First Look at Venues

Re: First Look at Venues

• teacup0618 member

  

  January 2011 edited December 2011

  Its definitely possible. My FI and I went to 11 different places between 2 days before we decided on a place. Most of the places didnt even call to see if we decided one way or another. A few did, but I didnt feel pressured in any way. Good luck!

  

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• danagigs member

  

  January 2011 edited December 2011

  FI and I went to several venues but was never really pushed into making any decisions on the spot (kinda helped that I said that my parents would need to be the final say and they obvious were not with me), but I know your fear. I actually feel like that made them try harder to get us deals cause they knew we would be shopping around before making any decision. 

  
  

  The great thing with most Vineyards is that you can go in for a Wine Tasting and the venue is none the wiser. Then you are free to walk around, ask questions and they might just ask if you want to make an appointment to sit down with the coordinator. Renault Winery is BEAUTIFUL!!!! (if your looking in that direction) They might be pricey though... I'm not sure. 

  
  

  Another option are restaurants with rooms for weddings. Then you can go and try the food, get a sense for the atmosphere and maybe even just ask your waiter if you can see where they would host such an event without even sitting down with the coordinator yet. A great suggestion for this is The Smithville Inn. 

  
  

  Banquet halls are more difficult. You would definitely have to set up an appointment, but like I said they dont really push. They want your money, not to scare you off. :-)

  
  

  Good Luck in your search!!! Trust me, its actually a lot of fun to picture your wedding in all the different places you look... but once you find the right place it will just smack you in the face and you wont be able to get it out of your head

  

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• VanessaLynnBergen

  

  January 2011 edited December 2011

  You should probably set up some appts with people so you can get the undivided attention of the coordinator.  I'm not sure what your budget is, but we're planning our wedding right now and we checked out Laurita Winery/Vineyards in New Egypt.  It's gorgeous, but out of our price range.  For June (that's when we're getting married), it was $21,000 min for a Friday night and $24,000 for a Saturday night.  There are some other vineyards in the area, but this is by far the best I've seen.

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• Rangergirl

  

  January 2011 edited December 2011

  What I found when I went looking was that if you make it clear to them from the beginning that you have a few places to look at and you won't be making a decision right away. Normally most places have no problem respecting that. They will have you sit down with a salesperson to go over packages and that's when you can let them know what your budget is and all but really out of all the places we looked (like 15 which is a lot...) only ONE preasured us.
  
  I can tell you that our venue The Merion is a catering hall but they have a few different ballrooms with different feels to all of them and their menu offers much different stuff than what you'd normally find. If you're looking for something really cool, I remember someone said they were getting married at the Camden Aquarium. Good luck with your search!

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• viewfromheaven05 member

  

  January 2011 edited December 2011

  We looked at close to 10 venues as well, and at most we were not hassled into making a decision right away.  We had 2 venues that kept bugging us, either by phone or email until we told them we decided not to go with them.  Just make it clear you're just beginning to look and get a sense of what you want for your wedding.  Tell them any possible dates you have in mind, cause that will help you decide.  That was something major for us.  We didnt want to give up our date so we moved on from a venue that didnt have it available (not to mention, they were one of the annoying ones).
  
  Most important:  Have fun and make sure that the place feels right.  Menus and little details can be changed to fit your criteria and budget.  That's why we chose the Sheraton in AC because we had the feeling and they were fantastic to get us what we wanted and held our date for an extra week since we were going on vacation.
  

  
  At sea, heading to Lisbon, Portugal

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• demarcosjd

  

  January 2011 edited December 2011

  We looked at tons of places before making our decision. We only felt pressured by 2 that we saw. We were fine with walking away from them because we knew they weren't the ones. I agree I would make appointments with them so you get the correct information. Also most places are up for negotiation so don't be afraid to ask. We had our wedding at The Renault Winery and they were ok priced but definitely not cheap, we were able to work out a price with them that we were comfortable with. We also had a friend that got married at Larita Winery and it looked wonderful. Maybe also check out local museums, the aquarium, and nicer restaurants. It also depends on what you think is over priced, it could mean something different for everyone. You could also look into locations near the beach since October would be off season you may be able to get a good price.

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