Weddingbee Blog

I told you all that we absolutely fell in love with the online photos of The Lougheed House. It is a downtown venue that is exactly what we were looking for: downtown but secluded, vintage, intimate, and drop.dead.gorgeous.

We arranged to go and see the historic house with the venue’s event coordinator, Cathy Olson. However, it took us over three weeks from when we first contacted her to actually get an appointment time! This place is that popular and that busy. We crossed our fingers that we’d even be able to get something in summer 2012, because on the phone she had said it was already starting to book up fast.

When we finally got the grand tour, our jaws dropped. Literally. I think we were both speechless. See for yourself!

All photos personal

There are three large rooms/areas on the upper floor of the house where the reception tables will be set up, and then there is a large ballroom downstairs that doubles as an art gallery, where the dance can be held. Since it is a historic house, there are a ton of great vintage elements that we loved: old dressers with vintage photographs, old furniture, the moulding on the ceilings…it was all so gorgeous. And Cathy Olson was an amazing tour guide—she answered all of our questions and assured us that while we would be the very first same-sex couple to wed at the House, her entire staff is 100% supportive of same-sex marriage.

Everything seemed so perfect—almost too good to be true. In our relationship, Fiancee Eagle tends to be the one to say “JUST GO FOR IT!” and she is the type who makes up her mind once and doesn’t mull over decisions. Me? I’m Miss Indecision. I knew I wanted Lougheed House badly, but I couldn’t help but think that booking it would make our wedding official (which is both exciting and scary!). I’m just too much of a worrier and planner, and I thought we should have looked at other places first. But Fiancee Eagle took the lead on this, and I can admit that I was super happy when she was adamant that we book it ASAP.

We had planned that we wanted August 11th, 2012, but that date was already taken. The internet rumours of the House booking up to 18 months in advance weren’t lies! Cathy told us she had another August date available, so we told her to place a temporary hold on it, and we would discuss it with our parents.

About a week later, everyone agreed on the date and the venue—so we put the deposit down and booked it!

It felt amazing to finally book the venue I’d been lusting after online and to finally have a “finalized” date. I was also surprised at how easy this was—this was the only venue we looked at, and we booked it very shortly after.

How about you? Did you find your venue very easily? Did you get your first-pick date or did you have to settle for another date?