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Help with an early Summer wedding venue?

I recently got engaged and am trying to do the wedding this summer, hopefully between late May and early July.  I know a lot of venues fill up far in advance and would appreciate any suggestions on gem locations that tend to be overlooked by a lot of brides and might be available on short notice.  I'm trying to avoid chain hotels if possible.  Thoughts?

Re: Help with an early Summer wedding venue?

  • edited December 2011

    Not sure what location you're looking for or whether you want inside or outside but Meadowlark Botanical Gardens is beautiful and the Grand Atrium is another nice place.  Good luck and congrats on the recent engagement!  =-)

  • 2dBride2dBride member
    2500 Comments Fourth Anniversary 5 Love Its Combo Breaker
    edited December 2011
    In order to give suggestions, it would really help to know a) how many guests you expect, b) what type of venue (hotel? outdoor? historic mansion?) you are looking for, and c) what your budget is.  There are a lot of potential DC wedding venues (see, for example, this spreadsheet by another bride), so narrowing it down would likely give you more productive suggestions.
  • villanosal8villanosal8 member
    10 Comments
    edited December 2011
    Stay away from Meadowlark.

    I had my wedding this September 18th and it was a DISASTER! 
    They ended up refunding most of our money back- which caused the delay in my review of them.  But I will be posting a review to here and Wedding Wire about our experience soon.
    The staff is young and inexperienced-- and unforatuntely it all fell apart on our big day.
    For the same price you can rent Union Station, Ronald Reagan Building, Newsuem, etc--- do yourself the favor and look elsewhere!
  • edited December 2011
    Hi Winthrop!  Congrats on your engagement!

    I am getting married at the Birkby House in downtown Leesburg.  From what I understand when I booked it seemed like summer was a slower time (due to the oppressive heat, I assume).  It's such a beautiful house and garden, very historic and charming and I cannot wait until my wedding day!  It's a lot cheaper to get married there on a Friday or Sunday, but for logistical reasons we are getting married on a Saturday. 
  • malloryb56malloryb56 member
    10 Comments
    edited December 2011

    You should check out River Creek Country Club in Leesburg. It's gorgeous, overlooks the Potomac River, is on the golf course, and has a huge veranda that overlooks it all. It's absolutely fabulous and they are super flexible! You really should go look at it. I fell in love and HAD to book there. Just don't book July 7, 2012 because that date is definitely not available ;)

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  • LoveMuffinsLoveMuffins member
    1000 Comments
    edited December 2011
    The Bolger Center in Potomac is great. It's right outside Bethesda, MD, it's not known for weddings (although it has done some), it has GORGEOUS grounds and rooms, and because it's not as well known for weddings nad it's on federal land, it's also cheaper than a lot of the places around DC. The affordability extends to its hotel rooms.

    Oh, also, if you're having the reception there, you can have the ceremony there for no extra charge. I'm having mine there in Sept, and it's all in one room with the cocktail hour out on this GORGEOUS stone patio with fountains and flowers, etc. They flip the room from ceremony to reception for no extra charge. So far, everything is working out great with them!
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