Seeking a stellar wedding site

Matt and I started looking at venues a couple weeks ago. Thus far our favorite is the Phoenix Art Museum. It offers a couple options for outdoor ceremony sites (with indoor backups if it rains). One is a large courtyard with large scale sculptures off to the side. The other is at the front of the building with a cool, modern fountain (pictured).

We were pretty excited that we could have a couple of the galleries open during the cocktail reception. That way people can offer more than "her dress was pretty" and "I can't believe it's already this warm in April" for conversations.

The room for the reception has HIGH ceilings (it's two stories) and has large scale contemporary art on the walls (picture below). It as a polished limestone floor. It's a gorgeous room that wouldn't need a lot of attention to mesh with our wedding style.

So far the only hitch in having the Phoenix Art Museum is that we're required to use one of the preferred caterers. There are seven options, and I'm waiting on quotes from a couple. We also must use ARTenders for all liquor services. I know it's a quality company with great service, but I have no idea what kind of prices we're looking at. Contacting them is on the top of the list for this coming week.

We may also look at the Scottsdale Center for Performing Arts/Scottsdale Civic Center mall. They also require the use of perferred caterers (four options this time), but the rental fee is less. Also, this would give out-of-town guests many hotel options and have them staying in an area they would be more likely to roam at night. Scottsdale has a much more active "family-friendly" nightlife than downtown Phoenix.

Center mall. There are a handful of areas that would work, but most likely we'll go with tIf we went that route, we would hold our ceremony in the gardens of the Scottsdale Civic Center "fountain stage" area (see it). It's near the entrance to the Scottsdale Center for Performing Arts -- with a brick patio-style area in between -- and the set-up flows naturally for a ceremony.

We could then hold the cocktail hour in the brick patio area, and move into the Scottsdale Center for Performing Arts atrium for the reception (pictured, right). It's another art-themed area with really cool lighting.

Originally, I was considering Taliesin West -- Frank Lloyd Wright's Scottsdale home. After a few emails and phone calls, I got a hold of the manager there. He immediately told me they are unable to do wedding ceremonies (even if they are secular ceremonies). I asked about just doing the reception there. He said that was OK and said he would email me information. I asked for pricing, and instead got capacity lists and a contract with "agreed upon fee" in the price fields.

I'm ruling out Taliesin West. If this is how things are just getting information, I think I'm going to be frustrated working with the staff.

We haven't made any decisions. We still have others to check out. If you have any good ideas, feel free to share.