Wedding Blog
In honor of Venue Week, I thought we should get to know more about everyone’s venues - not just the bees’! So everyone pitch in and tell us a bit about where you’re getting married and how you decided!
Please tell us a bit more about where you’re getting married, and how you came to that decision!
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Okay, this is lame, but we chose our venue because of the cake maker that was included in the deal. 
I love our cake place, and it’s super expensive- but it was included? YEAH baby.
We are getting married at my uncle’s house in Palm Beach, FL. We live in Orlando, and had been looking at many venues up here but all the places we looked at were either already booked or too expensive. We really wanted to concentrate on food and fun, so our options seemed to be limited. We have about 100 people coming and even though it will be tight at my uncles, we at least will have the relaxed attitude going on. No one is going to be breathing down our neck kicking us out of our own party.
My FI and I (and a good deal of our friends & family) are UC graduates and thought it would be cool (and really affordable) to have the ceremony and reception at one of the campus facilities at my alma mater which is literally 10 minutes from our house.
We’re getting married at the Hilton Chicago because in February 2003, my then, boyfriend, (now fiance) and I attended a CNY banquet there and halfway through the event, we decided to ditch it and go wandering around, found ourselves a little area and just sat there and talked for four hours, totally bonding…
Later on (couple months later), he confesses that during our four hours of getting to know each other, he had this thought “Wow, I’m really falling in love with this girl.”
and that’s why we’re getting married at the same place that he realized that he was falling in love with me.
We are getting married at the San Diego Wild Animal Park. We knew we wanted a location that wasn’t a typical wedding spot. Originally we thought a destination wedding would be best, but were worried that a few close friends and family wouldn’t be able to make the trip. So we chose our venue because it could easily be considered a “destination” in itself. Plus it has always been one of our favorite places to visit. We’ll see how it goes… the wedding is this Saturday!
We are getting married at an all-in-one place. The venue has a chapel that holds about 200 complete with stage and all necessary decorations. Then you walk out of the chapel and down the hall to the reception area, which holds about 120 seated. It also has a bridal suite, a groom(al?) area, full kitchen, sound systems, etc. As far as decorations, we are providing centerpieces and chair ties for the bridal party/family tables, and that’s it.
I love that once people find the venue and park (ample parking across from and diagonal to the venue due to it being in the middle of a nothing town ) they’re set for the night. They don’t have to pick up 30 minutes later and go somewhere else while worrying about directions and parking. My brother got married at Tivoli Gardens (blogged about yesterday) and his being all in one place is what made me set on the same thing.
We’re getting married at the Mansion at Timber Point on Long Island. Originally we wanted something unusual, not the usual Long Island wedding, but we quickly found out that unusual equals “expensive.” Spending an enormous amount on a wedding just doesn’t appeal to us. The thing about Long Island is that there is a huge local wedding “industry,” along with many shiny, shiny (expensive) event halls. Although there are some lovely options, especially in the old Gold Coast mansions, others look, in my opinion, like really fancy diners. Timber Point was the second place we looked at, and I wanted it immediately. (My fiance wanted to check their numbers first.) Originally it was a country mansion, later an exclusive country club, and it still sits on a golf course. We really like it–it’s well decorated without being twee, it’s not too large considering we’re having a small wedding, there’s only one wedding at a time, we can get married outside on the terrace overlooking the ocean, it has a good-sized dance floor, and the food is great. Basically, we find it comfortable, and we’re very happy to have our wedding there.
Our ceremony site is the same chapel my parents were married in (and they’re still goin strong!). I’ve always known I wanted be married there, too. That and as soon as we announced our engagement my grandfather put his hand on my shoulder and said, “You’re getting married in the same church your mom did.” I thought that was cute.
Our reception venue was picked based on style, budget and location. Plus, the food is yummy!
TF (The Fiance) and I are getting married and having our reception on the North Lawn of Fort Adams State Park in Newport, RI. We are the only two of our families that live in Boston, so we decided early on that it didn’t really matter if our family had to travel, since they would have to travel to get to Boston anyway.
We also knew we wanted a traditional clambake, one where they dig a hole in the ground and cover it with seaweed and burlap. When we were researching clambake companies, we found one that is known as being the best in the area. Then we looked at every single venue they listed on their website. I wanted to be on the water, and it wasn’t until after I saw that all of the other venues that were on the water were booked (or out of our price range) that I even considered looking at the pictures of the fort. Turns out, the North Lawn, juts right out into the Narragansett Bay!!
Since we are at a Fort, we have to bring in EVERYTHING, and although there usually are facilities, they are having a reenactment that weekend, so they aren’t available for our guests. I was able to knock $500 off the rental for not having bathrooms, and they are providing us with two delux wedding port-o-johns.
The other great thing is that there is an event at the fort the night before our wedding. I was able to get in touch with the person who is planning that and use the same tent company as them. We get a 25% discount on everything that we ’share’ and I don’t have to worry about the teardown of one tent and the set up of another on the day of our wedding. Plus, the tent is two upgrades from the one we originally had through the caterer, but with the discount we are only out $60.
We picked our reception venue because it was downtown, affordable, and they allow you to use any caterer you like. We chose our ceremony site because it is not a church (it is an Arts Center), affordable, and a short walk to the reception venue.
There you have it! It may not be as touching as some of the other reasons, but it made sense for us.
We are having the whole thing at a winery outside of Seattle. The ceremony will be on an outdoor terrace and the reception in a large banquet room. We chose based on style/feel, cost, and capacity.
