What was most important to you when choosing your reception venue?

I wanted something unique but another thing that was a must was I refused to have the wedding anywhere I've photographed a prom or a graduation (I work for a company that works at a ton of different schools so I've been to a lot of different venues).

Budget was probably my biggest concern.

Elegant but the ability to bring my own booze and appetizers was my first question before I even looked at the places. Distance was important, I didn't want to inconvenience guests, and i wanted a good length of time I could have the place.i got that for 3k with dinner served, 3 tier cake, crystal ware, decorated and the dj, but on a thursday night, hopefully in june it's not too inconvenient for our guests. We loved the place and set up so we are totally ok with thursday.

Originally our ceremony and reception was supposed to be held at a campground that has quite a bit of meaning to me. I ended up stressing a bunch about the weather and we ended up settling for something that had an indoor option but wasn't too expensive.

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This venue is gorgeous!

My fiancé and I wanted to get married in a venue that screamed us. We actually came upon the perfect brewery biergarten for wedding. It will be beautiful in the fall.

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Thanks! I love it. I can't wait to be married there in exactly 8 months today.

Most important for us was 1) style- it really fit our theme really nicely and is beautiful inside and out so we will get some amazing pictures and 2) food- our venue is a restaurant with amazing food.

Price! Our budget was very tight. We also wanted to be in a specific area so it took a long time to finally choose a place.

I wanted a venue that matched sort of like the vision I've had for my wedding since I was a little kid, and that wasn't too expensive, since my parents are paying for the venue.

I looked at two venues only- one was more of a 1920's style vibe, and then my current venue. I pulled up to it for the first time and let out the BIGGEST squeal- it looks like a castle! I had to reign myself in because I thought it was completely too good to be true, especially when I walked in and saw the inside!

Then I found out my grand entrance would be down a set of stairs, and the pricing included an open bar...and the price was COMPLETELY reasonable...we booked a date on the spot.

It's also in a central location with a lot of hotels and things to do nearby, it's got a gorgeous reception space and a good sized dance floor. Everyone who has been to a wedding at this site says the food is PHENOMENAL. I'm confident I got one of the best venues near me and I'm super excited for my big day!!!!

Things we knew the venue needed -

1. Good Accessibility/not a lot of stairs for my grandmother

2. We wanted to be the only wedding that day or at least be the only wedding happening during our time slot. We didn't want to stress out about the room being flipped or about hearing other weddings/our timeline being affected by other events.

3. Not responsible for breakdown/set up/provided chairs and cutlery ETC

4. Needed to have a good back up ceremony space that we loved in case we could not use the outside ceremony space.

5. Must have GOOD food. This was super important.

Everything else was just gravy - it was more important to find a place our wedding would run smoothly than for it to be pretty or exactly what we pictured.

It was important for me to have a view of NYC. After living in NY my whole life I moved to New Jersey to be with my fiance. For me it was very important to be able to see my old city - call it a good-bye of sorts. My venue overlooks the city (both for reception and ceremony) and was the modern style I was hoping for (I was adamant that I wanted a venue that did NOT have those oversized drapes - lol).

An added bonus is that my ceremony venue is outside so having pictures with the NY skyline is awesome!

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Anne, can you tell me where this is? I am a Twin Cities bride and I can't place it! It is stunning! Is it Aria?

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Thank you!! Yes, it is Aria in downtown Minneapolis! It is even more stunning in person gahhh I wish I could do it all over again lol.

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Wow!! That is one smokin' venue!!! I bet it was beyond gorgeous. Awesome North Loop location and I bet the food, service everything was great!! I bet it books up quickly. We are going for a different kind of gorgeous - the MN Landscape Arboretum.

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That will be beautiful too!! Yeah everything Aria coordinated was beyond amazing and I love the North Loop so it was fun to be in that area. We booked 1.5 years out in December of 2015 and it was the only Saturday left for Spring 2017 so definitely books up fast!!

Have an awesome wedding, I hope you post a BAM so I can see the pics!

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Thanks! I never answered the original question: We chose an outdoor ceremony spot because my fiance REFUSED to get married inside a building. We looked at many parks and the gardens of a local community college then went to the MN Landscape Arboretum. I insisted on stone or something firm underfoot - I did not want people sinking into the grass. Free parking for guests. Reasonable cost.

I picked my venue for a few reasons: One it is absolutely gorgeous. It is outdoors, which is what I wanted, it is in the middle of wine country which goes along with out theme, it has AMAZING spots for photos, they have bridal and grooms suits, even though it is out in the country, it is still only a few miles from town.

Also the biggest reason is because we can have our ceremony and reception in the same location, which I find to be really convenient because then you do not have to worry about transportation.

We are having a beach wedding ceremony so that was one of the most have for us. Our wedding will be in Miami Beach so it had to have a perfect outdoor views. Our venue has a very beautiful outdoors setting and that's why we went for it even when it was way over our budget.

Making FH happy. He picked it. His heart was set. I'm just rolling with it.