Welcome to the first installment of Wedding Wednesday. To answer the question above...Enjoy it! Getting engaged is an inexplicable feeling, like you’re in a bubble of pure joy and love. Soak it all in, before diving head first into the wedding planning process; a land where you live by deadlines.
My fiancé and I spent about 3 months in the engagement bubble and it was glorious. We started planning in February 2014 and our first task on the checklist was establishing a budget. The second and task on the list was finding a venue. After deciding where the fete will be held, (North Jersey), purchasing bridal magazines with area venues is a good place to start. After bookmarking a few, start calling and asking all the important questions making sure the venue fulfills your criteria. This is important before scheduling an appointment.
*first of all find this for your fiancé, its a great read ;)*
Now the important stuff, what to ask:
If your date is available
Price per person, is there a special price for children and your vendors (usually half price)
Different pricing for peak/off season
Is there a bar, extra fee for open bar?
If you are also having your ceremony at the same location, it is important to know if there is a ceremony space
Extra charge for using your own vendors?
Does the venue have vendor suggestions?
Deposit fee, when it is due? Is there a payment plan?
Is there a cancellation Policy
When can vendors begin to set up?
How do they feel about having a cake from an outside bakery? Is there a cake cutting fee?
Is there on site coordination Maitre’d? If so is there an extra fee?
Do they have liability insurance?
Do they need any insurance documents from your vendors?
Hotels near by for out of town guests
Is there a shuttle service to and from nearest hotel?
Do they offer a food tasting?
Are linens and tableware included?
If you’re happy with the answers, schedule an appointment. This is a great time to view the space, meet the staff, see if it fits the style of how you envision your wedding. In my wedding planning process I think we saw about 8 different locations. What we learned from this experience is that website pictures can be deceiving. It’s also helpful to lookup ratings on different sites like The Knot, and Wedding Wire. It is best to see the space in person. You’d be surprised how a photo taken at a good angle changes the most dreadful space.
Another topic of discussion before choosing a venue is deciding what you don’t want to skirt costs around. In our case, our big three were food, alcohol, and music, which I believe to be the keys to a successful party. Out of all, our most favorite venue provided an absurd amount of food, top shelf open bar and quality service : Seasons in Washington Township. If you are planning a wedding in North Jersey I highly recommend Seasons, or The Venetian, which is owned by the same family.
We visited our venue mid March, and since we had a spring wedding in mind we had to envision how the space would look the following April. That winter was a rough one so there was still snow on the ground. Here are some quick pictures we took during the run through.
The pictures above are just of the cocktail hour! We fell in love with how luxe and royal it all seemed with the gold ceiling and all the different rooms that would serve as different areas for the guests. This was important for us since both ceremony and reception were to be held at the same location.
We luckily went on a day that they were setting up for a wedding and so we got to see the space set up for an indoor wedding ceremony and reception.
The following picture is what sold Leo. Known as the ‘man cave’, this room came fully equipped with arcade games and a bartender so he and his groomsmen could cool down and let loose before the ceremony.
Here is where our imagination kicked in, the outdoor area for the ceremony that was still covered in snow but hopefully wouldn’t be, come wedding day.
This is what sold me. You see those stairs? just at the top there are big french doors where I would make my entrance and walk down the isle.
We absolutely loved this place. We sat down and discussed all the details that day. We had a pending date, and decided to take the night to think about it. The following day (Sunday) we went in to sign the contract and another couple had swooped in and taken our date so we took the next available and it happened to be a Saturday morning/afternoon wedding, which ended up saving us some money and made our wedding an entire day affair. So we took it, signed the dotted line and just like that, had the first contract in my wedding binder. I checked off wedding date and venue on the long to-do list, and I felt like I could conquer this wedding planning thing. Also after having your venue everything falls into place. More about that next week!