small, didn't have an in-house caterer, and the group would have to be split between two rooms. But the upside of being in Middletown: they were near one of Danielle's favorite restaurants, It's Only Natural. So they refueled at ION before continuing their search.
Next up was Hartford, where the seriously hard-core searching began. They toured a converted department store turned catering venue downtown (Dawn had a negative childhood memory of the old department store that Danielle took as a bad omen), a small hotel in Avon (too small), one of the 10 oldest restaurants in America (beautiful place for dinner, but the catering hall was a new and unmemorable add-on). By the end of the whirlwind tour, it was close to five o'clock and everyone was zonked. So they headed back to the Tumminios, Dawn picked up her car, and Peggy stayed at home while the youngsters went to do some final location searching in New Haven.
In the dark, they headed off to the Branford Yacht Club, which they decided was too confusing to get too. From there they headed along the water to Anthony's, a thoroughly Italian catering hall that brought Danielle right back to her childhood when her relatives lived in Brooklyn in a flavorful world filled with riceballs, pasta, and cannolis. Unfortunately, the space wasn't in shape to hold their guests. Finally, they rounded off their search with dinner and a bottle of wine at Leon's, an Italian restaurant right on the water that turned out to be too small for their party.
Which brought them back to the Yale Club. With the most elegant venue and best reviews thus far, Grand Central Station right across the street, Penn Station within a ten minute cab right, easy access to airports, and more to do in the surrounding area (i.e. Times Square and the Empire State building both within a 15 minute walk), the location seemed more and more appealing. Moreover, since Danielle had a friend who worked in a nearby church, they could still have a beautiful and personalized wedding ceremony. In fact, both Danielle and Eric realized that having a wedding there would be much more elegant and unique than they'd ever dreamed possible, and that made them both really excited!
And still, there was the Divinity School, with its bright windows and happy memories. It was a spiritual home for Danielle, and someplace that she thought would bring her a great deal of comfort on her wedding day. But she also knew that with no nearby catering hall, it wouldn't be a very hospitable and comforting place for her guests. She remembered the genesis of her wedding rules, how annoyed she'd been at long layovers between ceremonies and receptions where she'd known no one. She recalled her annoyance when she'd had to rent a car and got lost navigating her way around parts of America she never expected to see, and she remembered her fatigue at having to drive home from those same rural parts of America late at night, with only a map and no street lights to guide her. She didn't want to raise the same kinds of frustrations in her guests. After all, this was the first time that she and Eric would show the world their relationship, and she wanted to make a good impression.
She realized that a choice needed to be made: stay true to the old dream her single self once held, or grab on to a new one in which she and Eric celebrated their relationship by giving a gift to their guests: a beautiful and unproblematic wedding day.
They booked the Yale Club.
Next up was Hartford, where the seriously hard-core searching began. They toured a converted department store turned catering venue downtown (Dawn had a negative childhood memory of the old department store that Danielle took as a bad omen), a small hotel in Avon (too small), one of the 10 oldest restaurants in America (beautiful place for dinner, but the catering hall was a new and unmemorable add-on). By the end of the whirlwind tour, it was close to five o'clock and everyone was zonked. So they headed back to the Tumminios, Dawn picked up her car, and Peggy stayed at home while the youngsters went to do some final location searching in New Haven.
In the dark, they headed off to the Branford Yacht Club, which they decided was too confusing to get too. From there they headed along the water to Anthony's, a thoroughly Italian catering hall that brought Danielle right back to her childhood when her relatives lived in Brooklyn in a flavorful world filled with riceballs, pasta, and cannolis. Unfortunately, the space wasn't in shape to hold their guests. Finally, they rounded off their search with dinner and a bottle of wine at Leon's, an Italian restaurant right on the water that turned out to be too small for their party.
Which brought them back to the Yale Club. With the most elegant venue and best reviews thus far, Grand Central Station right across the street, Penn Station within a ten minute cab right, easy access to airports, and more to do in the surrounding area (i.e. Times Square and the Empire State building both within a 15 minute walk), the location seemed more and more appealing. Moreover, since Danielle had a friend who worked in a nearby church, they could still have a beautiful and personalized wedding ceremony. In fact, both Danielle and Eric realized that having a wedding there would be much more elegant and unique than they'd ever dreamed possible, and that made them both really excited!
And still, there was the Divinity School, with its bright windows and happy memories. It was a spiritual home for Danielle, and someplace that she thought would bring her a great deal of comfort on her wedding day. But she also knew that with no nearby catering hall, it wouldn't be a very hospitable and comforting place for her guests. She remembered the genesis of her wedding rules, how annoyed she'd been at long layovers between ceremonies and receptions where she'd known no one. She recalled her annoyance when she'd had to rent a car and got lost navigating her way around parts of America she never expected to see, and she remembered her fatigue at having to drive home from those same rural parts of America late at night, with only a map and no street lights to guide her. She didn't want to raise the same kinds of frustrations in her guests. After all, this was the first time that she and Eric would show the world their relationship, and she wanted to make a good impression.
She realized that a choice needed to be made: stay true to the old dream her single self once held, or grab on to a new one in which she and Eric celebrated their relationship by giving a gift to their guests: a beautiful and unproblematic wedding day.
They booked the Yale Club.
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