Reception Hall: The Gardens of Park Hills

Last weekend, my mother and I booked the reception hall for the wedding.  The reception will be the Vista Room at The Gardens of Park Hills in northern Kentucky.  John and I had originally decided on June 30, 2012 as the wedding date, but that date was already booked at the hall.  So, we went with a week earlier on June 23, which was another date we had discussed.

The hall is located in Park Hills/Covington, Kentucky, just a few exits into Kentucky down I-75. It will probably be a 25-30 minute drive from the church.  I am planning the ceremony for the church I attended growing up: Our Lady of Visitation.  I still need to call and book the church, but hopefully I can get this done soon.

The Layout:
This is a simple drawing I created of the reception hall.  The dimensions are not at all accurate, but I wanted to give you an idea of what the space looks like.  The empty space is where the tables will be, but I didn't want to draw them all out!

The hall has a very pretty and muted color scheme - with pale golden walls, warm carpet tones, and stone-gray chandeliers hanging throughout.  The foyer area has two glass top tables as well as a stained-glass window on the slanted wall.  I really wanted the entrance of the hall to be nice and set the tone for the reception, and I'm very happy with entrance to the Vista Room.

There is a staircase leading down to the other reception room, surrounded by a railing and decorative tulle and lighting.  The staircase is completely closed off and not used during the reception.  There is room in front and behind of the staircase to place a table for the cake.  Since John wants a chocolate fountain, we talked about having two tables: the cake in front and the chocolate fountain behind the staircase.

The buffet area is along the back of the room, along with the bar.  The event planner mentioned that they would probably place a second buffet line on the dance floor to speed up dinner.  If you would like to view the menu options, they are listed on McHale's website.  We would probably choose the 4-star buffet menu.

There is also a sunroom area that the hors d'oeurve will probably be placed.  There are some high tables in the middle and lower tables surrounding the area, including a semicircle table placed in front of a large mirror.  There is a garden window there with a number of plants in that area as well.

The head table will probably be located on the far right side, near the dance floor.  It won't be a sweetheart table, but all the attendants.  So, I think the table will probably be a U-shape to accommodate all 16 people.  Any comments about where you would put the head table?

The reception site is reserved for 5 hours, and the event will probably be from 7:30-12:30.  The church ceremony will most likely be at 6 p.m., since the church has a 4 o-clock mass on Saturday, and we will have to get everything set up after 5 p.m.

Leave any comments you have! :)