Houston means that I'm one step closer to you

April 30, 2008 3:10 PM

What is the most beautiful publicly-available place in Houston?

The babymama and I are going to get married, casually and quickly, with just a dozen of our closest friends/family to stand around and watch. We'd like to do this in a pretty outdoor setting, around 10 am on a Sunday in June. In Houston, not the most gorgeous of settings. Anyone got any ideas?

posted by pomegranate to home & garden (15 comments total)

The Japanese Garden is nice. I almost got married there but we just went to the JP.

There is also Marmion Park in the Heights. It is really pretty. I also has a gazebo.

Then there is the the Menil campus. It is really nice. The Rothko Chapel is there too.
posted by nimsey lou at 3:22 PM on April 30, 2008

Mercer Botanic Gardens (technically it's in Humble) should have blooms in June, and the Japanese Gardens in Herman Park are always serene, if a bit small. Congratulations!
posted by found dog one eye at 3:22 PM on April 30, 2008

How about Houston Garden Center next to the Museum of Natural Science. Friends got married there and it was very nice.

However, anywhere in Houston in June is gonna be hot.
posted by beowulf573 at 3:24 PM on April 30, 2008

photo/info of Marimion Park
posted by nimsey lou at 3:25 PM on April 30, 2008

The Japanese garden in Hermann Park would answer the first part of your question, but I am not certain if you can get married there. It's absolutely gorgeous, and in a couple of weeks there'll be lots of little ducklings walking around there, too.

I used to play in a string quartet at weddings, and at least several couples got married at the little plaza across the street from the Mecom Fountains on Main and Montrose (also right by Hermann Park, across the street from the ZaZa Hotel. It's a beautiful location for photos, but for a ceremony it seems rather unsuitable, with all the noise from the cars, strong winds, mosquitoes because of the nearby water, etc.

A few couples married outdoors in suburban parks--think artificial lakes and golf carts. Those were lovely every time, to be honest, at it was significantly more tranquil--if you have friends or parents living in one of those gigantic suburban subdivisions, it might be worth to ask them to use the semi-public spaces.

I see brides and wedding parties on the Rice University campus all the time throughout the school year. It is the most popular destination for wedding pictures in Houston, but I've seen at least one small ceremony here, too. You can rent the chapel at Rice University for something like $100, by the way--this might only be available to people associated with my alma mater--but it's worth asking, because everything looks particularly lush and beautiful right now.
posted by halogen at 3:29 PM on April 30, 2008

Your wedding photographer will have lots of ideas, since they like to take pictures of people at pretty places.
posted by Pants! at 4:31 PM on April 30, 2008

Drive an hour to the coast and you could have a wedding on the beach. Bryant Beach St. Park is nicer than Galveston, IMO.

What about the waterwall over by the galleria (in front of williams tower)? I don't know who owns it, or how much it would cost, but the pictures would be spectacular.
posted by chrisamiller at 4:41 PM on April 30, 2008

Ditto Chris Miller's coast suggestion. Galveston's 45 minutes away and there are some great secluded spots on either the far East or West Ends of the island. And Galveston's breezier and never as hot as the mainland come summertime. Let me know if you decide to do this and I can give you some more specific information.
posted by resurrexit at 5:26 PM on April 30, 2008

(And congrats on your pending nuptials.)
posted by resurrexit at 5:27 PM on April 30, 2008

Y'all are so rocking.

We had originally planned on Galveston/Bolivar Peninsula, but, a band we are beyond obsessed with is playing the night before in Houston, and we don't think we can make it that far /get everything set up there by 10 am.

This is a very short ceremony starring two middle-aged dykes just wanting to celebrate/clarify our very long-term situation in front of people we love. My sister is the "minister" and no one is wearing white or saying a mass. If we're outside for twenty minutes I'd be surprised.

The photographer will be my ex-girlfriend, and we're having the reception brunch at her place off Montrose/West Gray, so Museum district or downtown would be great.

I keep hoping there's some hidden grotto of beauty that would just blow people away - we are all long-time Houstonians so we've gotten used to living in the Cleveland of the South, so few sublime moments of surprising landscape in this town, other than in backyards.
posted by pomegranate at 6:50 PM on April 30, 2008

Wow... Poi Dog. I saw them ages ago (late 80s/early 90s) at Fitz. I thought the floor was going to collapse with all the jumping. Awesome show.

Congrats.
posted by nimsey lou at 8:00 PM on April 30, 2008

The Bayou Bend park off Memorial Pkwy has that beautiful english-garden-shmancy manacured appeal. Gazebos and stuff. The estate was the late Houston legend Ima Hogg's mansion, and she donated it to MFAH when she passed away.
posted by hybridvigor at 8:44 PM on April 30, 2008

seconding the menil collection grounds. congratulations!
posted by ncc1701d at 9:16 PM on April 30, 2008

Rice or the University of Houston?
posted by GPF at 5:57 AM on May 1, 2008

Hey there - thanks for the suggestions! As an update, we looked long and hard at the Grove Restaurant at Discovery Green, and at the pergola around the corner at a little pocket park, but in the end we decided on the garden area at The Daily Review. Muchas Gracias to all.
posted by pomegranate at 9:51 AM on May 6, 2008