Ceremony Check List!

My must-have was for us to love the "bad weather back-up plan" as much as the original planned ceremony space. That way if we got rained out, it wouldn't be a bummer at all, just a change of plans! We plan on having an outdoor ceremony, but if weather won't allow that there's the cutest chapel at our venue that we can use instead.

I was also set on having a venue that was not all-inclusive, as the venues we toured that were had INSANELY priced required caterers. Thankfully, our venue is family-owned and very accommodating to anything we could possibly need. I love that so many of the vendors we've hired are really genuine people to work with, not some hoity toity snobby folks.

Your venue is stunning! I'm sure your pictures will be so beautiful!

My must have was to be married outside. I also really wanted a barn venue, but everything that we had looked at near us was so expensive for what it is. There just so happened to be a new barn venue about 20 minutes from us that opened this year. As soon as we walked in at their open house in June I almost cried I loved it so much! I could just see us getting married there and it ended up being in our price range, so it's like it was meant to be.

Congratulations on finding your dream venue!

View Quoted Comment That's definitely a solid "must have" and glad to hear it worked out! We had found an all inclusive venue through wedgewood Weddings but ended up changing. They're decently priced and nice locations. I just second guessed it cause my heart wasnt in it anymore.

View Quoted Comment Thank you so much!

And that's super exciting that after all the ones you couldn't go with, there was a new one waiting for you! Congrats on finding that gem.

For us it was important that it was convenient for everyone traveling in for our wedding. At first I had my heart set on having the reception at a brewery/ restaurant I really love. But after looking at the logistics I realized it wouldn't work. So we ended up going with a hotel/ ballroom. The hotel is rustic with an up north feel/ woodsy feel. They have a shuttle for going to the airport which was important to us. Across the street from my venue is another hotel (a Holiday Inn) so if folks want to stay there they can choose between my venue and there. Plus there are 2 or 3 other hotels in the area as well. Both of our families like to have a good time so to speak, so another big factor was that people can just go up to their hotel rooms and not have to worry about any transportation.

Your venue is beautiful. Glad you got exactly what you wanted. We wanted to get married on the beach where all of our guests could come and stay for the weekend and have fun and we did just that....in Clearwater, Florida

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Understandable! That's very smart. I was trying to accommodate that as well but it unfortunately didn't work out that well for me. I do have a couple hotel blocks but they're both about 15 mins away which still isn't too bad. Neither of them offer shuttle service. We might have to look into transportation but we'll figure it out.

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Sounds beautiful. We were going to do the beach too but it was going to be in Hawaii. Our parents talked us out of it. How, we still aren't sure. Now we're not even at a beach anymore lol but I'm still excited about it nonetheless!

That venue is epic! Love the indoor & outdoor spaces.

In Napa, we checked out venues with a wine cave—necessary for our pirate themed reception. But we also wanted a gorgeous outdoor spot for the ceremony. I had a feeling our #1 venue was one I saw online and both of us were obsessed with it. And we got it!

I think I’m going to have to end up settling but I’m fine with it. First venue is Beautiful my fiancé and I both loved it! But it was almost a 2 hour drive one way for his mother. And the guest we are only inviting to the dance/reception would have an hour drive one way. So we picked a closer venue only being 30 mins away from everyone not as gorgeous but still very pretty. Going back to the first one they would of made us pay for the rental of chairs, which the second wouldn’t of made us. Also the second place said they don’t have a food minimum you must spend like the first one!

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Thank you!! I can't wait to see it all decorated And that's so amazing that you guys got what you wanted! It's always a great feeling when things go as planned!

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That's totally understandable though. That drive definitely would have deterred me from choosing that venue as well. I love that you don't have to have a food minimum! That's definitely a plus.

View Quoted Comment Yes! We toured several venues and it’s the only one that didn’t have a minimum for food. So that will save us a lot of money!

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And saving the is most fun part of all lol

I really wanted all inclusive. I didn't want to have to worry about renting anything or having to set up all the chairs and tables! The more stuff included the less vendors I needed to hire! The next must have was for it NOT to be rustic. Barn weddings and rustic themes are super popular, and it is so not me. Finally, we needed to have enough space for our 300+ guest list! We ended up picking the venue based on sentimental value. A lot of my FH's family got married there, including his parents!! We almost went with a different place to be different. But I think it's more special that we stayed close to home!!

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We had all inclusive in the beginning but I started 2nd guessing the venue and my heart just wasn't in it anymore. Sometimes I regret it lol. I'm glad you ended up finding the perfect venue. Love the sentiment behind it.

We are having a party celebrating our 5th anniversary so very little pressure thankfully. I fell in love with a venue that reflected our styles perfectly and was above our fav Bier house lol so it was too perfect. They also wanted $2k more for so much less than our 2nd choice was offering. So we went with our choice #2. Beautiful private room in one of our fav restaurants down the block from our house and pretty much everyone else's. I think the longest drive for guests will be 40 min with like 90% of them taking a 15 min Uber. The room has floor to ceiling windows, a beautiful fire place and the food is to die for. Also top shelf open bar. So in some aspects I felt like I was settling (style, it being above our fav restaurant) and in others I didn't (location proximity, cost, amount of food, top shelf booze).
Your venue looks utterly beautiful!!!!! The inside room is stunning!!!

Your venue is gorgeous!

Our budget is around $13k-$15k so I wanted a non all-inclusive venue that was under $3,500 so I could have free reign over my vendors and decide which vendors to splurge on. I was mostly wanting a rustic or industrial type venue. The biggest must was that it had the ceremony & reception space inside (as our wedding is in February & I didn't want people to get cold). It also needed to fit 200+ people and just be a really pretty venue! I, also, really wanted somewhere I could rent for longer than just the day of the wedding too. Well, in my current city, I couldn't find anything that checked off all my boxes, but we ended up finding the perfect venue in a very small town about 10 minutes from FH's hometown! It's a 1920's building with exposed brick and old hardwood floors & hardwood on the ceiling. We're renting it for only $1,800, and that includes a Thursday-Saturday rental, tables, chairs, tablecloths, seat covers (that I'm not using), a sound system, and any decorations they have. We got such an amazing steal! I sacrificed getting married in my current town, which I really wanted, but I love my venue! We've been able to upgrade services or add on vendors and decorations because of the money we're saving getting married in a small town! The next metro area is around 30 minutes south west of the venue so there will still be a lot of things nearby for out of town guests to do!

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Thank you so much! Your venue sounds AMAZING and the fact that it's like down the street from your house is awesome.

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That's amazing and the venue sounds gorgeous! Sometimes giving up what we want has a positive result. That big save definitely helped with you being able to upgrade and add is great. Congrats on finding something you love!