Back when we first started dreaming and thinking about how we wanted our reception to be, a few things became clear. We wanted it to take place during the day, preferably in a garden or at least in a place with natural light. We wanted to share our taste for all things sweet. We wanted a relaxed, easy going vibe where people would mix. We did not want a sitting plan. We wanted different kinds of cake. Maybe high-tea?
And so, one of our favorite places came to mind. A small, "gezellig" (cozy) bakery-cafe with a grandma feel to it. They make the most delicious homemade cake, quiches, salads, scones. It is a place where we would often go when we were dating. I say often, but I mean every now and then, when I was visiting the boy here in Holland (since at the time I was still in Spain). I remember when he first discovered this place, he brought me some cake all the way to Barcelona. And it also happens to be in the old center of Zoetermeer (the city where we used to live), just in front of our church. It was perfect. We could all just walk there after the ceremony. They have an inside garden, a greenhouse area. And that vintage-y look. We were not even going to have to worry so much about decorations.
 |
| Ok, so this dolls are a bit creepy. Sister took the pic. |
Except, when we went there and talked business, it turned out that on top of the price per person of whichever menu option we chose, we had to "rent" each area of the restaurant separately, by periods of 3 hours. We loved this place so much and had thought about having our "simple" lunch reception there even before we were officially engaged, that we were gonna go with it, even if it was so complicated. And well, since we wanted our reception on a Saturday, they simply turned us down. The reason was that they make more money as a cafe than they would make with us (with 3 different spaces, for 6 hours and around 80 people). It was somewhat a disappointment. Like a little something died. We also thought of not getting the "classic" wedding cake, and getting several of their cakes instead. But that would have been logistically difficult since they would not transport it to our venue. (Like you saw we did get a more typical wedding cake, for practical reasons, of course not without making sure we loved it. We never say no to trying new cake anyway). In the end, it was for the best. We couldn't have been happier with the place that turned out to be our actual venue (more on that coming soon), for many reasons. And since my mom's birthday was one day before our wedding, we did go there to celebrate her birthday. Oh, and in case you want to visit, this place is called
De Bakkerswinkel, and now they have several bakeries in many places in the country.
This reminds me so much of our story! :) We also wanted something different from the typical venue (for many reasons) and wanted a place with beautiful outdoors, vintagy and bit rustic feel... We fell in love with this place to die for, and they loved the idea at first, till we told them it would be a 180 people thing. Then, they changed their minds.
ReplyDeleteIt was a bit heart breaking, right? But what you do when a dream dies? Replace it with another dream! That's what we did.
Qué lindo lugar! Anoto para el día que visitemos Holanda!
ReplyDeletePara nosotros fue sencillo: salimos caminando de Palazzo Vecchio hacia el arno por entre gli Uffizzi, cruzamos el río por el Ponte Vecchio y fuimos a un restaurant que nos había encantado, Golden View. Entramos como si nada (eramos solo 8 personas) y cuando vieron que nos regalaban flores y estamos emperifollados, la moza nos preguntó si festejabamos algo. Le dijimos que acababamos de casarnos y se revolucionó el restaurant! Hasta nos trajeron champagne y frutillas para festejar y desearnos una vida feliz juntos :D Cada momento que viví en Florencia es tan mágico que cómo no amar esa ciudad?
Marcela, that's a beautiful story!
ReplyDelete@ Ines, yeah, pursuing new dreams is the way to go.
ReplyDelete@ Marcela, sip, tienes que venir ! Y si, que bonita historia, me encanto lo de las frutillas. Y Florencia es de verdad bonita.