Artful Wedding
Pssst…It starts with a cool and classy location!
by HCTG Director of Creative Content Jolene Rae Harrington
IMAGINE SAYING “I DO” beneath a stunning Chihuly glass chandelier…posing for photos with a classic Jaguar convertible…savoring champagne and caviar surrounded by avant-garde sculpture or 3,000-year-old Chinese ceramics… Any of these out-of-the-ordinary scenarios can become your reality if you wed at one of the Bay Area’s acclaimed art galleries or museums. No longer the sole province of school field trips, tourists, or snobby scenesters, galleries and museums have found a fresh calling as novel places to throw a party.
It’s a safe bet you’ve already had a crash course in “the 4 Cs” of diamonds. (Did we catch you gazing at the lovely sparkler on your left hand? Thought so!) Since we consider museums and galleries location “diamonds,” we’ve summed up their advantages with our own version of “the 4 Cs”: Class, Culture, Conversation-friendly, and Cool.
Most brides envision their wedding as elegant with at least a dash of chic. Museums, often known for striking architecture and upscale décor, are works of art in themselves; as for galleries, they’re notoriously sleek and stylish whether dressed to the nines or left California casual. No matter what level of formality you desire, these venues automatically say “class.”
It’s natural to want an event site that conveys a worldliness and appreciation of the finer things in life. This is the Bay Area, after all, where we value social awareness and personal expression almost as much as our award-winning wineries. Nothing illustrates your cultural savvy like staging your bash alongside Matisse oil paintings or a giant black & white photographic mural.
You’d also like your guests to mingle. But instead of encouraging them with home movies, karaoke or disposable cameras on the tables, wouldn’t it be awesome if the setting itself provided built-in conversational icebreakers? Galleries and museums are custom-made for this. Without any effort on your part, friends and family meeting for the first time will have something to talk about besides Aunt Harriet’s fifth trip to the martini bar.
Let’s face it: everything from your shoes to your wedding cake speaks volumes about your sense of style. If illustrating your ahead-of-the-curve sensibilities is a priority, then select a venue that demonstrates your genius for ferreting out all things cool—and a reception at a hip gallery or art museum is a sure-fire way to raise your trendsetter-quotient.
Galleries and museums offer a rich combination of our 4 Cs in one dynamic setting. Like a beautifully cut diamond, they glitter with promise—in this case, of a celebration that’s innovative, elegant and fun.
Read on for a guided tour of ten of our favorite artsy locations:
Filed under Locations, Off Beat, Receptions