The garden party that was...

Even if technically it did not take place in a garden but in a terrace full of greenery. Anyway, back to where we were. After finding out that our initial first choice for a venue was not a possibility, we had to keep on looking, or like Ines said so well, replace it with a new dream. We really wanted an english garden party kind of feeling, and so we thought of the City Museum, which has a pretty garden in the back, and is also in front of the church in the main old street. They however never answered the phone. Thinking back, a reception there  would have complicated things. Since they don't have their own catering and it is a tiny museum, we would have needed to get tents in case of (highly probable) rain. We would also have had to figure out how to warm up / cool food, hire service and all those things that have to be taken care off. 

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We moved on. It is funny because De Sniep, the restaurant in which we ended up having our reception is literally in the corner of our old home, so it had been in front of our noses the whole time. And it was the best decision. First of all the staff is incredibly friendly and acommodating. Being a restaurant, we paid a price per person that included everything (the place itself, service, the food, decoration), so no worries about renting chairs, tablecloths, etc. or hiring extra people for it. Logistically this was a blessing. The restaurant owns a terrace with lots of green and a balcony, so we were able to have an outdoor feel, with the possibility of staying only inside, had it rained. 

They normally have flower pots in the tables and the place itself is pretty. We worked very well with both the owners as they were very accesible as to combining a High Tea (cakes, sandwiches, tea, muffins, scones....) with a Brunch (salads, cold meat, quiche...) which is what we wanted. They agreed to arrange the buffet in food stands, to force people to walk around and mingle, and move the furniture around to have as much free space as possible. We wanted to have sitting space, but in a way that would encourage people to go here and there, to change places constantly. Oh and when I was like, "I would like raspberries in the champaign, is it possible?  And can we bring an antique ice-cream car? "  They informed us that they actually had one (after searching around and finding one in old Delft). What's best, they even included the ice-cream in the same price we originally discussed and had no problem adding raspberries in the Champagne (again, no extra price). 

In the end, the "hardest" part when organizing was that for setting up the decorations  (Chinese lanterns, photobooth) we had to come the night before right before closing (around 21h30  - 22h) or else we would have had to set up everything on the same day, at 10h00 in the morning, which is when they open. Our ceremony started at 11h30, so this was not really an option, though the boy did go in the morning to settle/talk about some final details. It was easy peasy, and we were super happy. People seemed to really enjoy themselves and we were blessed with a sunny day.  We could really enjoy to be outdoors. 

Photos by Fotoflex, and by Isis, our sister in law.