How many venues did you visit in person?

I probably emailed 2 dozen venues, ended up with a shortlist of about 5, and only viewed 2. The first we almost went with before discovering they had a discriminatory policy (don't worry they're not listed on WW). We went with one of the state parks. So cheap and it's beautiful!

View Quoted Comment

Hi Penelope! Going with a state park is such a good idea! Guaranteed beautiful outdoor scenery and very cost-effective, too! Which state park did you choose?

I guess I'm a bit of an overachiever on this one....we looked at 16 venues in person. We looked at 8 in LA and 8 in Las Vegas. We were torn between the two places since almost everyone attending would have to fly in to wherever we have the wedding because we live in CA but most of our friends and family are out of state. We looked at all types of venues, from budget friendly options to all inclusive golf clubs to mansions where all you get for your money is the beautiful venue. We ultimately decided on something we thought would be nice but easy with a lot of inclusions. It's definitely not the cheapest but it's a beautiful venue and we both really love it so it's worth it to us. Bonus, it's in Vegas and EVERYONE is excited to go to Vegas now - a lot of our family has never been and we're telling everyone to keep the kids at home so they can not only enjoy the wedding but enjoy the weekend! Some people were so excited they locked down their babysitters 12 months out!

I went to 7 before I chose "The One". LOL

FH came with me to 2 of the 7....he left me in charge of picking my top 2 and then he came to help me make the final decision.

View Quoted Comment Cedars of Lebanon. the ceremony itself will be inside a historic lodge and the reception on the big patio surrounding it. or maybe we'll flip it, we're not 100% yet!

1 it was the only one we wanted it has special meaning to us.

View Quoted Comment Hi Casey, I'm glad its helpful! I think so much prep works means you won't have so much leg work! what's your top venue/hotel like?

I'm glad we limited it, it's so easy to go overboard! It all came down to budget for us, there were so many places that eliminated themselves because of price, but I often didn't know how much they were until I spoke to the managers. Also, in the beginning FH was feeling overwhelmed, and asked me to pick my favorite and save the bulk of the details until we got there. Turns out he loved it as much as I did, and it was a perfect fit for this both. And it gave him some time to get more comfortable planning

I visited 1 venue, 1 walk through, and knew it was the spot. It is nestled up in the mountains covered with red rocks. Sometimes when you know you know My fiance and I are very simple as well, the more options the more stress in my opinion

View Quoted Comment

Sara, that's what I was hoping! We live out of state and have a limited window for looking at venues this month, so I wanted to zero in on the places that were genuine candidates instead of booking us a bunch of appointments at places we wouldn't end up choosing because of price or ambiance. Our top choice is a historic old chapel for the ceremony and a hotel ballroom that does what sounds like a really nice brunch for the reception. What is your venue like?

Same here, my fiance vastly prefers if I tell him what I like and then have him weigh in instead of throwing a bunch of info. at him. I think he'll like these when he sees them in person, which would be amazing...if all goes according to my plan, we could have everything booked within the next two weeks!

For our DW, we took a 4-day vacation there about a year before our wedding. So fun! Organized me planned our itinerary, we skipped one venue because while driving it seemed too far away from anywhere guests could stay. Otherwise, we visited TWELVE (12) wedding venues in 3 days!

Black: if weddings weren't allowed we considered for Welcome Dinner

Pink: wedding venues

Blue: hotels (because we wanted to recommend nice hotels to guests and a few could also double as wedding venues which was a plus)

We visited two in June 2017-- 10 months before the engagement, because we knew we were getting engaged in the spring of 2018 and wanted to have already made our minds up.

We saw Eolia Mansion at Harkness State Park, which is where we are getting married. We also looked at the Bee and Thistle Inn. We went to our venue and I knew it was where we were getting married, to the point where we ended booking November 2017, to get the LAST June Saturday in 2019!!

We've been to so many weddings within the last few years that it wasn't necessary for us to visit a lot venues. We toured three venues and made our decision on the spot at one. We visited it once more to make sure we still have that butterfly feeling (which we did) and put a deposit down. I did however view many many places online

We visited three and when we walked into the third we knew it was our venue right away!

View Quoted Comment

That's great, MissSoonToBe! Sometimes we need that extra nudge & second opinion to make a big decision! How would you describe your venue?

View Quoted Comment

Hi Helen! Welcome to WeddingWire and congrats on your engagement!

That's so exciting! What about it made it the "perfect venue" at first sight? What's your venue like?

View Quoted Comment

Hi Ashley! That's awesome! I love the sound of your scenic wedding day location!

Out of curiosity, is it a state park or where is your particular red rock special destination located? I grew up going to Sedona and am a sucker for red rocks

View Quoted Comment

No, its actually a canyon near salt lake city. It is called Louland Falls! Its a like hidden gem! We LOVE red rocks too! We live right near Moab

View Quoted Comment

Ahh that's great! I am sure it's gorgeous there! I have always wanted to go!

We can't wait to see pictures and are so excited for you to say "I do!" Your red rock nature venue is going to be amazing!

View Quoted Comment

Hi Maren! We just went with a gut feeling. Honestly, all 10 would have been great! But we fell in love with this venue, it also happened to be the first one we looked at

We visited 5 venues in person and looked into about 5 others through email!