AVAM

BmoreBride311

Is anyone else on the board getting married (or having their reception) at the American Visionary Art Museum (AVAM)?

It's a unique space, so I'm just wondering if anyone would want to share ideas on how you're decorating and organizing your wedding there. TIA!

weezie825

I posted a link to your original post on the Baltimore Nest site.  (The sister site to The KNot, for us old married ladies.) 

I am pretty sure some of the girls over there had or attended weddings at the AVAM, so hopefully they can help you out.

Bailey1806

I got married there 3 years ago. We had the ceremony on the 1st floor of the JRVC building and then had guests immediatley move to the 3rd floor for the cocktail hour/reception. We had that huge room divided by pipe and draping to differentiate the cocktail area from the reception area and I think it made the huge room feel a little more cozy. We had a decorated arbor at the beginning of the aisle in the ceremoney and we moved it upstairs behind the sweetheart table for the reception. The "alter" was just decorated with two huge urns with some curly willow and calla lilies. We also had our dj set up some lighting for us, but besides linens and centerpieces, that was really all the decoration we had. There was already enough going on in the museum, so I think it worked out really well.
We did not hire a valet, so we got started about 15-20 minutes late because we had guests trickling in who had not left enough time to park. If you aren't going to help guests with parking, just remind them to try to arrive early.
If I could do it again, I would have chosen the eaxct same venue... the guests thought it was a cool space. Good luck and have fun!
PM me if you have any questions, I am not usually on the Knot.

BmoreBride311

Thanks Weezie for posting and thanks Bailey for all the tips!

It does seem like parking could be a nightmare, so I think we may rent buses to shuttle guests from our ceremony location (a church downtown). We were trying to decide if it's worth it, but it seems like it would be.

jenn&chad

We are having our ceremony in the garden and reception in the sculpture barn. I'm super excited!!! It's a great space if you're having a small-ish wedding, we're having around 90 people. And it's a beautiful space, decorating didn't really look necessary when we visited.