Wednesday, January 23, 2013

Wedding Wednesday: Getting the Planning Party Started!

A Happy Wife in New Orleans


Well hello! I just love linking up with Mary at A Happy Wife in NOLA and Joelle at Something Charming!

This past weekend was a whirlwind of planning. Andrew and I drove to my hometown for a jam-packed venue shopathon. I am not exaggerating when I say that we seriously had a blast touring the facilities with my parents!

On Saturday we went to six different venues. We fell in love, like, and almost-loathe for the different spaces. We stopped by another on Sunday and kept researching to ensure we weren't missing anything.
We went to two more on Monday in Columbus on our drive back to Chicago. 

Needless to say, my fiance and parents are amazing. We really did have a ton of fun!

We are going to get married at St. Mary of the Assumption Church in Lancaster, Ohio. I went to school at St. Mary, attended Mass, was an altar server, and musician at this church growing up. In fact, my trips home don't feel quite complete until we go to church!

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As of right now we have three venues in the running. All of them are completely different from each other and have their own pros and cons. All meet my dream in one way or another of being classic and whimsical. Who knows if we pick any other venues for the list, but time will tell! Numbers 2 and 3 were not on our list before this weekend!


{Center Image via, others via me!}

We have a little bit of time before we must make our decision, but we're working on it!

Tell me, how did you decide on a venue? Did you make a pro/con list? Was it the place you imagined as a little girl? Was it something totally different than you imagined?

I can't wait to hear what you think!

Please go check out other wedding-related posts at A Happy Wife in NOLA and Something Charming today!

12 comments:

According to Jax said...

Good luck finding a venue!! I'm actually getting married not too far from you...in Cincinnati, Ohio! I found my venue very quickly though, I only looked at ONE place and we booked it! :)

Unknown said...

Good luck my dear! I think choosing a venue can be difficult, especially when everything has something you like. Maybe it just needs to come down to cost, the amenities at each, and how flexible they are with timing, etc. I hope you pick one soon, and I can't wait to hear all about it! xoxox

Shannon said...

No matter where you pick, it will turn out perfect in the end! In the end, I think our venue was one of my easiest decisions. Don't get me started about how many dresses I tried on... :)

Unknown said...

Looking for the perfect wedding venue is so much fun! My husband and I had a blast finding ours! We basically had one venue in mind and booked it right away the moment we visited it...it definitely turned out to be my dream wedding locale! Can't wait to hear which one you choose!

DSR said...

All those places look wonderful. I can't wait to see what you choose!

Betsy Transatlantically said...

good luck! we looked at three venues - we're getting married in the countryside in England, so there weren't tons of options anyway - and these three were the only ones that would fit more than 100 people. our choice was easy in the end because we connected with the event manager so well! I wrote about it here: http://betsytransatlantically.blogspot.com/2012/07/wedding-wednesdays-venue-search.html

Laura Darling said...

What a gorgeous church!!

emily fitzgerald {once in a blue room} said...

wedding planning is so exciting, but must be SO overwhelming. good luck!! xox

Chris said...

That church is absolutely amazing! I can't wait to hear about all your wedding details!

Rachel said...

That is a beautiful church! We had both our ceremony and reception at my Grandparents church, and that venue was picked solely because my grandparents could get the building for free plus my Grandma knew her way around the kitchen and she and her friends did all of the food prep! Purely practical!

Mama said...

Hey Mary! I just thought I'd check in on your planning. Your choices are all lovely! What a wonderful problem to have! Your church is beautiful!

I think when you're trying to narrow it down, sometimes thinking about timing is helpful. As in, go for the locations that have the spaces of highest impact during the portions of the night that guests will remember it the most. Obviously they will remember the ceremony. The cocktail hour? Not as important because it's so brief. They will spend a lot of time in the reception dinner area, but the dance floor will be where the most fun and memorable moments will take place (but also the drunkest...). I think thinking about it in these terms can sometimes help sway the decision towards one venue instead of another.

If you're looking for a photographer my friend Alison is excellent. She has been featured many times in places like Style Me Pretty. And she's not just some hack who picked up a camera one day and started calling themselves a photographer-she trained at Brooks in Santa Barbara which is one of the best photography schools in the country. She has been working out in San Francisco for years but just recently moved to Ann Arbor and is relaunching her business there. I think she's open to travel, but you'd have to check with her if you're interested. Anyway, don't feel pressured to go with her, or even interview her! I just thought I'd pass along the info if you were looking for a vetted source. Here is her website: http://www.firstcomeslovephoto.com

Please let me know if I could be of any help at all! I've dabbled in wedding coordination in a past life.

Much love!
-Nancy

Marquee hire North London said...

That’s truly amazing. I should mention about the church, it is so massive and when I see this, I’m getting the spiritual feelings. Good luck my dear.