So after a whirlwind trip home starting very early Sunday morning and ending Tuesday and then having to fly back to DC we picked our venue! Drum roll.........We picked Heathrow Country Club. So looks like we are going to be married October 22, 2011!! We are all very excited to have this part picked and it was a huge sense of relief. What is also nice is my fiance went to mass at Annunciation with my family for the first time so he got to see where we would be getting married and he thought it was so beautiful as did his family when we did a drive by with them.
Places we had appointments at in order: (note: these are just my opinions, they were all great options which is why we visited them).
Sweatwater country club: This was our first stop and we were all pretty tired. Kristin the event manager there is a dream and amazing! She definitely makes the place. We weren't pleased with the 1970s decor including the "old lady fans" in the garden room. Dark green with painted flowers, fans are not that expensive to replace. We thought the grounds and drive in were very nice and location was great to the church. For our wedding we would probably had to rent the whole facility because we didn't want other people using the country club during our event, which made it more costly. However best part about them is how they are so willing to do just about anything and everything to make your day special.
Heathrow Country Club: This being our second stop we were far more pleased by the decor. Much more neutral and updated. I love the big oak trees on the drive in and the fact that the reception hall and banquet area are separate entrances from the rest of the club. Being a horse woman I loved the painting in the main entrance. I want a picture with that. They were very helpful and spent a long time answering all of our questions which we brought 5 very different view points. What really sold it was the location to the probable hotels our guest would stay at the fact the hotel shuttles would come to Heathrow for free which eliminated drunk driving and gave ultra convenience to our guests! This ended up being our choice due to convenience, decor, willingness to customize our event, and scenery.
Lake Mary Marriott: This one I already had huge apprehension on because the pictures on the website show the ballroom carpet with huge orange flowers. Why would anyone pick such bold carpet for an event space? However pleasantly surprised when got there and the carpet had been replaced with a slightly less bold design. I am however not really a hotel ballroom person as they make me feel claustrophobic with no windows. I just couldn't see my reception taking place there even though it would be huge convenience to guest that would stay at the hotel. They also didn't have later October dates available that we desired. My FMIL really liked this choice. We did enjoy a very good lunch there in the restaurant.
Lake Mary Event Center: This is the big one the one I wanted but knew they didn't have any open Saturdays till December 2011 which meant moving our original date. We were open to this if we really liked it. We pulled up, not a fan of the surrounding neighborhood that guests would have to drive through, isn't the best part of Lake Mary. My FI didn't like the look of the front though I believe it is very pretty (difference in taste). The event space, outside, and view are probably the best by far of what we saw! It was spectacular! However, when we arrived the woman we had an appointment with was in ATL and didn't notify anyone that we would be coming. One guy briefly showed us around and when we got back to the office pretty much ditched us and left us standing there. It was extremely rude. I know they have no lack of people wanting their event there because of all the positives but their customer service was left extremely wanting in our visit, I was so shocked!
Mason et Jardin: This was our first appointment on our second day of looking. Great location to the church! All of going to the appointment (both sets of parents and us) have had really nice meals there in the past when it was a restaurant. The wedding coordinator there was very helpful and has had years and years of experience there, working since 16 at Mason and even hosted her own wedding at the location. Minuses for us were the step down to the dance floor that I could see older guest, women in high heels, tipsy guest and even myself being taken out by if not careful. This was on all sides of the dance floor. I didn't like the all the separate rooms felt a little choppy and separated to me and I don't want any guest to feel "left out" because of their table location. Plus there are major blind spots around the facility when guest are dinning. I thought the decor could be a little updated though it has a chiche cute French feeling. My mom felt it was outdated and that really lacked for herself. They were very nice saying they would schedule tasting for us any time we wanted one which none of the others outrightly offered. The north lawn is pretty though felt it could be "cleaned" up a little. There could also be two events going on at the same time in each building.
Citrus Club: Was canceled for us due to location for convenience for guest and they are renovating which would take them to max 160 which is probably cutting it close for our guest list. From the pictures I thought it looked very nice online I loved all the wood work.
Cypress Grove Estate: Originally one of my favorite candidates we decided to cancel this appointment after considering the only way we could have a reception there would be outside to fit and that meant risking weather. Also considered as a rehearsal dinner location though was ruled out due to price of venue, needing a catered, and is a little far from Altamonte Springs where Annunciation is located. Beautiful estate and grounds though, would make amazing pictures!
Alequa Legacy Club - Restaurant and Golf club of Alequa Lakes in Longwood. This is a beautifully and simply decorated venue. Holds up to 108 max. We looked at it as a possible rehearsal dinner location. The lunch was very good. The chef is also the catering manager and very nice. Great location, though this is up to my FILs to decide.
I hope this might help anyone else looking at venues, again these are just personal opinions and are all very nice locations which is why we made appointments with them. We just had to pick the one that had the most positives for event.
Please send good vibes I am feeling not so well with sore throat and slight fever and have to work till Monday which is my next day off. Not sure how I am going to do it.