Help! Not in love with any of my venues!

I don’t think you have to be in love with a venue. You can do so much to it with set-up and decorations. Focus on what fits your budget, fits the size, and is most convenient. (Both location and layout with restrooms, bridal changing room, etc)

I think it is nicer if the guests can first enjoy the ceremony and then celebrate afterwards with you. The reception can be in a barn or a palace. The main thing is that the celebration can happen. If they are not snobbish, they should be fine.

I wasn't in love with my venue either until I actually went and toured the place. I originally wanted my venue inside and this was outdoors. But it was absolutely gorgeous. SO peaceful and quiet. Plus, I would consider the best bang for your buck. My venue provided a lot of resources that other venues did not, so it was a no-brainer.

What is that you don't love? If it's just that you don't love them but they are fine, I would say go ahead and book it. If it's something specific like you are looking for a beachfront and none of them are then I would try to find what you're looking for but it sounds like you've explored your options.

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Ballrooms just seem very stiff and less intimate to me. It is ok if I have a large guest count but mine is less around 60-70.

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In that case, I personally don't feel that's reason enough to reschedule. Especially if you don't want to change your date, you should just focus on the decor you prefer and get things booked.

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Really? I'll have to plan the wedding in three months if I decide to do this. Is that doable? The other option is summer but it can only be a destination wedding if we decide to postpone..

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Only you and your FS know what's best for you but planning a destination wedding in 6 months doesn't sound like much less work than planning a local wedding in 3. Regardless, I'd commit to a venue asap.

Maybe you’re more of an untraditional wedding person? Have you checked out museums, zoos, aquariums, libraries, historic homes, brewery/winery, etc? Any money is a lot to spend if you’re not wild about your venue. Maybe keep it small (less than 25 people) and see if one of these venues can offer a weekday or Sunday “small wedding package” so you can get married quickly without stress?

View Quoted Comment It’s the hospitality and the guests that make a party warm and inviting, not the four walls. If the space is too large for your numbers that’s more a function of size. Many ballrooms can be subdivided so I’d ask about that. Sometimes they will offer other solutions such as bringing in decor to fill the room. If it’s in the budget that’s also something a florist or event designer can offer.


If you have the venue you can plan a wedding in three months time if you are flexible on vendors, dress selection etc.

Have you looked outside the box at other venue options? The venue we found is only found on 1 of 10 lists of venue options, and none of the big names such as TheKnot/WeddingWire list it at all. Take a look at Peerspace, Splacer, VenueReport.com and Yelp which have different venues listed than WeddingWire’s venue list. If we had only had WeddingWire or Eventective.com to browse through, there were a couple venues that we would have settled on and not been happy because the rest didn’t work (not our style, too expensive, all inclusive venues that don’t allow any flexibility or choice, etc). Even then, the ones we liked aesthetically still had things wrong we were not willing to settle on: too expensive, too many restrictions.


Also keep in mind, that having a vow renewal on a separate day with a party following is much more expensive and extra work organizing than having the entire legal and ceremonial event on the same day.