Not only has the library become one of the Hub’s hottest wedding sites, but in rebranding itself as a “destination’’ venue - for all sorts of private events - it’s also pulling in some badly needed cash.
Over the past three years, budgets have been frozen or trimmed and staff positions reduced. Sunday closings, scheduled to take effect this fall, were canceled by the library board just last week. Every revenue source helps, and hosting weddings is proving to be a fine romance between institutional cachet and economic opportunity.
“It feels like you’re being married in a fairy tale,’’ says Howarth, who married her husband, Dean, last September before 160 guests in the library’s courtyard, which features an arcaded promenade, a fountain, and a bronze cast statue. “It’s a dream location, an oasis in the middle of a bustling city.’’
While the library’s Copley Square branch has hosted weddings for at least a decade, business is now officially booming. From two dozen weddings in fiscal year 2010, bookings soared to 54 in fiscal 2011. During prime wedding season, May through October, two or more weddings per weekend has become routine, according to library officials.
Current bookings extend into 2013, despite virtually no marketing on the BPL’s part. Bridal magazines and word of mouth - seriously, you can get married at the public library? - are doing that job quite nicely. For free.
“This is one of the most architecturally distinctive buildings in the world, so why not use it?’’ says Amy Ryan, BPL president. Ryan acknowledges that the library has needed to become more entrepreneurial in tough economic times, having eliminated 90 staff positions over the past two years to cut costs.
