Congratulations!

Congratulations on your engagement!

Ok, we know that every reader may not be engaged -- but 'tis the season of wonderful engagements so we know odds are in favor that you were recently engaged! Now that the excitement of your engagement day is over, you are probably wondering where to start. We hope this will give you some guidence on the wonderful world of wedding planning. Below are (what we believe to be) the most important and crucial first steps of planning your wedding.

1) Set a budget. A thorough budget. It's important to figure out in the grand scheme what you can and are willing to spend. It is also important to break that figure down into what you can spend on flowers, cakes, food, beverages, and so on.

2) Find a place. Some couples set the date first. We believe it's more important to find your ceremony/reception place that you love and find out what their availability is. When looking at your ceremony location, make sure the officiant/pastor/minister of your choice is available. Try to get an agreement with that person to make sure you have them.

3) Set a date. Once you know that both the ceremony location and reception location are available, lock in those dates! In some areas (especially in South Eastern Wisconsin) churches and reception venues can book up fast!

4) Start spreading the word! Get Save the Dates out so your guests can start planning ahead.

After those crucial steps you can relax a bit and focus in on the details. Try to get your vendors lined up right away, including DJs, photographers, videographers, florists, bakeries and caterers if needed. Hopefully once you get closer to the big day you'll only have last minute details to worry about.

Still feeling overwhelmed? There are TONS of resources out there to help keep your wedding organized. There are books, websites and many different ways to get it all straight! We highly recommend putting together a binder to keep all of your inspiration pictures, pamphlets and contracts together.

Regardless of where you are with your planning we wish you the best with your wedding festivities!

Holiday Shopping is Here!

The Holidays are here! If you are still searching for a gift for the impossible person to shop for, we may have the solution for you!

Veterans Terrace Memorial Bricks make a wonderful and memorable present for your loved ones. Memorial Bricks are not just to honor or remember Veterans, either. (although we love those bricks!) If you have a son or daughter getting married at Veterans Terrace, why not donate a brick that has their names and wedding date on it? If you have a grandpa or grandma that has too much "stuff" maybe they would enjoy a brick in their honor! Did your parents get married at the old "Vets Building" 30 some years ago? Maybe they'd enjoy a brick to remember their day.

The best part: Veterans Terrace hosts two brick laying ceremonies per year that the gift receivers can attend! On Memorial Day and Veterans Terrace of every year Veterans Terrace will invite those that have donated bricks to reveal their memorial bricks.

To purchase a Memorial Brick, please click here. Memorial Bricks are considered tax deductible donations. A receipt will be provided once your brick is purchased.

Fall Wedding

On October 24, 2009 Veterans Terrace hosted a lovely Wedding Reception for 220 guests. Thank you to Ideal Impressions Photography of Lake Geneva for providing the wonderful images below.
The group brought in red spot lights to go against the walls behind the head table. This added so much drama to the room.

Catering was provided by Courtyard Catering by Gooseberries.

Compliments to Chef Mike & staff for a job well done!

Candelbras added great depth to the room.

The group rented out some fun table cloths that incorporated the color scheme.

Friday Weddings

We receive quite a few inquiries about Friday weddings from our brides. As we all know the typical day to get hitched is a Saturday; however the trend has been moving towards other days of the week. When considering exactly which day to have your wedding, there are a couple of things you should remember.

First your guests will likely have to work on a Friday. The most important thing a Friday bride can do when she chooses her date is send a save the date out right away! Make sure that the save the date has the word Friday clearly written on it. Your guests can then plan their schedules accordingly. The next big step is to communicate the Friday date to all guests that are required to attend. Your bridal party, parents, immediate family, and flower girls / ring bearers and their parents will be happy you considered their schedules.

Image Courtesy of Ideal Impressions Photography.

Instead of having the rehearsal on that Thursday night, consider having it the Saturday prior to the wedding. You are not required to have the rehearsal the night before the wedding. A perk to having the rehearsal on a Saturday night is that your wedding party can celebrate and not have to worry about the wedding the next day! You can also make the rehearsal dinner the start of a fun wedding week. Perhaps the next Sunday the parents of the groom can host a barbeque. The rest of the week could be spent participating in fun events in anticipation of the big day. Invite your guests to a local baseball game, have an evening pool party, or gather a group to play a fun sport. The average Saturday wedding goes by so fast – why not extend your festivities to an entire week?

When Friday comes around, consider starting the ceremony later in the evening. There is nothing more romantic than a ceremony at sunset on a lake. Your guests may still be able to get a work day in if your ceremony starts later. If you choose to have a later ceremony, make sure you have hors’ doeuvres ready soon after. Your guests will be hungry! If you choose to have the ceremony early, you may see a smaller crowd at the ceremony and quite a few more at the reception. In that case consider video-recording your nuptials and have it playing on repeat at the reception for those who missed it.

We have not even hit the best part of having a Friday wedding: the savings! Many wedding vendors, including Veterans Terrace, offer great discounts to a couple that have their wedding on Friday. Since this still is not a typical day to getting married, it will be easy to negotiate better pricing and discounts.

