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Lake Eola?

BlutifulScorpionBlutifulScorpion
First Comment
in Florida-Central Florida
Hi, ladies!

You all gave me such great advice on finding my wedding dress at Solutions so I thought of you first when this dilemma came up...

We live in Atlanta but will be getting married in Florida (Tallahassee is my home). However, we are trying to narrow the exact location down and we're down to 3 options with one of those being Lake Eola in downtown Orlando. 

Has anyone actually been to a wedding at the park there or visited? Anyone getting married there? Due to long distance planning we have to create a list of venues to visit and then decide which ones are worth taking a look when we're in the area. Since we'll be in Orlando around Thanksgiving, we wanted to take a look at the park to see if it's a real contender.

Pros? Cons?

Lastly... If we have our small, intimate (40ish people) ceremony there, where do we go for a romantic, upscale reception? We would like to have a late lunch/early dinner in a nice restaurant with great ambiance, great food, and a private dining area.

TIA!
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Re: Lake Eola?

  • Britt1406Britt1406 member
    First Comment
    edited December 2011
    Lake Eola is nice, I would think the Con would be it wouldn't be very private since it is a public park/area. It would be close to lots of restaurants and hotels (and bars if you want to go out after the reception). Not sure what your budget is, but for dinner you could check out Ceveche (sp?) or the Citrus Club.
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  • eso16208eso16208
    First Comment
    edited December 2011
    I love Lake Eola. FI and I go there every Sunday for the Farmers market and thats where we got engaged. 

    However, I wouldnt get married there for a few reasons:
    1. No privacy
    2. Homeless people
    3. very tall buildings in ALL of your photos. 

    I'm getting married on 11/26 at Leu Gardens. I think its a much nicer space. Its still a city park, but its more secluded and there are fewer people wandering around. 
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  • BlutifulScorpionBlutifulScorpion
    First Comment
    edited December 2011
    Thank you, ladies!

    You make excellent points! The idea of strangers lurking in the background is why we nixed the beach idea. I saw some photos that a friend took when she spent her vacation in Tampa and I saw thousands of people in the background...and someone's not so private wedding ceremony. Oh well...

    For the food/beverage portion of our budget, we really don't want to go over $2500 for 40 people. But it seems that everyone's minimum is in the neighborhood of $4000-5000. I cannot imagine spending that much on just food and beverage for just 40 people. Spending $4000-5000 on food and beverage eats into the honeymoon, flowers, and some small wish list items in our budget.

    Thanks again! I will take another look at Leu Gardens. It is a beautiful venue! 
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  • JandAWeddingWed128913JandAWeddingWed128913
    First Comment
    edited December 2011
    310 on Eola is one nice restaurant. Lake Eola Wine is my favorite but it's the size of a closet, and it's really just a wine bar. I WOULD have suggested Urban Flats because they are phenomenal downtown, but they all went belly up :(

    Lake Eola would be very pretty to get married at, but yeah it is very public.

    I would say to keep costs down, don't do anything in the downtown area.

    Try Winter Park Village for food if you use Leu Gardens, or Baldwin Park.
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  • BlutifulScorpionBlutifulScorpion
    First Comment
    edited December 2011
    Thank you J and A! :-) 
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  • Theresa626Theresa626 member
    First Comment
    edited December 2011
    I also think Lake Eola would be much too public and it has some shady characters.  I agree that you should go with Leu Gardens or maybe Mead Garden for an outdoor wedding.  If you want a nice reception downtown, check out the Citrus Club.  
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  • liz1379liz1379
    First Comment
    edited December 2011
    I'm having my ceremony at the mennello muesum grounds, its much more private then lake eola but a similar feel and slightly cheaper then leu gardens. Its $300 for the grounds for 2 hours but you also have to rent chairs from an outside company, mine were $2 each. The only down side is there are no facilities. I'm pretty much renting grass. Leu gardens books to the day a year in advance, especially on saturdays and they are pretty strict about decorations. Here's a link to some pictures of someone else's wedding at the mennello. good luck! http://www.leigh-taylor.com/blog/?p=1251
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  • BlutifulScorpionBlutifulScorpion
    First Comment
    edited December 2011
    Thank you all so much! Looks like we may be back to square one. 

    I checked out the venues you all suggested and most of them are indeed very beautiful. I believe once we are in Florida next month, visiting for the holidays, we'll be able to make a decision. 

    If we don't make a final decision by Christmas, we'll default to Tallahassee. No water and it's much cooler than Central and West Florida in the winter...but it is in fact home. Smile

    Thanks again, ladies!
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  • eso16208eso16208
    First Comment
    edited December 2011
    If I havent been committed to an insane asylum between now and then, there will be a wedding the morning after thanksgiving at leu gardens. feel free to snoop around if you'd like. Ceremony 10 am and reception 11-3. 
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  • BlutifulScorpionBlutifulScorpion
    First Comment
    edited December 2011
    ESO - Hold on just a little while longer. You're in the home stretch. November 26th was actually my date not that long ago. Smile Congrats!
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