Roger Williams Park Casino and Botanical Center

And the winner is.... Roger Williams! The interior of the Botanical Center is shown on the right. We are planning on having the ceremony inside the greenhouse from 2:30 PM to 3:30 PM. The weather when we visited was hot and muggy and the greenhouse (obviously being a greenhouse) was even warmer, but it was not unbearable. We may have to cut the ceremony short if it's a hot, muggy wedding day.

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The interior of the grand ballroom on the 2nd floor is shown on the left as it would look with seating for ~150 people and a dance floor in the center. The reception would start at 4 PM, while the wedding party is still taking pictures, and end at 10 PM. If we go over 150 guests, then the dinner could be held upstairs and then dancing downstairs afterward.

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The ceremony site is ~0.5 miles from the reception site, so I'm not sure yet what we will do for transportation. There are a lot of beautiful locations all around the park that could be used for pictures, including many picturesque bridges, like the one shown to the right, but none of which are within easy walking distance. There are so many transportation options - limos, trolleys, buses, oh my!

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The backside of the botanical garden is shown below. The field is covered with black-eyed susans - gorgeous!

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The path leading up to the

Botanical Center is shown at the bottom. Since the center is in a fully covered greenhouse, bad weather will not be ruinous. We'll still be able to have the ceremony and get pictures in a beautiful location rain or shine. Also there is plenty of space for a receiving line.

Reevaluating the Venue

After much debate, the decision has been made to change venues - Roger Williams Park Casino & Botanical Center is the new location of choice. We are currently 'penciled in' for June 5th, but Adam & I both agree that the ceremony and reception site are ideal.

Finding a Ceremony Site

After much debate, Adam & I chose the Towers in Narragansett, Rhode Island, as the reception venue for the wedding. Unfortunately the Towers was booked for every single Saturday in May, June, July, August & September 2011, so we tentatively booked the first Sunday in June - the 5th.

With the reception venue penciled in, now we need to find a ceremony site. Neither Adam nor I ever imagined that finding a church or outside venue or chapel would be so difficult. My mom requires that if we hold the wedding in the church then it has to be a Protestant church. I called so many churches in Narragansett. The South Ferry Church has very little parking and no bathrooms. The Church of Christ would allow us to have a wedding there, but not a Sunday wedding. The Presbyterian Church in Newport requires that someone in the family be a member of the church and requires pre-marital counseling. The list goes on and on with all of the various requirements and deficiencies. We did find a Protestant church that would allow us to have the wedding in their church on a Sunday; however, the church is located 30 minutes away from Narragansett! We do love the pastor from this church, though, and he is perfectly amenable to traveling a bit for the wedding, so at least that was a partial success.

With churches not really an option anymore, we started looking for outdoor venues. There is a small green next to the Towers that is sometimes used for the wedding ceremony. Unfortunately, there is a really busy road that runs right by it. We were there on a Thursday and it was packed with cars and people milling about and band playing - not what I would imagine for my wedding day. Then, we traveled down to the Point Judith Lighthouse. The pictures online of this location looked fabulous. When we get there, however, the lighthouse is surrounded by a fence and a nearby building is completely boarded up. There is a pretty gazebo up the hill from the lighthouse, but again I'd have to say this site is a bust.

Driving 2 hours back to Boston gave me plenty of time to think about the situation. Concerning the Towers, I feel like we're trying to fit our wedding into this location and it's just not working. So for now we may need to reconsider the Towers as the reception venue.