Eye on the Esplanade: Imagine a summer wedding

By Medicine Hat News on March 22, 2019.

II finally checked something off my bucket list: a visit to the cathedral city of Wells in England’s West Country county of Somerset. I have been greatly influenced by my grandmother’s stories of her childhood home and had long held the desire to see it for myself. My mental picture of Wells, from Grandma’s stories, was only slightly altered by seeing it in person. My grandma had been a master at describing even the smallest detail so that Wells felt familiar to me even though 95 years have passed since she had seen this place for the last time.

Is it any wonder that word-of-mouth is still an effective form of endorsement? Sometimes hearing another’s perspective helps to us visualize but there will always be those who find it difficult to imagine what they cannot see.

A few weeks ago, I showed a soon-to-be bride the Veiner Centre. She told me she just could not conjure up an image of how it might look even when her decorator described her own ideas for the design. Contrast that with another young woman who viewed the centre a few days later and said, “I can picture the ceremony over there by the trees and our guests dancing in the dining room after dinner. My fiancÃ©’s uncles will slip off to the games room to shoot some pool while my cousins take the younger children out to the patio to wear off some energy on the playground before dark.”

This bride was able to imagine her wedding day without the photographs and stories of someone else’s event.

We haven’t held a wedding at the new Veiner Centre yet but we are starting to fill the summer Saturdays in 2019 and 2020 with wedding bookings. The Esplanade though, is still a popular event venue due to its exceptional reputation within the community. Many people have attended weddings at the Esplanade over the past 13 summers so it’s easier for them to envision their ceremony on the rooftop Terrace with its stunning view of the river or a Studio Theatre reception, decorated in their chosen theme.

Whichever venue a couple chooses, their wedding day will be uniquely theirs because they themselves are unique. Whether they offer food truck fare or a plated dinner and champagne or coolers, their imagination is the only limit to what their day will hold.

As long as we are dreaming of our wedding days, I think the Wells Cathedral will make a great destination-wedding venue, someday.