I’m a writer - with ink under my fingernails, and the itch to write about everything I experience. Why should my wedding be any different?
So, when Jim and I divided up the To Do list he got all the house-related stuff, and planning the wedding fell to me. At that moment it was probably a done deal that I’d write about it.
I’d never planned a wedding before. Once upon a time, there was a wedding planned for me, but I was only allowed to select the wedding gown, the color of the flowers, and the groom.
Jim’s experience was similar. This would be our chance to plan the wedding we wanted. But, what did we want?
Armed with a diverse list of places we ventured forth. The only thing we knew for sure was that it was going to be a small wedding - less than 35 people. Of course, it started out a small wedding of less than 30 people, but that didn’t last long. If you can’t celebrate a wedding with the people you love, you might as well elope to Las Vegas.
It may surprise people that Albuquerque is actually a wonderful place for a destination wedding.
There is a wide range of lodging choices for out of town guests, reasonable prices, and the almost perfect weather for outdoor ceremonies. With the gorgeous Sandia (Watermelon) mountains as a backdrop, the scenery can be spectacular. Albuquerque doesn’t have huge wedding halls for “factory” style weddings or even small catering halls for one-at-a-time weddings. The result is a variety of settings that can provide a unique and special atmosphere.
So, in this series, I'll be reporting on each of the places we considered.
Los Poblanos Inn.
Combine beautifully restored historic buildings, the Sandia mountains in the background, lawns and flower-filled gardens and you have Los Poblanos Inn. Sitting in the rural Los Ranchos area, a quasi-independent neighborhood of Albuquerque, the city is nearby, but the Rio Grande flows just down the road.
They offer at least a half-dozen different outdoor locations for the ceremony, each quite beautiful, and several locations for the reception. If you rent the entire facility you can choose to have appetizers under the portal with the huge decorative pool, lawn, and mountain view, then go inside the restored ballroom for dinner and dancing. Of course, there are rooms available inside for an indoor ceremony, including the Library which boasts a fireplace perfect for a winter ceremony.
They also have a smaller room that can be rented separately which comes with its own garden options.
All food comes from the Inn. If you rent the entire place (excluding the rooms of the inn of course) there is a catering menu. If you choose the smaller (and less expensive) La Ventana room which is used by the guest-only restaurant, you’re limited to the menu of the restaurant. It’s not that the food isn’t delicious, but you can’t select it in advance, there’s a small selection of dishes, and the menu changes frequently.
Alcohol is limited to wine and beer. No hard liquor is permitted.
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