 |
| ARTISANworks! |
I admit it: I’ve been sitting on this entry for a while because it’s hard to do it justice. However, I’ve wanted to include it here;
ARTISANworks is definitely worth bragging about as one of Rochester’s finest both as a cultural establishment and as a business!
As some of you may know, Joe and I went to Las Vegas this past June to get married. We had a small “elopement” ceremony with just us there (yet everyone in our families knew where we were headed—and what we were doing!). We had so much fun in Vegas, since it also served as our honeymoon, though it was a bit weird having just us there. Our ceremony was so speedy we hardly remember our vows! We knew it would be strange getting married on our own; after all, most people enjoy having their friends and families there with them on that day. One thing that Joe and I avoided, however, was the awkwardness of choosing a wedding party; someone’s feelings would have been hurt from either not being chosen to be best man/maid of honor or not being chosen at all. I also didn’t have to deal with being fussed over by our female relatives; I can’t guarantee that I wouldn’t have gone “Bridezilla” with everyone trying to touch up my makeup or fix my hair!
 |
| Joe and me at the Little Church of the West, Las Vegas. |
Instead, we worked with our families to coordinate a reception for the following month. The idea was to have a big party without having to worry about tuxedo rentals, ugly bridesmaids’ dresses, limousines, lame wedding DJs, and that weird tradition where the bride and groom smash cake into each others’ faces (ugh!). After all, we were already married at that point. Why draw out the ceremony of it when we can just have fun with those closest to us?
When choosing a venue, my mom and I came up with a list of the typical party houses and restaurants that would cater to such an event. Boring! However, that’s all that we thought would be available. Then I thought of ARTISANworks after a bit of brainstorming. Joe and I both loved the idea of having our reception there; we had previously visited the gallery, and it instantly became a Rochester favorite for us! For those of you who haven’t heard of it, ARTISANworks is a non-profit gallery, set in an old factory, that displays the works of many local artists and sells and promotes their artwork. They also host events—anything from corporate fundraisers to proms to (you guessed it) weddings and receptions! The setting is one-of-a-kind: art doesn’t just hang on the walls; it leaps from them in intricate displays interspersed with antiques, furniture, and found objects. Each space has a different theme, and they can hold anywhere from three people to 300. It truly is one of Rochester’s most unique spots, and a trip there during gallery hours (Friday-Sunday) is guaranteed to amaze even the least artistic person you know.
 |
| This way to the reception! |
 |
| The mermaid welcomes you! |
 |
| I covet this shelf! |
 |
| Who can't like a giant pin cushion? |
 |
| They have many wooden sculptures like this at ARTISANworks. More awesome work by a local artist! |
 |
| Hot stuff coming through! |
My mom submitted an inquiry to them online with a rough guest count and our budget. I honestly didn’t think we would hear back from them; our budget was fairly modest, and I believed that a place as interesting as ARTISANworks wouldn’t be available for the price we needed. Thankfully, we did hear back from Victoria, the Event Coordinator, and my mom and I met with her on Good Friday. (Joe was at work that day. And yes, we planned in advance, but not years in advance like some people feel they have to!)
In short, Victoria was excellent and incredibly helpful. She answered all of our questions and explained that ARTISANworks will work with you to meet your budget. She was a pleasure to work with and made everything so simple for our event. For our location within ARTISANworks, we chose the
Boulevard Garibaldi & Courtyard based on our projected guest count. Not only do you get the actual Boulevard, but there are a couple of smaller rooms to the side that come with it (the
Vintage French Dining Room and the “Retro Room” as I call it, not pictured on the site, sadly, but pictured below). I found this area of ARTISANworks most fascinating on my and Joe’s previous visit, so we were thrilled to have booked this section. Also, lucky for us, they had our ideal date available (a Saturday toward the end of July).
 |
| When couches fly... |
 |
| Inside the retro room! |
 |
| Another nearby area. FYI: They really like taxidermy at ARTISANworks! |
Joe and I kept our guest list fairly small. We invited around 60, and we had just about 45 show up—not bad! About one-third of our attendees were family. Certainly, we would have liked to have a bigger celebration, but we felt the more people we invited, the more out of control things would have become for us (plus, you know—money!). Luckily, Joe and I are so compatible in our views when it comes to things like guest lists; we had no interest in inviting those distant relatives we never see. I mean, why invite Great Aunt Mabel from Utah who hasn’t seen you since you were three? Or cousin Ted (twice removed) who no one talks to anymore? (These are totally fictional relatives, by the way, but you get my point.)
