My fiance and I are getting married in costal Maine, which is going to be beautiful, but very rural. Our reception is going to be in the local Grange Hall. For those who don't know what that is, the granges were agricultural organizations of the last century that housed community meetings. Now, it's one of the only places that can hold 100 guests seated.
We have the first floor for our reception. There is actually a pretty darned cute kitchen, which guests will walk through for the buffet. Lots of old tiling and cabinets. Those front windows, which have an ocean view, are in fact the kitchen. That's Maine practicality, give the kitchen the best views in the house.
The reception hall is where life gets difficult. There are nice parts: many home-style windows, a cute little stage, antique hardwood floors, antique plaster walls. And then you notice the GIANT FURNACE in the corner, and the HUGE INDUSTRIAL DUCTS that cover the celling. Apparently they installed heat within the past 10 years, and since there's no basement they just put it in the corner of the gathering room, and the duct work is all over to supply warmth to the upstairs meeting room.
My challenge to you is: how do I decorate around that? I am not going for an industrial-modern theme, and most of the building isn't even industrial, it's vintage costal. And the challenge gets harder: since it's a historic building we're not allowed to put any nails or adhesives on the walls. How can we camouflage the celling without hanging anything?
Hope someone has an idea I don't! Also, this is the only real option for our reception. Since the grange rental is only $150 (I love Maine) we have a couple thousand to spend on decorations and renting tables, chairs, etc.