Today, we begin our short series of venues considered, but ultimately not chosen. We’ll start with one of my favorite settings – lofts.
We looked at several loft spaces in Manhattan. Nearly all of them made my fiance and I drool, with volume of saliva varying depending on the space itself.
Sun West Studios
This place, like most of others on this list, is usually used for photo shoots during the week, and events on the weekends. It’s on the far west side of Manhattan, and looks west towards New Jersey. If you check out the virtual tours on their site, you’ll get a better sense of the space.
The coolest things about this space was that you’d be able to see the sunset from the reception area, a neat little terrace that looks out to the NYC skyline, and these giant metal gates that can be brought down to separate the different rooms. It had a pseudo-industrial feel to it (especially in the building’s lobby area, which is g-h-e-t-t-o), but both of us were okay with that rawness, though me more so than the little lady.
Gary’s Loft
I had heard about this place from a blog. Again, this space is usually used for photo shoots. When we went to visit, there were a few location scouts there scoping out the place.
This space actually has two floors – the 11th and 12th floors (penthouse). They’re connected by a stairwell, but the layouts of each floor are the same. We actually thought the space was really cool. They had a kitchen, bathtub and shower all incorporated into the physical space. Also, the roof was really rough looking, which I loved. 
Plus, it had these skylights that had a full-on view of the Empire State Building.
Still, as much as we liked it, the layout just didn’t work for the number of guests/style we were thinking of doing. The weddings they’ve done in the past usually had long rectangular tables. Since we want to do round tables, it would’ve meant that half the party would’ve been invisible to the other half (wrap-around corner, you know).
The Westside Loft
This space was near the other lofts. Unlike the others, it didn’t look like it was used much for photo shoots – mostly events. The space was very open, which was a plus. But, it was on the 4th or 6th floor of the building, which meant there really wasn’t much of a view (unless you count the under-construction building across the street).
Of all the loft spaces we looked at, this produced the least enthusiasm, as evident from my dearth of words.
Studio 450
In contrast, this space, which is also owned by the same people as Westside Loft, was probably our favorite. It’s actually in the same building as Sun West, but it had the top floors.
I’ll have to admit, I was, um, VERY excited the moment I walked in. You see, this space actually had two floors. The first floor had windows on three sides, looking west, south and east. The other thing that jumped out at us was the space was white. Really, really white. The floor, walls, window trim, ceiling, furniture, etc., were all white. We got there a little before sunset, so the space was bathed in light, and we loved it.
The amount of space was huge. On that floor, there was more than ample room for a ceremony and to have the reception. For the cocktail hour, there was actually another space — upstairs on the roof lounge. The roof lounge had windows on all four sides, and had a wrap-around deck as well. So, if you could imagine it – you could see the sunset, and then look up into the lights of the NYC skyline at night, relax in the lounge, or out on the deck.
(I know I’m sounding like an infomercial, but I really liked the space. 
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In the end, though, we didn’t choose this place for a number of reasons. First and foremost was cost. Also, since everything was white, there was the danger of my fiance blending in too much. (It would’ve been like watching a floating face. Scary!) That meant we’d need to spend a lot to create a decor (though I’ve heard the argument to just keep the space raw). Nevertheless, if I ever find the excuse and money to one day do another event, I will want to do it here.
On the next edition of Venue Search, we’ll talk about spaces near Union Square.
