Weddingbee boards

I am looking for a nice place to have just a wedding ceremony in Albuquerque.  I already have a restaurant in mind for the reception but would like just a nice place to have the ceremony.  We would prefer a non religious cite.  Does anyone have any ideas? I would like to have the ceremony by the Rio Grande river but that doesn't seem possible.  I wouldn't mind a nice park or something with flowers and trees around.

Are you still looking?  I considered El Pinto for both ceremony and reception.  The have the most gorgeous outdoor site for a mid-size wedding.  Unfortunately, they don't do weddings less than 40 people (buffet style) so it was out for me. http://www.elpinto.com/

If you're looking for a quiter, one-stop-shop, check out the Heritage House bedand breakfast.  http://www.albuquerquebedandbreakfasts.com/  It has a nice little backyard and would save you A TON!  I mean it....A TON!  BYOB, everything!  Plus, you can  rent out the entire bed and breakfast for practically nothing with the price of the ceremony.  One of the owners is ordained, AND they cater with the Artichoke Cafe!  We had to nix it due to out-of-town family dynamics which we could rather dilute rather than concentrate...

If you're willing to travel to Santa Fe... I also recommend looking at the Randall Davey Audobon Center. http://www.audubon.org/chapter/nm/nm/rdac/center/FacilitiesRental.html  If I had my way...my fiance and I would be eloping under a beautiful tree there. ;)  It could be expensive to if you wanted to have your reception there as well with caterers and rental, but I thought it would be nice to head back to SF to a nice restaurant for dinner/reception.  Anyway, it's definitely worth a day trip to check it out!

 We also checked out Casa de Suenos (old town)  http://www.casasdesuenos.com/Weddings_and_Receptions.html and Hacienda Dona Andrea http://www.hdasantafe.com/ which were also very beautiful.

Anyway, we ended up switching to a Christmas wedding, so all these venues were pretty much out.  We decided on La Posada in Santa Fe and so far could not be more pleased.  Definitely not the cheapest option, but since we're keeping the guest list small and intimate, I could not imagine a better wedding venue considering that it comes with the most amazing "day-of" events coordinator.  They also have beautiful outdoor ceremony options.  http://laposada.rockresorts.com/weddings/index.asp

I think it really depends on what you're looking for...how big is your wedding?  I may have a few more ideas, but I focused mainly on places that would cater to smaller guest lists.

I hope this helps someone still seaching!

Thanks for that info.  I am still looking for a place to have just a ceremony.  I already have a place for the reception in mind in Albuquerque.  The place we are thinking of is Zinc in Nob Hill.  It's not set in stone but it is what my fiance and I would prefer because it has special meaning for us.  We are expecting around 75 people to attend and we would prefer to not have the ceremony at a church.  It would be much easier to have the ceremony and the reception at the same place but that wont be possible if we want to have the reception at Zinc.  Any other ideas?

Thanks!