Some of our "swanky" guests (I don't know, I just really like that word!):
 |
| Lex and Ben! You might remember them from a Double Date Night with Jen and Joe! |
 |
| Marie and Scott, looking especially swanky! |
 |
| Me with Marie and Robin--two good friends of mine from SUNY Fredonia. |
 |
| My "Satellite Sister" Amanda and her brother Philip made an appearance! |
 |
| Andy and Melanie hold up our friend's surrogate, Creepy Baby (a Boobah!). |
 |
| Chris (a.k.a. Lunchbox) and his wife Joie: another cutesy couple from Fredonia! |
 |
| Ian and Jenn: starting to feel like this wedding is just over-run with cutesy couples yet? |
 |
| Lunchbox with the photobomb! |
 |
| Brian has a great appreciation for fine art! |
 |
| An assortment of our guests--the zebra kind of just showed up! |
 |
| Here comes the bride with her glass of wine! |
 |
| Joe looks so triumphant here! |
ARTISANworks has in-house caterers, so we didn’t even have to look for outside catering. The food was excellent, and the menus, which you can customize to your heart’s desire, are varied enough to keep everyone happy. We had our cake delivered from Savoia Pastry Shoppe in Rochester, another excellent business that boasts delicious cake, helpful employees, and free samples (always a plus) without the need for an appointment. (We would have gone with Gruttadauria in Greece, but they were rude and unhelpful when we went to make an appointment. Too bad for them!)
 |
| Mmm... cake! Look at that detail! It was almost too pretty to eat! |
We also had a great amount of DIY in our celebration to add a personal touch. Joe’s mom made the centerpieces for the tables. Joe’s aunt made our card and camera boxes. We didn’t have an interest in having a lot of dancing or in listening to some middle-aged wedding DJ play the same crap he probably plays at every wedding ("The Electric Slide"? No thanks!), so I created a playlist for my iPod and hooked that up to the PA system for our reception. I kept it diverse enough so that Joe would approve, of course, and so the older relatives wouldn’t complain. Besides, at what other wedding can you listen to everything from Django Reinhardt to Benny Benassi or Bootsy’s Rubber Band to The Cramps? I made “kissy bird” favors (little handmade googly-eyed birds with Hershey’s kisses in their “mouths”). With the help of my mom and my brother’s girlfriend, Lynn, I put together the little boxes on the tables and filled them with personalized pink and black M&M’s. Instead of having a photographer, we had disposable cameras on the tables for our guests to take pictures. (I have to say, though, that I don’t recommend doing this in a place as large and not as brightly lit like ARTISANworks; many of our pictures turned out dark or not at all.) The typical wedding in American can cost close to $30,000; I won’t tell you how much we spent (how uncouth!), but it was nowhere near that amount! Our reception was definitely proof that you don’t need to go into debt to have the perfect day!
 |
| A close-up shot of a few "kissy birds." Easy and fun to make! |
 |
| The card box and the guestbook that most people didn't sign. :( |
Victoria was handling a simultaneous event in the building that day, so we had April as our Event Coordinator that afternoon. April not only ensured that our reception went smoothly (did it ever!), but she had also painted us a beautiful picture of a bride and groom that now hangs in our living room. This is a lovely little tradition they have at ARTISANworks, where they give the gift of artwork to their guests of honor. I don’t think anyone has ever given Joe or me original artwork like this, and it’s a great way to start our art collection together. (Seriously, when we have tenure and a larger home to fill with works of art? We are so there!)
 |
| April's painting for us! How cute! |
We couldn’t have asked for a better celebration, and all of our guests there had such a great time. Plus, there certainly couldn’t be a lull in conversation with so many wonderful things to see. We loved having our friends and family there to celebrate our day with us, and we feel so fortunate that a place like ARTISANworks is practically in our backyard for us to visit and revisit for years to come.
 |
| Kissing under a zebra head... How romantic! We wouldn't have wanted it any other way! |
