As long as we're talking about venues...

Elle1036

We're doing our first venue visit tomorrow.  What should I expect/ask/bring/etc.?

The venue doesn't provide any food, drinks, or entertainment.  They are literally just a venue.  Everything else would have to be contracted out.  Does anyone have experience in a situation like this?  I feel like it could potentially save us money since so many venues have astronomical food and beverage minimums, but the rental fee is pretty high by itself, so I don't know...

calindi

Ours is the same.  Shoot me a PM with your email and I'll send you my (verrrry long) list of questions that we asked!

Elle1036

Alrighty!  YGPM.

calindi

And you have an email!  Hope that helps!!!

jeanacorina

Ask who they have worked with in the past, for sure. See if they can give you some recommendations. I found it was nice to go with other vendors that my venue was familiar with because they had their own rapport and worked well together (florist, photographer, etc).

I went with an all-inclusive (or, mostly-inclusive) venue and it ended up being cheaper (and we never had to worry about running out of food since they just kept cookin' and they provided all the chairs, tables, centerpieces, linens and so on). Plus it took a lot less coordinating and phone-calling on my part.

jeanacorina

Also, bring a notebook and take notes for all your vendor meetings so that you can easily compare them later.

Goldlie11

Are they providing chairs?

Elle1036

Yeah, they provide chairs and tables, but that's pretty much it.

Thanks everyone!

Elle1036

Also, Jeana, you had an outdoor ceremony, right?  I just saw your post on Narwhal's thread.

We really want an outdoor ceremony, but we're also looking at June (having found out more details on FI's med school schedule) in either Austin, TX or Zwolle, LA, and I'm really concerned about the heat.

jeanacorina

Our ceremony began at 7:30pm, and it was early June. It thunderstormed all day, so that helped a LOT with the heat. But honestly I didn't find it to be too bad.

I almost wanted to shy away from an outdoor ceremony because of the unpredictability of the weather, but I'm glad we didn't. We compromised by having it under a gazebo with a covered patio for the guests. It was great. The patio had ceiling fans and outdoor air conditioning units (didn't lower the temp obviously, but circulated cool air which was nice). We kept it short and sweet (about 20 minutes) and then everyone was able to go inside for the A/C.

DH just said "in and out and on with life," haha. That's kind of how we did it. We got gorgeous photos and had a beautiful freshly rain-washed backdrop... but didn't stay out there the whole (humid) evening. A few guests did opt to sit outside and walk around the grounds a bit, but for the most part people were indoors dancing and eating and visiting.

hetshup

OMG, if it's in Austin I will have so much helpful info! For serious. 

Elle1036

Hets - if we pick Austin, it won't be in the city exactly.  I really want to get married out on Lake Travis -- one of my favorite places in.the.world.  I'm definitely all ears for anything you know, though.

AJesteram

In Response to <a href="http://forums.theknot.com/Sites/theknot/Pages/Main.aspx/special-topic-wedding-boards_not-engaged-yet_long-were-talking-venues?plckFindPostKey=Cat:Special%20Topic%20Wedding%20BoardsForum:136Discussion:dad87b1e-6830-4951-88dd-4ca9514d5e99Post:ce34ff1a-9378-4cdc-ba9a-39709877a936">Re: As long as we're talking about venues...</a>:
[QUOTE]Hets - if we pick Austin, it won't be in the city exactly.  I really want to get married out on Lake Travis -- one of my favorite places in.the.world.  I'm definitely all ears for anything you know, though.
Posted by Elle1036[/QUOTE]

DO IT! Lake Travis would be amazing for a wedding. I would LOVE to do something like that.

CASK85

So how'd it go?

Elle1036

I'll post pictures later today.  I posted another thread about it (sorta) just now.