We just decided on our venue–BR Cohn Winery in Glen Ellen, CA. As I started looking at venues, I realized I really wanted to get married outdoors. I had also really wanted a destination wedding, but both my and my fiance’s fathers are sick, so that was not an option.
When I started looking into wineries, I was sick about the prices, but I also fell in love with the pictures on the BR Cohn website. (We’re planning from NY, but families live in CA.) When I actually visited the site, it was so much more spectacular in person!
We inquired about a discount for Sundays, and my mom and I came up with a concept of very casual low-key food (we’re thinking of bringing the meals to each table in picnic baskets!) in this elegant and spectacular setting. After pricing out other options–less spectacular setting with “regular” wedding food–the costs were the same–so we went for it!
I cannot believe I’m going to be able to have a wedding within our relatively small budget at the site of my dreams… I’m still pinching myself every day!
We picked the Mauna Lani Resort in Hawaii not only because the location is beautiful, but it also forces my dad to finally take a vacation after all the years of working 6 days a week.
Our reception will be held at the only event center on Kauai. This is the same place where they have huge craft fairs, beauty pageants, high school band performances, etc. We’re using the two “ballrooms” and the kitchen.
We knew that we had to have a place where we can bring in our own food (fiance’s family will be preparing the food for a local Hawaiian style buffet), and I knew I didn’t want to have outdoors. There was only two option and this was the cheaper of the two. Also, location was important. Since we’re having a lot of out of town guests, I wanted to have the ceremony and reception in the same area.
We are getting married at the Texas Discovery Gardens in Dallas. Our first criteria were that we could have the reception and ceremony at the same site, so no one had to travel to get to the other. We were also partial to a garden ceremony, but it was not a requirement. We did not want a hotel, as the ones we had seen seemed so sterile and impersonal.
Almost a year into the planning, and I would have it at a hotel in a heartbeat. All the extra work to bring in caterers and linens and china and tables and chairs is a pain in the butt. I still love the Discovery Gardens, but it sure is a lot harder to have a reception there. I wish we had extra money for a full service coordinator!
a loft a block and a half away from mr. bee’s work. it couldn’t have been more conveniently located, and we loved the space!
Q3 is unclear — does it apply to the wedding ceremony venue or the reception venue?
We choose our reception site based on it’s vicinity to the ceremony location. We are getting married at Saint Patrick’s on 5th Ave in New York and and are having the reception at the Plaza Hotel (lol, YES it will be open by then!!!)
I put othr, other, and type of location. To clarify, my wedding ceremony WAS on the beach, and the reception WAS in an aquarium. So both of those are fairly unique. Well, the beach isn’t that unique, but I liked it anyway.
There really wasn’t a single factor for our decision. Our place is a “pavilion” whatever that means, and was perfect for the location, design, cost, capacity, ability to bring in our own vendors, etc.! AND, FI wants to get married outdoors and we’re able to do so with this venue and move in comfortably for th reception.
We completely lucked out to find a stylish place that would hold what we’re thinking will be 350 people.
we have a small budget, so price has been a big factor all along. we live downtown and knew that we wanted to have an urban wedding. we live in a live/work loft where the bottom half is an art gallery. it doesn’t hold a lot of people, 60-70 max, but it will be nice and intimate for the ceremony. my fiance was asked to be on the interior design team for a jazz club that was moving locations that just happened to be 4-5 blocks from our loft. well, instead of him strictly getting paid for the job they worked out some sort of a trade agreement. so we’re having our reception there and getting a nice discount on it! i love it that we will be able to walk from the gallery to the reception with our wedding party. and then meet up with other guests that are only invited to the reception. it is all working out beautifully!
I knew for a long time I wanted to get married in a garden. Then we decided to get married in December. So we are getting married in an indoor garden, one of my favorite places in town! Then we are having our reception in a city-owned farm’s barn. Yep, having our reception in a barn.
We’re getting married in my church where my dad is on staff. Simple.
The reception got a little more complicated because the church doesn’t allow dancing. So, we are having a sit-down dinner in the church hall after the ceremony becasue of proximity and the professional kitchen. After dinner we are going to have the dancing/party part at a local park.
Everyone (as in open invitation to both our churches and anyone we know) will be invited to the wedding and the park, but we’re only feeding dinner at the church to OOT guests and family.
Wow! only two wineries! If you lived where I do, that would be about 40% of the responses… however, my response is an olive grove… yes, think winery… but olives. Actual ceremony and reception location.
Our ceremony & reception are at the same place, but in different rooms. I worked at the banquet hall for three years, so the owner is giving us a great discount.
My million dollar wedding dream took place in the Natural History museum in NYC. But alas, I do not have a million dollars. And I found out that you can’t hold ceremonies there.
In my research for something similar, I found the idea to have a ceremony in a planetarium. Since we live in Baltimore (thought i’m an NYC native) we’re doing it all in the Maryland Science Center, right on the Inner Harbor. We fell in love with it as soon as we walked into the lobby. The floor is granite inlayed with constellations, which fits our star theme perfectly. It’s contemporary and it’s certainly not a wedding in a box.
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Mrs. Bluebell, New York
Age and Occupation in 07: 26, Finance Manager
Fiance's Age and Occupation: 27, Playing with the cat and/or Consulting
Engagement Date: December 25, 2005
Wedding Date: June 2007
Venue: Bride's family summer home in the Adirondacks
About Me: Trying to find the perfect balance between family tradition (marrying at the house everyone else in my family gets married at), making our's modern, interesting and different from everyone else in my family's, and incorporating some Chinese tradition for my Chinese fiance. I really have no idea what it's going to end up looking like!
Also, I picked Miss Bluebell for my name because I have blue eyes and I'm a loser like that.
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