How about The Jewel Box??

JennyLane78

Hi there! Getting married in October 2010 and am highly considering The Jewel Box. Any input would be great! Thanks!

lillianchameleon

It looks beautiful.  Try and book it less than a yr in advance... its only $500 that way!

aprilrose975

We are getting married at the jewel box 12/19/09.  The only thing I am worried about is they book three weddings on saturdays so I hope we have enough time.  They only set up chairs the rest is up to you, and it all has to be done in the allotted time they give you. 

jeffloveslaura

If you are considering it, call now. I booked mine two years in advance and October is a popular month. Rarely can you book the Jewel Box less than a year away. A few tips -- They will drain the ponds in front if there is a freeze. There is no specific date, it depends on the weather. Early October should be fine. One year they drained them by the 12th of Oct and there were dead lily pads at the bottom! This is what helped us determined our wedding date. They are on a strict time line. You get 90 minute time slot -- that's it. Even though we were the last wedding of the day, there was a reception scheduled after us. You could always book two time slots, but it will cost you double. That being said, I thought our wedding was beautiful and the accoustics (sp) for the music were incredible. There is lots of greenery and flowers. We rented an arch from our florist and he decorated it -- we used that as our alter.

aprilrose975

-jeffloveslaura How strict are they with the candle policy.  I have  a DIY unity candle.  I really like it but I just read that open flames are not allowed.  There is really no way to use a hurricane glass or anything becuase the candles are square.  Guess what I am asking is will there be jewel box staff there watching every move we make.So sorry to thread-jack you JennyLane

jeffloveslaura

Although my husband and I opted not to do the unity candle, our wedding planner invited us (with bride's permission) to take a peak at a wedding being set up (we were nervous about setting up and having ceremony in only 90 minutes as well as getting guests back out the door). Anyway, although they are strick about open flames, I think it was really more about not having aisle/pew candles (which I really wanted). The wedding we saw being set up they had a unity candle with flame. I think that might be the only exception to the "no open flame" rule. No really wedding police there -- just the guy who sets up the chairs and he's really nice.

JennyLane78

Wow-thanks! The 90-minute time frame was my biggest concern (aside from my date/time slot being open). We do have a larger guest list-max 250-but I do only expect about 175-200 to possibly show up to the actual ceremony. We're different religions so we thought having a nondenominational/shorter ceremony would be ideal for our taste. But finding a location has been a bit of a challenge because of the how big the locations are. This is stressful!

jeffloveslaura

We had about 200 people there. It was fine; not too crowded and they crank the AC so the temp was comfortable. As concerned as I was about the 90 minute turn around, I was reassured to just let the professionals (florist mostly and muscians set up) do their thing and it will all work out. It did. Everything went flawlessly. We were able to take pictures in the gardens to the east before the wedding as well as inside. We opted to get married facing the ivy/brick wall, then when the ceremony was over we walked out the front doors past the ponds and set up our receiving line. Best wishes! Hope it works out for you date-wise.

samnbritt2010

I would call asap if you have not already. I called them a few weeks ago and the man told me that they are booked up from almost march through oct. Call them if you haven't bc you never know when someone may cancel! Good Luck!

CJSmiles2010

I would also consider Saint Louis County Parks for areas. They are way more budget costly. You can reserve upto 4 hours for only $15 an hour. I reserved Jefferson Barracks Laborer's House Garden for September 2010. I wanted Bee Tree Park Mansion Garden but my time slot was taken. Where ever you do want, reserve as quickly as possible, other bride's are booking too.