The Agony and the Ecstasy, Part III

Doctoring in water-proof stiletto boots (honestly, the only appropriate footware for looking good when it snows) gave me a wicked case of plantar fasciaitis (i.e., the heel of my left foot hurt, a lot). Of course I decided to wear these same shoes for our monster wedding venue trek on Thursday. By the time we scurried away from Angel Oresanz, I was a cold, limping wreck and was doing my darndest to turn Tom into one, too. Unfortunately, there is no direct subway route between the Lower East Side and Tribeca, so we began to walk South and West. There was a large group of rowdy, urban teenagers at the Tenement Museum and I had to wait for the group to leave before snatching a seat in the makeshift auditorium. I had never been to the Tenement Museum before (it opened when I was in high school, past the golden age of field trips), and it is most definitely a place that we will recommend wedding guests check. Essentially, the museum is a storefront. You purchase tickets there and cross the street for a guided tour through two restored tenement apartments. We arrived in between tours, so we left shortly after arriving.



View from my seat in the auditorium.

We walked south along Orchard Street, which was home to clothing importers and tailors before turning west and crossing the Bowery, home to restaurant supply and lighting fixture shops. We took a roundabout way so that Tom could begin to build his own "mental map" of Manhattan's streets. Just when I thought I couldn't take one more step, we stumbled on Public, a restaurant I am interested in for either the wedding (if I could invite less people!) or the rehearsal dinner. The restaurant's theme is the New York Public Library. It had not yet opened for the day, but peering inside it looked beautiful. It's a perfect synthesis of things in my life - my uncle Nathaniel worked at the NYPL for thirty years, I was a librarian in college, the restaurant had decorated with card catalogs (which my mother also collects), and outside stood four beautiful Gunlocke Chair Company chairs, exactly like the one Tom bought at an antique store in Rochester and has proudly stored in my apartment. I'm feeling a visit to Public is on the docket for my next trip home.



We ducked into a pizza shop for lunch before heading west:





Finally, we made it to Tribeca Cinemas. We forgot to take interior pictures, so here's one of the marquee and one of the view of the Empire State Building:





This was our first real contender after visiting The Foundry. The way the space works is that the ceremony takes place in a beautiful loft-type space on the east side of the building. Guests than either walk outside along the block and around the corner (along a block-long red carpet, natch) to the reception site. Alternatively for less mobile guests, they can walk through a warren of offices to the west side of the building and the back entrance of the bar where the reception is held. The reception is in a two story bar, quite dark but would be beautiful with the right amount of votive candles. And of course the decor included lots of film memorabilia.





We liked the space, but I wonder how much of it was due to our venue contact. He was a beautiful man and exponentially cooler than we were. I had a hard time figuring out the financial details of throwing a wedding there because he was so laid-back. I'm assuming we'll ask for a quote, but I'm afraid of what the numbers will be.

The pros of this venue is that it is so unique and a wonderful way to tie my father's history into the big day (even though my Dad is vehemently dislikes the place...but that's a long story). But I wonder if it fits our personalities - i.e. neither one of us is particularly a film buff (nor glamorous), and I feel that a venue should reflect who you are. Mom and Tom (I kind of dislike how that rhymes so I try to avoid it, but in this case it was inevitable) strongly disagree but again, it's kind of like the Botanical Gardens to me and the venue wearing you rather than you wearing the venue. I also liked how by the end of the day we had seen the best of the arts (Tribeca) and the worst (Angel Orensanz). These spaces reminded me just how much I miss the time I spent in theater - either as an actor in middle school or a technical director/set builder in college. There's just so much energy to creative people! Finally, and most importantly, seeing the loft component of the cinema emphasized just how much I want my wedding to be in a loft-type space. I love the fact that you can turn a blank canvas into something unique, or simply appreciate the beauty of the austerity of the space. And so we set the stage for Friday...