Regardless of your selected date for your nuptials, we hope you have a wonderful time planning the biggest day of your life!

Meghan Peterson
Events Manager

First Event

On Friday August 28, 2009 Veterans Terrace hosted its first wedding. The ceremony was held in Memorial Terrace followed by dinner and dancing in Liberty Hall. It rained and poured the entire day all the way up to about one hour before the ceremony. Lorena and Tony were so fortunate to say their vows with such a beautiful setting.

We wish Lorena and Tony all of the happiness for the rest of their lives.

Open House

We are so excited that our Open House is just a few short days away. Veterans Terrace at Echo Park will finally open its doors after many years of hard work and generous contributions.

Our ceremony will start at 2:00 p.m. on August 30, 2009. Following the ceremony we will open our doors for the community to view our beautiful meeting spaces. Our staff and board will be available to answer any questions you may have on hosting your next event at Veterans Terrace. From weddings, class reunions, holiday parties, birthday parties, and anniversary parties - Veterans Terrace is a magnificent new building to host your next event.

Below are just a few pictures to give you a sneak peak of the (almost) finished product!

Business After Hours

The Burlington Chamber of Commerce held its Business After Hours at the new Veterans Terrace on Thursday, July 16, 2009. Attendence was much more than anticipated at more than 100 chamber members, their spouses, and guests. The common comment of the evening was "I never expected it to be this beautiful!"

While the building still is not quite complete, guests were able to get an even better idea of what the building will soon be. At this point of construction, we are happy to say that the only remaining items on our "to do" list are fairly cosmetic, i.e. laying carpet and installing ceiling tiles. Business After Hours guests were treated to tasty samples from Veterans Terrace preferred caterers, Charcoal Grill, Courtyard Catering and Stowell's Catering. Guest also enjoyed drinks with compliments from Veterans Terrace. Local businesses donated door prizes for select guests to enjoy. Thank you to AmericInn of Burlington, Baymont Inn and Suites, Euphoria Day Spa, Madcap Music, Minuteman Press, Pepsi and Richter's Sentry for their generous donations.
On August 30, 2009 Veterans Terrace will host its Open House for the community. The Open House will have a variety of fun-filled activities for all to enjoy. We will post additional information on this anticipated event as we get closer to the big day.
Thanks again to all who attended the Business After Hours and we hope to see you soon!

William Smitz
General Manager

Happy Fourth of July!

We hope you will spend this weekend grilling out with good friends, going to the park with your children, and enjoying some wonderful firework displays. In short, enjoy your freedom to do whatever you wish to do! At Veterans Terrace, we feel we have even more reason to celebrate a holiday such as the fourth of July.

The old Vets Building was built in 1963 as a sign of gratitude from our community to all of those who have defended our freedom since the beginning of our nation. With donations from generous citizens and companies throughout Wisconsin, Veterans Terrace has transformed to a beautiful, state of the art community building with the focus still lying in honoring our Veterans. We will continue to enjoy hosting the various Veterans groups at this wonderful new building.

We are also fortunate that some of our brides and grooms have either served or are serving in the United States Army today. It is touching when a bride explains that her groom is in Iraq or Afghanistan and will come home to a wonderful wedding at Veterans Terrace. What a great home-coming that Veterans Terrace has the honor to be a part of!

This weekend and throughout the year, we encourage you to remember all of the sacrifices men and women in this country have given to allow us to celebrate our freedom.

Happy Fourth of July!
The Staff at Veterans Terrace

Grand Opening!

Save the Date

Construction of the building is smooth sailing at Veterans Terrace. We are scheduled to open EARLIER than anticipated!

To celebrate the start of a new phase from the old “Vets Building” to the new Veterans Terrace, we will open our doors to the community on August 30, 2009. We invite you to stop by and take a tour of this magnificent new building.

Veterans Terrace will lay the first group of memorial bricks, donated to the building by generous citizens and businesses in the area. Come see where your brick will be laid on August 30! There is still time to take part in the brick program, please visit http://www.veteransterrace.com/ or send us an e-mail.

We will have other fun activities going on at the open house, do not miss out!

See you on August 30.

William Smitz
General Manager

It's Beginning to Look a lot like....

Holiday Party Planning Season!

Whenever it starts to get warm out, the first thing we think about is Winter! November is just five months away. Now is the time to book your holiday party at Veterans Terrace at Echo Park. Below are five reasons to book your holiday party at Veterans Terrace!

• Your colleagues, friends, and family will be so happy you chose a beautiful new building that had $5 million in renovations done to it.
• You will feel good being part of a building that was built by your community for your community.
• You will love the cozy atmosphere, there is even a fireplace to enjoy in the cold winter months!
• The winter views of Echo Park and Echo Lake are unparalleled.
• You know that this community building is not for profit - any revenues made by the building are donated to the Burlington Community Fund-- what a great way to help give back during the Holiday Season!

Call Veterans Terrace today at 262.763.9400. Or click here to e-mail us!

William Smitz
General Manager