How long did it take you to find a venue

I spent about two months researching and sending inquiries and then picked the second one we toured.

We got engaged August 1, and booked our venue September 1. The main reason we did it so quickly was because we wanted to get married in September 2019 and a lot of venues book over a year out. I researched a lot and had a list of 6-7 I wanted to tour and we stopped after our 3rd because it was perfect. I recommend making a list of your priorities/requirements for the venue, then pro-con lists for the ones you visit. That helped me a lot.

We booked our first one. While we did not get exactly what we envisioned, they do not offer it anymore so that is beyond our control. It kind of came together fast and it was different.

I probably would have been in the same position as you though. I am not a fan of catering halls so I would have looked at that last. What do you envision? What are the places you have looked at so far? Maybe you need to expand your search of venues because maybe what you are looking at you do not like in general.

I got engaged February 16 and toured 3 venues. The first I saw alone which I hated. The second we saw together and loved the price but it just wasnt us. Now the 3rd was just breathtaking. A tad bit out of our budget but it was just so beautiful and knowing our date was available it was a no-brainer! We booked 3/10/19. I guess its just a matter of you touring as many venues as you want until you find that perfect one. Happy hunting and congrats!

Got engaged in October, booked venue in Jan, so 3 months total.

We were engaged for exactly a month when we finally settled on ours. I cried once after leaving a place I loved but just was not a good fit for us price wise. Once we toured the venue we ended up choosing I kept thinking back to that one & comparing it to the others. That’s how we knew that was the venue we were going to pick. We toured 5 or 6 venues I believe!

Engaged in October 2018. Looked at 2 places in March. Loved the second venue and booked it that same day.

Don't be discouraged. I spent about a month just researching and emailing. Then proceeded to set up 6 or 7 visits with in a two week timespan (FH is only home for two weeks at a time and I wanted him to like the venue as well). We drove all over Texas.
We liked the first one, but it was on the very edge of our "within 2 hours of the house" range. Looked at about 4 others weren't impressed. The 5th topped the 1st as it was closer and had an absolutely beautiful outside ceremony site. But I didn't like the plan B/reception hall very much. 6th had -everything- we wanted and more. We both drove away knowing we loved it. It was on the higher end of our price range though. Went to the last and it was nice but -way- out of our price range and was a more summer camp type setting.
So we sat down, talked about it, and went with number 6! Deciding to spend a little more than we had budgeted for our venue.
It'll take some time, but you will find it! Don't be too bummed out!

Got engaged in September of 2018 and really started research toward the end of Oct. did a lot of research to get information before even scheduling tours went in a couple and in booked our venue in Nov. we did a tour loved the place because we kept comparing it to others we saw and knew that one was it! Only saw two in person

We got engaged in November & picked our venue in January. We toured 2, with 2 others scheduled, but ended up picking the 2nd venue and canceling the last 2. We just knew that our venue was where we were meant to get married. The vibe was exactly what we were looking for. They had 1 Saturday October 2019 date left, which is what we wanted. I interacted with 3 of the venue owners during the process of asking questions, scheduling a tour, & during the tour & they were all so wonderful. The venue also met all of our needs. These are all reasons we knew it was the venue for us.

We found ours the week after being engaged

A split second! I’m super frugal and I already knew what I wanted.

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We're planning a small October wedding and looking into rustic areas and wineries. Another big problem we're facing is we want such a small amount of people, many places won't even take us or want us to pay the minimum. I REFUSE to do anything in a catering hall/vfw/etc. It works for some people, but I don't personally like it. We've looked at two hotel-type places, a bowling alley, and a rustic b&b. The B&B is the one we liked. The bowling alley made me cry I hated it so much (we were on the bowling team together in high school).

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I have so many lists! We're trying to have a small wedding of about 35 people and keep it under $10K. so far, most of the venues take up half our budget, just to rent the space out!

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Good advice! if you can't get it out of your head, it's probably the right one! We have two more tours planned and in the process of planning another.

First off, lots of people book things quickly and it shouldn't make you feel like you're behind. Everyone goes at their own speed and it is not a race in any way. Good things take time. Finding your partner takes time. Finding the ring takes times. Finding a place to celebrate your love takes time.

