I'm so Knottie :-)

Eryn&Kashif

Okay ladies, it's late and I can't sleep again! I have the "Can't -get -the- wedding- planning -out- of- my -head- long- enough -to -go -to- sleep -blues!"  Anyway, I would like to know what you do on those nights your wedding planners/folders come calling your name! As for me, I am currently going over venues over and over and over again, because once you're locked in, it's a WRAP! What venue did you choose and why?

frig05

My wedding is 11 mths away, so kinda a ways like yours. I just tell myself I still have a lot of time to get things done and its okay if I don't worry about this right now-that I can worry about it tomorrow. Sometimes that works for me. Not sure if that helps at all.

solemnlyswear

There is no resisting that, I always came whe nthey called hehe.

Originally H and I were supposed to married outside in June. We had picked out a location at the state park which is beautiful in Wyoming.We picked it because it was summer and there was a lot of room for our guests.And I was excited to take my wedding photos there. I also loved you could barely hear the river running behind us. (not enough to make you pee).
 However living in Wyoming means that the weather is unpredictable and two days before our wedding a massive snow and rain storm hit and flooded half of the town, including the place we were going to say I do. So the night before we were calling every place we finally managed to get in the downstairs area of a local hotel. The lighting was horrible but there was an open bar and nice bathrooms, which we wouldn't have had at the park. Everyone seemed to enjoy that. Sorry it was a bit long but the venue is important, and my advide is if you are going to have an outdoor wedding ALWAYS have a back up plan.

becka717

My process of choosing a venue included making a list of every possible place with in like a 45 minute drive of my house.  Then it was quickly narrowed down by price and general atmosphere.  Then FI and I drove around to like 12 different places so he could see if he liked them. Then I had meetings with our top 5.  The winner was competitively priced, was closer to my home than some others, and had a hotel on site.  We have a lot of people coming from out of town, so we wanted to make it easier on them.

entropicbeauty

Originally I was just planning a backyard deal with a tent, but when I looked up the price of renting a nice looking tent and the tables etc. etc. etc. I realized It was going to be almost just as expensive as renting a venue.

From there I was purely looking for something within my meager price range, which disqualified a LOT of places. On top of that, FI is insistent that we be able to bring in our own food and alcohol, so that knocked even more off the list.

We ended up finding a place in Detroit that isn't advertised as a wedding venue but was PERFECT for us. We're doing a 1920's theme and it's a historic Model-T museum! Because they're JUST getting into the wedding game, they are more than reasonably priced and their rules on food and liquor are quite lax! In addition, we get a whole week to set up/tear down (so I believe wednesday to wednesday) which works REALLY well for us because we are DIY-ing a lot of details.

When you find the right venue, you'll know

dumdumfroggie

Personally, I think that if you're having so much stress over a year out from the date, to the point when you can't sleep, you probably need to take a break from wedding planning for awhile.

But as far as venues go, we chose ours based on a combination of a look we were going for + a price we could afford.

random4180

We're getting married in a historical hall. It was the first thing we booked and the only place we visited- as a PP noted, when you know, you know! It's very nice and located in a cute little historicall village about an hour from our house (in NYC) and while I think it's a beautiful locale, it's definitely not the "nicest" place in the area. Most people from the area seem to pick other venues which are way out of our price range. I wanted something that would allow us to bring our own caterer and use whichever vendors we wanted- and it also happens to be across the street from a church, which worked out great! I knew right away that a wedding planner would not be the way to go for us and we have a year-long engagement so I wanted to keep things as simple and as inexpensive as possible. I'd do my research first, create some guidelines for what you want (like, we didn't want a hotel or a country club) and we are on a strict budget. We were willing to travel up to an hour away and were open to a weekday wedding to cut down on costs. Once you've got your list going. start emailing people, looking for wedding inspiration to see what you want at yours (trees, grass, grand staircases, mirrored walls, a stage, whatever,) and meet with a couple which best meet your criteria.

mancila60

Our venue took a while to figure out. The church was easier than the reception. We wanted an all in 1 place but couldn't afford it. So we found a church that I had been looking at for a while I wanted my uncle to marry us and they allowed that so it was a done deal.

The reception was way harder. I wanted elegance but still a place I oculd do my own thing in. Price was a major factor for us along with space. We knew we were inviting a lot of people on a smaller budget. I think I looked everywhere I finally found a place BUT they wanted to full amount upfront. While I was getting the money they booked it. So we went looking for somewhere else. Finally found a place that met everything else the other place did.

