Sandy:

Fort Steele Heritage Town hosts weddings in several of its original and
reproduction Victorian buildings.  It is a popular aspect of the site, and
does produce some revenue.  The question always is, is the cash flow and
public relations worth the wear and tear.  Weddings tend to be very happy
events, and can be interpretive as well in a situation such as ours.  As a
spectacle everyone likes to partake.  Our visitors are comfortable with well
done weddings in the height of visitation.  But when we hit a sour one, with
people smoking and trying to run cars onto the site and electronic music,
then things take on a bit of a different caste.

My personal feeling is that weddings can be a very positive feature for an
historic site, art gallery, science centre or any form of museum.  The
participants are intending to put on a show and produce a memorable event.
The institution should have a pricing schedule in place that guarantees
compliance with site policies.  Instead of a $300 wedding, encourage a $3 or
4,000 package.  Provide the expertise to decorate the place appropriate to
the period of interpretation, incorporate forms of entertainment and
behavious congreuent with interpretive policies, and help the wedding party
be the centre of a spectacular public event, which is what they want in any
case.





At 04:55 PM 6/2/97 GMT, you wrote:
>Two questions, we would like comments on:
>
>1).  Do you allow wedding receptions in your galleries?
>
>2).  What do you think of wedding receptions in galleries?
>
>
>Thanks,
>Sandy Moore
>Systems/Network Administrator
>The Toledo Museum of Art
>2445 Monroe Street
>Toledo, OH  43620
>419-255-8000
>[log in to unmask]
>
>

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Fort Steele Heritage Town
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