Not-So-Perfect Venues

Ugly wallpaper or ugly patterned carpets. We saw soooo many of them and ended up choosing a venue with hardwood floors and clean white walls.

One of the biggest deterrence for us was the catering and bar packages! Pretty much all the venues we looked at required the use of in-house catering and bar; and so many of them didn’t offer menu selections we liked. A few also limited the types of alcoholic beverages you could have (such as no hard liquor, or no shots, etc.). It made it so easy to eliminate those venues.

We passed on any neutral- colored baroque, neo-classical, rustic, and industrial venues instead opting for color and modern or eclectic styles. We also passed on venues that held multiple parties at the same time. Oh yes, and we wanted only indoor.

The things that turned us off of a few venues we loved aesthetically were 1) required catering that would cost more than the entire budget just for food and not allowed to taste anything before the contract was signed with deposit and 2) extremely limited hours for the duration with no option to add extra hours or there was a strict curfew when we could start and leave when our guests are used to staying past 1-2am at the same venue with no after party at a separate location and not used to having to wait to enter the reception space. They also were restrictive on they offered and would not negotiate. You must have a champagne toast even if your guests don’t partake, and so on. They were beautiful outdoor Spanish style venues but the restrictions were not something we were willing to do for the amount of money they were charging.

The first venue we worked with through a micro wedding company, required a dining reservation for twelve.

It was a resort and we had three four night stays booked. I'm also an employee in the hotel chain.

Needless to say, when they refused to be flexible and even negotiate several reservations for four people over the course of the stay, we moved on. Very glad we did. If you have such expectations for your venue bookings and you open the doors to elopement/micro weddings, be prepared to meet them halfway or don't entertain them.

The 4th venue we looked at was awful. It was the most expensive too.
Parking was very Lil to non existent
The place was very out dated. The walls were dirty with bangs and scratches. The area for wedding party was not acceptable I did not like the restrooms. And last but not least. They did not speak English. There is no way we were going with The Cool Event Center. In Denver Co.

I'm sure you all remember my horror story of the first venue we booked- coordinator took our money and never put us (and several other couples) in the calendar. So the biggest hurdle for us was finding another venue that matched what we had fallen in love with!
One offered an outdoor space for the ceremony but indoors was so dark and claustrophobic; one was omg gorgeous, but after all the individual parts were added together (requiring us to hire a police officer for the event !!) it was way out of budget. We were expecting to wind up having a beach picnic reception (ewww sand in my food) when I stumbled upon the venue of our dreams. Beach ceremony, patio reception, super flexibility on customizing the package and well within budget. 🥰

The main dealbreaker for us was that so many venues around here only do outdoor ceremonies and indoor reception space. Since I very strongly wanted an indoor wedding and didn’t want ceremony and reception in the same place, a lot of absolutely beautiful places were crossed off our list.


There was one place I really liked but my husband didn’t like it because the reception space was small and dated.

Our biggest deal breaker was just the location. We looked at some really lovely places inside of state parks for a ceremony but they were 30-45 minutes away from where we booked lodging and planned to do our reception and we really wanted to keep travel to a minimum for our guests since they're traveling and not familiar with the area.


We looked at one lodge that had 9 rooms on the upper level and the lower lever had an indoor event space and outdoor deck. We decided against it because it looked a bit dated for the price and we toured some cabins that looked nicer earlier that day

We eliminated any place that was not local to family, experienced in hosting weddings, or did not have an excellent reputation in the area.

AC not good enough for a hot day when its EMPTY. Such a beautiful venue that we toured in the summer and it was HOT empty. Cant imagine it full of people. Sweaty weddings suck.

View Quoted Comment Totally understand! I'm not sure how so many venues end up choosing ugly walls/carpet in their design, I know I've seen a few like that.

View Quoted Comment That's a good point - especially if the in-house catering isn't good or doesn't offer the menu you're looking for.

View Quoted Comment My husband and I also passed on venues that held multiple weddings at the same time, too much possible confusion for guests (either from our wedding or guests from other weddings at the same location). Signs would help, but it still wasn't something we wanted to deal with.

The food was the deal breaker.

To put into context, I was planning my wedding from out of state. Relatives would be coming to my destination wedding. Guests can overlook lack of decor, or something looking more "old", but they cannot forgive $#*%%*^ food.

The venue was "all inclusive" but didn't have many reviews of the caterer (Red Flag #1).

Of the reviews it did have, there were barely any photos (Red Flag #2).
Having worked in a few restaurants, I knew that many of the menu items could be bought in bulk and made cheaply (Red Flag #3).

Two friends of mine who had a family member married at the venue said that the food was horrible, and that they messed up the pasta. (Red Flag #4 and banned from Italy).

When we reached out to the venue to ask for a tasting, that we would pay for to see how the food was, they bluntly refused. (Red Flag #5 and deal breaker).

View Quoted Comment Having limited hours was a deal breaker for us too - we didn't want to have to rush our wedding events.

View Quoted Comment I completely agree - flexibility is such an important quality that a venue can have. Sorry to hear that they wouldn't work with you on what you needed! It sounds like you offered some very reasonable ideas for a compromise, and it's a bummer that they didn't consider it.

View Quoted Comment Not having enough parking is definitely a headache!! A workaround for this is if the couple provided a shuttle from an area with lots of parking, but it still means that guests would be reliant on the shuttle timing, which may not be ideal.

View Quoted Comment I remember the story of your first venue! Hopefully that coordinator was held accountable for their actions, it's awful that it caused so much stress for you and your husband, and also the other couples that were affected. Poor lighting in a venue is a dealbreaker for me too, I want to be able to see where I'm walking lol. I'm glad that everything ended up working out well for you, and that you got your ideal venue in the end!

View Quoted Comment Those all make sense! Were you opposed to the ceremony and reception being held at the same venue at all (even if they were different spaces within that venue)? Or just opposed to the ceremony and reception being held in the same space at the same venue?