After getting engaged, my fiancé and I took a couple of weeks for it to sink in. Once we where ready, we reached out to our church and started to look for venues. I can't even remember, but somehow we saw Memory Lane's open house and we decided to check them out. We had a tour by Thalia and after we left we decided to call them back and take advantage of the open house special. We fell in love with the rustic, yet sophisticated, look of the reception hall. We fell in love with the outdoor grounds with the luscious trees and pool, plus the beautiful guest house was included with overnight accommodations.
The staff has wedding planning down to include every detail. We visited the venue probably 3 times after booking, and the last meeting helped the staff to ensure all my dreams and wishes came true. Most of my vendors were new to them, thus the extra visits out there. Their flexibility with the vendors helped us keep the budget in check. After looking for a day-of-coordination, ML not only had the best deal, but I was confident I could count on their experience.
On our wedding day 8/1/15, we got married in a church in downtown Austin, and then we had everyone drive out to Memory Lane. It was a bit of a drive, but we knew that our guests would love it out there. We arrived at ML just in the nick of time, as per our timeline. ML staff helped me adjust my dress for the reception and off we were to be announced as husband and wife into the reception hall. I felt so lucky to have worked with Thalia, Gaby, and Uleta. Due to the hot Texas heat (over 100 degrees) we set up a cocktail hour in the lodge (in the guests cabin), but we also set up cocktail tables outside the reception hall next to the Margarita/Piña Colada bar. We also set up a cornhole game on their lawn, and a cigar hour outdoors.
The Mariachi band started on cue, and dinner buffet was ready. I literally had "My Big Fat Mexican Wedding" at ML. I wasn't expecting any dancing during dinner, but my family got really excited with the Mariachis, that the dancing started right away. We also did the traditional "Vibora de la Mar", which ML staff had never experienced before. It involves the groom and bride standing on chairs and creating a bridge, while all the ladies create a super fast Congo line that goes all around the entire reception hall. The ML staff was extremely attentive out all the needs and wants throughout the entire night, they were all smiles, which to me was super important that they appeared approachable to my family, guests, and vendors. All my guests had a wonderful time.
We loved being able to invite our guests to hangout a little longer at the after party at the guests house. We took full advantage of the pool and hot tub. I highly recommend having people willing to help clean up, we are super thankful that our wedding party ensure we left everything as required by ML.
My only concern was the following: they advertised a capacity of 250, but I was sweating it. After looking at the table layout, I was hoping we only had 220 rsvp's. We were able to squeeze 24 tables (240 guests), but it was tight. It all worked out at the end. Since it was buffet style, we set up two buffet tables (one at the back of the dance floor), which was dismantled after dinner.
We also used their rental company for the additional tables, chairs, and linens. Their service included setup and take down, which we truly appreciated.
Thalia and Gaby were amazing at listening and catering to my wishes to ensure we would have a memorable wedding day. Their day-of-coordination services were everything and more than I expected. Overall, the place and the staff were exceptional. We loved celebrating our big day at Memory Lane. read more