We got married in mid-May 2017, but I am going out of my way now to make sure Rebekah and Derek get the good review they deserve (really, we're so late!) (I am even writing this review second time because I accidentally clicked out of the form ...instead of hitting submit).
My wife and I got engaged in mid-November of 2016, so we only had six months to plan everything, which we did ourselves. When you only have six months to plan your wedding, you kind of need everything to work out on the first try. We chose Vintage Ballroom as our venue, which was the first thing we booked. Thanks to Rebekah's responsiveness and flexibility, we always felt secure in our decision.
Vintage Ballroom was super accommodating. We had both our ceremony and our reception there. They let us drop off and pick things up at convenient times, so that we didn't have to walk into our ceremony with our hands full, and we didn't have to evacuate straight after the reception. We also had a dance lesson as part of our reception, which was a breeze to orchestrate because Vintage Ballroom is a dance venue! It went like this: ceremony, move chairs over to tables, dance floor open, appetizers, dance lesson, dinner, more dancing and carousing...boom, done.
We had about 80 people and served plated meals (not buffet), and our caterers had all the space they needed. We also brought our own drinks (Rebekah did a great job bar tending for us), which saved money because then we returned what we didn't drink. Some of our guests drove for hours to downtown Omaha, so it was nice that we could use the parking structure right across the street (call City of Omaha ahead and set up a"bar tab" style account so you can pay for your guests' parking, which was cheap, although my goof-off relatives parked mostly in metered spots anyway). As a bonus, during spring (and probably summer) there were lovely ivies growing all over the side of the venue, so we took our family photos there. That was quite convenient, because where else in concrete-covered downtown can you find nice photo spots like that right at the venue? Would you rather walk in tux/dress to the new grass parking lot that used to be the Gene Leahy mall??
I totally recommend Vintage Ballroom. The venue was beyond cost-effective at hosting us, the space is authentic and intimate, and best of all: I never had any concerns or worries about our choice of venue. Throughout the planning process, I felt like no matter what choices we made for the other aspects of our wedding, our venue could make it work.
Thanks, you two!!