Having a hard time deciding on venue

Bubbalub

 We have a strict budget and live in an expensive area, so even finding places that we can afford is hard. Ones we do find we like but always think we can find something better. However, S wants to get married in August or September this year so we are running out of time/options as places are booking up fast.

How difficult was it for everyone to decide on a venue? Did you find yourselves second-guessing your decision after a deposit was put down? Were budget constraints a big part of your decision?

Just curious. I feel the same as when we are looking for a new apartment: excited at first, then overwhelmed and eventually sick of it all and ready to just take the next place that looks halfway decent. Sigh.

TurtlesAllTheWayDown

Yeah, when we picked out venue I was relieved to actually have one. Then I started second guessing. But everyone is impressed with it and I think it was really the right choice for us.

The thing that made it hard was the idiotic venue coordinators. I barely got any calls/emails back. And even when I did, some were unprofessional. If I can tell you're disorganized off the bat, it does not want to make me book with you. Seriously, out of about 20 venues I was really only considering 3-4.

Nebb

We viewed one place and loved the atmosphere and the price so we went with it. I didnt care what was out there that might be better, I liked that place and it suited our needs so we signed it.

Bubbalub

We are having that issue right now. There is an historic house on the lake that I want to look at and is really inexpensive for the area, though it has been recently restored and is beautiful. Their contact guy got back to me the same day when I first emailed him, then took over a month to get back to me the second time. (I had to send that email twice to get him to respond). He asked for my phone # to speak to me in person, then never called. I called him and left a message last week and still haven't heard a word.

So even though I really want to see that place and think it would be perfect both visually and financially I am reluctant to deal with that coordinator for our wedding if it is this hard to get ahold of him.

MyNameIsNot

Venue was our hardest part.  We got married in a Catholic church, so we were limited on times and that automatically eliminated a lot of options.  Then we had a large guest list, so that made it even harder.  I had spreadsheets and files of stuff, and it took us a couple of months to find something that really worked and book it. 

Once we got the venue booked, wedding planning was easy. 

TurtlesAllTheWayDown

It depends on how much they provide, I guess. Our ceremony site seems incredibly disorganized. They lost my first check, then found it 3 months later. In the meantime I sent another one. So they were confused when they found the first. After confirming they got my second check, it took a month to cash it. But frankly, I just need to make sure someone unlocks the doors on the day-of so we can have the ceremony, and therefore I'm not too upset about it.

Does this place do all of the catering/alcohol? Does this guy have a supervisor you can communicate with?

JK10910

We had an awful time finding a venue.  Once we finally found one it was a huge relief.  I haven't second guessed because I just stopped thinking about it.

simply.me

I took a really long time to decide too.  I have heard from acquaintances that they "just knew it when they saw it", but I didn't.  I looked back on the ones we visited that we didn't exclude for some reason (too pricey and coordinator that I didn't jive with or trust  were two big ones) and then went with the one we liked best.  

Then came the part with coordinating with the church (I was looking at churches and reception sites) that also took some time.  

Dealing with coordinators that aren't responsive is tough, but I ask myself if they won't get back to me now when they want my business- will they when I have already given them a check...

I would give yourself a deadline, make a pros and cons list, decide and then don't look back.  The setting is important, but it's not going to make or break the day (or more importantly- your marriage!)

Bubbalub

Does this place do all of the catering/alcohol? Does this guy have a supervisor you can communicate with?

Nope, all catering is outside and the contact is the guy that runs things. I'm thinking that I don't want to deal with him in the long-term.

We saw a site this weekend that is beautiful, if not totally private (on a university campus). The big thing holding us back from booking this minute is that it provides catering but they don't allow a tasting until after you've booked. I've looked up reviews on Yelp and most of them are positive about the food, so I'm inclined to take this one on faith. The big deal will be convincing S as he is really worried the food will suck.

SarahSmile23

oh gosh, we second-guessed ours like crazy! i wish we had looked at more places before we booked.

sphinx24

when we were looking at sites the one venue that we ended up going with had the option of doing the tasting before we booked if we were really undecided and then if we didn't go with them we had to pay for it otherwise it was included in the package. You could always ask if they would be willing to do something similar.