Wedding Blog
Here is installment # 3 of my venue adventure. Last time I left off, I mentioned that on our way to a friend’s house, Mr. Flamingo and I stumbled upon a sign that said “New Hotel - Opening Summer 2007″. Our criteria for our venue was that we wanted a hotel - mostly because it’s extremely convenient. So when we saw the sign, we were both quite excited. Mr. Flamingo and I noted the website and as soon as we got home, we checked out the site - this is what we saw. (click to enlarge)
I was pleasantly surprised - it looked beautiful… well the illustration that is. This could be extremely tricky because the final product might not turn out as we had imagined. Regardless, we called the number listed on the site and scheduled an appointment. FYI - that was in April last year and there were still no beams or any slight indication that construction was on its way (and they are apparently opening - summer 2007).Everything was so fast. We went to the appointement, we checked out their construction plans and their inspiration board. At least we could see their colors, patterns and furniture choices. We called Mommy Flamingo, we discussed and we signed. Can you believe it… we signed our venue and had never even seen it.
Who in their right mind signs something without seeing the final product? I mean it’s ridiculous right?? I could understand for something small… but for a reception venue. Oh my! At that point I just crossed my fingers and hoped for the best.
Have you done something as crazy as I did with your wedding planning?
(please note: I did not give the website to the hotel because I don’t want to spoil my next post about my venue)
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Share this post: I’m Nuts - It’s As Simple As That
that’s what has happened with most of my vendor choices in Vancouver (because I’m living in Winnipeg)! Reception, dj, ceremony, florist, photographer, baker….I think that’s the case for a lot of destination brides too….
don’t worry flamingo, if you’re crazy, i’m crazy right alongside of you! 
Not exactly, but there’s a new hotel going up where I work and there are already three couples who booked it for the very same popular date in August. I’m really curious to see how they handle three couples in one day AND to see if they are as organized as they claim to be. At least you can claim no one else has done it to death.
I’m crazy, too! Mr. Pants and I live in Seattle, and we’re getting married on Long Island, where most of his family lives. His parents saw our venue and liked it and told us “it’s so you!” so we booked it. The same goes for our DJ - Dad Pants said that he’s used the guy on numerous occasions and will play whatever you want, even to the point of being a figurehead who just plays the music and decides the order of the tunes! That was appealing to us since we have eclectic music tastes.
I booked our florist and photographer after looking through their online galleries, and I booked my hair and makeup artist based on reviews and pictures from LIWeddings, without having a trial.
We will also have to book our officiant after speaking with them on the phone, since by the time we visit NY in June, that could be cutting it too close to our wedding date, in August.
So basically, we haven’t seen ANYTHING related to our wedding! All of the meetups, trials, tastings, etc will come in June!
We did the same thing… sort of. Our reception venue is the country club FILs belong to, and they were able to swing a member’s discount AND the owner of the club is a family friend, so there were additional savings. So we booked it before we saw it in person, it was nice on the website but MUCH better in person! Hopefully you had the same experience!
miss shortcake - I didn’t think about destination brides or ones planning from afar. But speaking of me and my overly obsessed perfect planning I was extremely scared of the outcome.
I really didn’t want to screw up on this especially since the places I had seen weren’t good enough. Hats to you and all you brides out there that need to plan from afar. I know I wouldnt of been able to.
Right there with ya. We booked our venue site unseen (pun intended!) and only saw it when we did our civil ceremony there 2 months later.
Umm… Hate to be a buzz kill but there’s a hotel in our area that has been under renovation for 3 years. It was supposed to be open 2 years ago (seriously it said it on the website). I hope it will be open this summer (for people to stay in). But in the meantime I know my venue has gotten brides that were cancelled on by the venue. I’d just recommend a Plan B (pushing back a date once isn’t a great sign of project management).
Good luck.
I actually bought my FI’s wedding band before he even proposed! We knew we wanted to get married and happened to be sorta looking at rings (for me) and found his instead at a shop that was going out of business, so I bought it. That seems crazy to me now but it all worked out.
gaudior…. the hotel is built now. Luckily. You can read all about it in my next venue post. (But to be honest I was really scared that they would delay… at the same time they had a september 1st 2007 wedding booked… so they had to be ready by then… right ?!?
lol! i laughed at your line about booking a venue you hadn’t even seen….
i said. “Screw unseen! it hadn’t even been built!!!” lol….
sooooo happy that they are built now, looking forward to the next installement!
The place we’ve booked our reception in will be undergoing renovations this summer, and we’ve only seen the design plan. I just hope it all turns out for the best… the only thing I’m worried about is their plan for a “tasteful mural” on one wall. Eek! I’m scared just thinking about it!
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Mrs. Flamingo, Montreal, Canada
Age and Occupation: 25, Graphic Designer
Fiance's Age and Occupation: 30, Nursing Student
Engagement Date: December 2004
Wedding Date: June 21, 2008
Venue: Imperia Hotel (modern chic hotel)
About Me: I am a passionate designer who loves anything pretty. I heart all paper products (eco-friendly of course). My passion revolves around anything considered glamour; vintage and modern. In my free time, I love reading Martha mags, designing jewelry and making a pit-stop at Starbucks for a chai latte. I'm also a chocoholic at heart and my family drools over my homemade truffles.
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