My wedding is in less than 2 months so no stressing over it now. I say honestly just step away and take some deep breaths then go back to it in a few days.

BrooklynBride20

The church and reception venue are the same ones FI's sister used when she got married 10 years ago. The church is also the same church FI's parents were married in 40 years ago and the church his family has been attending forever. So the church was an easy pick and then the venue is very well known in Brooklyn and FI's family has had practically every major occassion celebrated there over several decades.

They are both perfect and I am so incredibly excited. I just knew they were the perfect places for our wedding. You will just know!

StephLove12

I have the same venue as Entropic. It's the ONLY venue I looked at. I booked it July 2011 for my October 2012 wedding. I was that sure of it. 

I didn't want banquet hall, and my venue is FAR from banquet hall. Its a display of history, which both me and my FI appreciated a lot. Like Entropic said, since they are just starting out with weddings, the prices are very affordable and everything is very lax. It was perfect for us.

Laurstar31

Breathe!!! You  need to relax i know it is hard but just think...you have a little over a year of this...and you will drive yourself crazy if you keep it up. Treat your venue like its anything else in your wedding..go and look at a few places and when you find the one you will know and STOP looking! I would definitely book your venue in the next couple months because they book up fast! Just follow your heart, and relax. This is supposed to be a happy time

Elizabeth80

I googled reception venue's in the part of my city nearest to my church or at the most 20 minutes away. After that I researched their websites for their Wedding Reception packages. Size, Price, and style were my deciding factors in that order. I did more emailing then talking on the phone which was good because it helped me to have everything in written form to compare and contrast.

Once I had it narrowed down to a handful of venue's I begin calling to get more detailed information. I chose the venue we have now because it was the most affordable, I like the look, its close to my church and I've been to 2 weddings there before so I know what to expect.

Happy Hunting!! The planning can be stressful but I thought it was a lot of fun:-)

Grits8812

I wanted to get married in a church, but since we aren't getting married in the same area we are from, I had no idea where to start.  So I called about 10 churches in the town, they either didn't marry people who were not members, or were crazy expensive.

So I decided an outdoor wedding.  We are getting married at a sportsman's club.  Because 

1.  my dad is on the board there, so he could get a better price

2.  inexpensive, and had just enough room for everyone

I didn't even look at venues, I just figured that would be best.

mhogberg

Another thing to look at is customer service.  I called about one venue and the lady didn't seem like she wanted to deal with me. She kept huffing and sighing on the phone so I called the other venue we were looking at.  Venue #2 personel was AWESOME!! People always ask how we chose our venue and I am honest.  Customer Service goes along way, and I am picky about it because I have worked in it for about 8years.  Think about it, if they are a B!TCH on the phone they will more than likely be a B!TCH to work with throughout the whole planning process. 

chickenbut143

We narrowed it down to 3 venues and made a spreadsheet to compare the pros/cons of each and how much each really would cost w/ 80 people attending (food, ceremony, flowers, dancefloor, DJ...all the details).  This way we could compare hidden costs, what was included, and what we wanted.  It really worked well.  For us, the venue was the most important, the date was secondary - we didn't have anything specific in mind (which is why it's on a Friday).  We found out when our venue was available and went from there.   

Hard to imagine i've got 28 days left!!

chickenbut143

In Response to <a href="http://forums.theknot.com/Sites/theknot/Pages/Main.aspx/special-topic-wedding-boards_plus-sized_im-so-knottie?plckFindPostKey=Cat:Special Topic Wedding BoardsForum:973cdc6f-961e-4fb0-a628-bef2bb559697Discussion:54f51c91-b886-4cbd-b249-2b7ed2388b76Post:3c7fc937-157f-4f68-bae5-fd4292e86899">Re: I'm so Knottie :-)</a>:
[QUOTE]Another thing to look at is customer service.  I called about one venue and the lady didn't seem like she wanted to deal with me. She kept huffing and sighing on the phone so I called the other venue we were looking at.  Venue #2 personel was AWESOME!! People always ask how we chose our venue and I am honest.  Customer Service goes along way, and I am picky about it because I have worked in it for about 8years.  Think about it, if they are a B!TCH on the phone they will more than likely be a B!TCH to work with throughout the whole planning process. 
Posted by mhogberg[/QUOTE]

I totally agree with this...One of the venues we went to look at - the planner stood us up.  Just missed our appointment all together...  Yup, we knew that wasn't the place for us.  Too bad too, it was very pretty.