Finding a venue - WHY IS IT SO DIFFICULT

Some venues book up one, two, or even farther out. So you'd just have to find one that has your date available, or even possible change your date once you find a venue with availability.

Have you started visiting potential venues?

I had the same issue with booking 10 months out I kept researching and asking around

Until you have a venue you do not have a wedding date. Figure out your budget and guest count. That should help you narrow it down.

We are seeing our first set of venues this coming weekend. The difficulty there is that we live in Colorado and are trying for a Vermont or northern Mass. wedding....so visiting is going to be really difficult/on the backs of family in the venue area!

All that fit in the budget were keepers, all else I pitched. I wanted something near the water. Something that included a caterer and bar. List out what you want, and if they don't meet the requirements they are out. Process of elimination. I came to find out after joining WW that you don't have a date until you have a venue.

You and fh need to sit down and think:

What setting do we want?

How do you picture your day?

Do you want to do have some sort of amenity?

For us we visited about 8 of them before finding the one

We had an idea of what we wanted set in mind and I kid you not after we walked out we both turned and smiled at each other and we knew it was the one

It was like a movie

Oh and also keep budget in mind! And how many people you plan on having

I was in your boat once. We had the hardest time getting responses back! I was so frustrated and ready to give it a rest and then a person emailed... one I did not expect and offered several deals and really wanted our business. They were offering appetizers for a decent price but my big man said Hell no are we just having appetizers. So I told her that and she was giving me different options and finally we booked for $80 a person (3 course meal... beer,wine, & bubbly included!) and no charge for the space since it's a restaurant. We are beyond excited and the food is amazing.

You will find it! Don't give up! It's rough!! (;

We looked online and made a list. We made appointments at about 10 venues. We selected one and booked one of their available dates. Some of them look much different in person than they do in real life so visiting them is very important in making a decision.

We live in PA and were looking for a venue in the central NJ area - so like 2 hours from our house. Not as bad as CO and MA/VT but I feel your pain on not being to just swing by on a weekend.

Make a list of the venues you like/have heard back from/really want to see. Book appointments with them - leave an hour or more in between (or however long you need to drive between places) - try to group the ones close together into the same day. Then have a marathon weekend of venue shopping. You'll hate it by the end but you should hopefully be able to make a decision by the end of the weekend.

And you might have to be flexible with your date. I booked our October date back in late May and between the time I visited, then talked with my parents, and called the venue to book, all the September dates had been booked and there were only 2 October dates left.

Start with a budget and decide what your vision is. From there try the vendors tab on ww OR head over to the Knot.com and try their concierge service. That's how I found my venue and I love it!

Figure out your budget and then visit venues within your budget. Stay within your means so you dont fall in love with something you aren't able to afford.

This is an excellent scenario for a wedding planner. I know it's another expense, but good ones are worth their weight in gold. A planner will not only do the legwork for you, but identify venues you didn't know about. Out of state planning can be tough. Maybe give yourselves a break and get some help?

I also had to book out of state! We ended up just picking a few that looked good and would work, then calling all of them to request pricing and see if any of our dates were available. We had to settle for a date about a month earlier than we originally wanted, but we have a space and it ended up being beautiful and the staff is awesome to work with.

Some suggestions to narrow it down: first figure out your budget for the venue, then guest count. Then figure out if you want a venue that does their own food or not, because some of them require outside caterers. Then figure out if you want the ceremony at the same place, or somewhere else, and if so can the venue accomodate having a ceremony on site? Then narrow it further by amentities; do you want it to include linens and dishes and other rentals, because not all venues offer that. And then you can choose which one fits into the vision you have of your wedding from the remaining options (if they have your date available)!

After I did this I was left with 2 venues and it made my decision easy. Hope that helps!

Narrow your focus based on style of venue....for example if you're looking at farm venues as well as historic manors, that only makes it too all over the map to decide. Some have 360 or drone tours on the website.

AlwaysMs. offers a valid point, you can't go wrong with a qualified planner.

I tried so hard to get this date for 10/07/17, all the places we wanted were booked! Keep searching and asking around, it's a very popular date!

For me & FH it was about food. We LOVE cooking together and eating fantastic food, so we didn't want a "wedding factory" that has a couple events a day. We rented an entire restaurant, one downtown that we love, so they will only focus on our party. Decide what you want most, whether it's fabulous food or a to die for view - pick your #1 requirement and narrow it down from there.