Wedding crisis averted!

Last week I mentioned how The Fraser Café was no longer able to accommodate our wedding.  Thank you, by the way, for all the nice and encouraging messages.  It did help to hear about how other people got over their wedding planning hurdles, and reminded me that, in the end, if I am married to Derek, I will have had a successful wedding.

I was able to stay level headed as event coordinators from various other venues confirmed that yes, they were still available.  My biggest fear was that everything would be booked for NYE Parties and there would be no options!  We booked meetings as quickly as we could, the first being with The ARC.  Our meeting at The ARC was actually our one and only.  We fell in love so quickly that we felt comfortable cancelling the others and going with our gut.  Call it love at first second sight!

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I've been to The ARC before and love the space.  Their lounge is chic, modern and very cozy, but at the same time has sort of a retro feel.  The space offers a mixture of design elements from dark wood floors, cement accents, a stone wall with a burning fire place, modern leather furniture and a bar that lights up!

It works perfectly for creating different zones and incorporates tables and seating for people to rest their feat.  Even though we are hosting a cocktail party and I expect people will be on their feet mingling and dancing most of the night, it is important for me that my guests feel comfortable and have the option to take a load off.

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The ARC also uses red/orange in their décor, and the vibe is similar to that of the Fraser Café, so I don't plan on changing up my colour schemes at all.  I love the fact that I don't have to do much in terms of decorating the space.  As I mentioned before I plan on having white and red poinsettias in metallic pots, and they've confirmed they have all the candles I will need.

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Our meeting went really well with Nadine Tremblay, their even coordinator.  She is experienced in planning wedding receptions and is very organized and enthusiastic.  She seemed just as excited about our wedding as we were, providing us with suggestions and numerous options for our food and beverages and the floor plan which she can arrange to suit our specific needs.

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One of the major benefits to hosting our wedding at The ARC is the fact that it is a hotel.  We have a few guests coming from out of town who will be able to take advantage of this convenience.  Derek and I also plan to book our wedding night suite at The ARC and we couldn't be happier.

Finally, I can't forget to mention, the cost of hosting our wedding at The ARC is actually less than it would have been at Fraser Café!  Talk about a bonus!  Since we are saving a few bucks, we are looking into having a DJ instead of using our laptop/ipod like we had originally planned.

I'm so happy that everything worked out and we can't wait to be married at our new venue!