WARNING: LONG!
I need help and since my family support system is out of advice and none of it has helped I am coming to you all. Hopefully you have attended weddings at these places or attended enough weddings in general to be of more help to me, because honestly I have not been to many weddings. I also have a few problems that are a little unique, not unheard of, but difficult none the less.
We are getting married THIS September. It is a very short engagement. It is family with his two best friends and my two best friends coming to bring us to a grand total of 36 guests, so very intimate. These two things have made finding a venue a challenging.
Our wedding will most likely not have alcohol. We thought about having an afternoon wedding to reduce the expectation of alcohol.
For the feel of our wedding we want it semi-formal
but with a comfortable, relaxed feel. I am art teacher and very DIY. I
love the shabby-chic look and want to have this style for our wedding. I think this fits well. I do not think a formal wedding makes sense for us and our families.
Enough background info, now for the venue options:
1. Michael J. Colligan Lodge in Hamilton. Pros: price = super cheap at $375. Close to home. Small enough. Very cute: 6 sets of french doors, exposed brick walls, exposed beams, fire place, chandeliers, back patio. Cons: provides ONLY the place and tables/chairs. No coordinators, no linens, etc. Our date is not available. I can choose two different dates in September, which since no other plans have been made isn't a huge deal.
2. Ivy Hills Golf Club. Pros: Giving us the rental fess 50% for a short notice booking. Taking off $ to remove open bar from catering. They provide everything we need. They coordinate. They have our date. Cons: It's a 45 minute drive. I think it may be TOO formal. The outside venue is bland, it's just a tree.
3. Kirkwood Inn. I don't really know much except they have our date. It's a Bed and Breakfast. They do a lot of the coordinating and provide everything as well I believe. It's at the tip top of our budget since they haven't offered a discount.
I love the atmosphere of the small, kind of off-beat lodge. I love being able to choose whichever vendors and do pretty much whatever I want. I hate not having my date. I am worried about coordinating everything ourselves.
With the other two places I love having them do most of the work. I have heard Ivy Hills has excellent food and is very pretty, but I am worried a golf-course wedding does not fit the bill for the type of vibe we are trying to create for our wedding. I also do not want the venue to be so fancy that some of our guest stick out like sore thumbs.
Which would you choose?