Everything takes patience and finding the right place is a solid foundation in which everything will follow. It might not be a beacon of light and obviously be THE ONE, but it might check off most of your boxes.

We got engaged May 18, 2017 and spent a bit of time thinking about what kind of wedding we wanted before we thought about the space, we looked online first starting in June. We had decided we wanted one location for our brunch daytime indoors wedding with a dance party for around 100 people. So off the bat, we knew that we were on the same page and that our priorities were food and dancing.

By Late July 2017, we were ready to venture out in person to look for some locations. Since we knew we wanted to be in a restaurant, we made a list of places in our area that we wanted to check out based on decor and space. We had brunch at one of those places and then stopped into a bunch of restaurants unannounced to grab a drink/feel things out before talking to anybody seriously. We casually saw about 6 spots that day, driving around and checking things out.

Eventually we set up tours of 4 places (1 restaurant, 1 bar, 1 loft space, 1 art gallery) and I likely sent out at least 30 emails to different locations to figure out pricing/space, etc.

In the end we went with a restaurant near where his entire family lives in Rochester, NY— about 6 hours from where we were originally looking in Brooklyn, NY— we had been there in the past several times— and it all fell into place. It was a place that was on our radar and we had reached out July 29, had an in person meeting and tons of emails and finally signed our contract September 1st.

Ultimately what won us over with our restaurant venue were a few things;

• the space: we wanted something inviting and basically a blank canvas with some character.
• the restaurant aspect: we knew we wanted a daytime brunch wedding. food was important to us, drinks were important, and the place was staffed and had furniture and servingware.
• the people: our restaurant venue came with a wedding coordinator that assisted us for over a year before our date, which was super important to us since we were planning from about 6 hours away. we wholeheartedly trusted them and they completely understood our vision.
• (custom) wedding friendly: we needed a place that had been around for a while, wasn't doing their first wedding, a sound structure (no location that wasn't created yet). we had a completely custom wedding in which we wanted to mess with the timeline, menu, and we wanted to make sure they could handle it.

If i did it all again, I would have had my wedding in the exact same spot.

Don't worry, you'll find something that best fits your and your partner, what kind of wedding are you envisioning?

View Quoted Comment Ooh bowling alley and wineries sounds cool! What area are you looking at for your wedding? Also I noticed you have a date marked, are you going into venue searching with a date in mind or is that negotiable? Oftentimes being flexible pays off!

A couple weeks. We looked at 4 or 5 and i remember going home and crying bc i hated all of them and then my FH found what is now our venue and from the moment we walked on the property i knew i had to have the wedding here. It was absolutely breathtaking

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Oh, wow! that is quite an adventure! I don't think I could ever plan something from so far away. We're envisioning a rustic setting or winery for only a small amount of people - only about 35. We're looking at places in Northern Virginia, but everything is already so expensive since we're so close to DC. I have emailed probably close to 30 places, but many won't take our small size or require us to take the minimum. Our budget is $10K, and we don't want to blow have of it just renting out the space for the reception (which is what many people have quoted me). and I totally get October is peak wedding season, and that things will be more expensive, but boy did I get sticker shock from some of these places!

We're both from the same hometown in NJ, and I really don't want to plan a wedding across state lines. We're also both in the journalism field and have wonky schedules, so unfortunately Sundays are the ONLY day we can tour together, and I have set up one or two tours on Mondays by myself when I'm off. NJ would probably be slightly cheaper than here in NOVA, but I just don't want to get married back home.

I spent about 3 months researching, sending inquiries, etc. A majority of them were way out of budget, so it narrowed the list pretty well. To be honest, I wasn't too picky about the venue except I didn't want a barn. My FH just wanted an empty room, nothing fancy. We went with a venue I heard of through work and not that I researched online. My FH didn't like any of the initial 4 venues I had picked (we only visited one of 4), but loved this venue that wasn't on my original list. I love it too and they don't increase the price just because it's a wedding reception, like a lot of venues do. I would ask around as well as continuing to search online. I've gotten most of my vendors by word of mouth too.