Do I really need to look at more than one venue?

melizabethp · January 2015

So... Two years ago, FI and I went to my then-boss' daughter's wedding. We fell in love with her reception venue -- beautiful, great food, great location. After that, every time I dreamed of our wedding, I dreamed of this place. Not even kidding. (It has an exclusive contract with a big caterer in town whose food I've eaten on other occasions, and it's all been above average.) As soon as we got engaged and had the budget talk with my parents (who are paying), we started to throw around ceremony and reception locations, and this place came up right away.

I looked it up, and lo and behold...it's well within our budget, possibly unbeatable on per-head price in that part of town, and the per-head price includes everything but the DJ, flowers and room rental fee. I looked at a few other locations, and the ones that provided pricing promptly just could not come close to that for-head price.

Do I go for it? Or do I inquire more seriously with a few other places just for the sake of looking? I mean...this is my dream venue.

(Our date isn't until April 2016, so I COULD wait to book, but I don't really want to.)

JennyColada · January 2015

We didn't look at any venues (DH already had an idea of where he wanted to get married and since I didn't I was happy to go with his choice).

So, no, I don't think that you have to look at more than one, or even one...

slothiegal · January 2015

Contrary to what TV says, there is not one single "perfect" dress or venue or anything like that and you'll drive yourself crazy trying to find it. So if you're in love with this place AND you're able to stay within budget/treat your guests well with it....I say go for it! Can't ask for much more than that!

BlueBirdMB · January 2015

If it works, go for it.

mikenberger · January 2015

There's no rule on how many venues you should look at. If you know this place fits your budget and is what you want, go for it. And since you're still early in the game, chances are you'll get the date you want too!

melizabethp · January 2015

Thanks, guys. I emailed them this morning and had a response by this afternoon that our date is open, so that doesn't seem to be an issue. I subsequently spoke with the booking contact on the phone and asked if she could hold the date for 48 hours so we can get the ceremony site nailed down*, and she said that was absolutely no problem, so double bonus.

I appreciate your advice on going with it, and I think we will!

*(We met in a Catholic young adult ministry that met at a particular church, and we want to get married there. It's a very small parish and not an especially popular place for weddings, even though it's in a trendy area. However, we haven't actually attended that church in years and need to plead our case with the new pastor. Yay...)

manillabar · January 2015

I actually posted a similar question back in September when my FI and I were looking at venues because I totally fell in love with the very first venue I saw and didn't really even want to go see the others. Turns out many of the posters here had similar experiences and I ended up going with my first venue without ever looking at any others, and so far so good!

All of that is to say, go for it! If you love it and can afford it, it sounds like a win-win.

ddoane · January 2015

I say go for it, we only looked at 2 venues and both of us knew we wanted one before even seeing the inside. While we were dating we used to take walks on the rails to trails that bordered our venue. We both thought to ourselves that first day we past it that we would get married there but never told each other until we were engaged.

vmj23 · January 2015

I only looked at the one I knew I wanted and have no regrets!

atlastmrsg · January 2015

Book it! Then you can use the time you'd spend pointlessly going to other venues, when you know what you want, for fun things like tasting more cake (definitely try for more than one place!), getting in shape if you're going to work on that, relaxing, or drinking wine.

I went to one venue, brought my checkbook, booked it that day. Loved the venue--like you--had dreamed about it forever. Felt great to check it off and know I had exactly what I hoped for. I never looked back.

MandyMost · January 2015

I think it depends on you personality. For me, I need to rule out things to know I made the right choice. Even after I found the venue I loved (and could afford), I still looked at a few more places. I did the same thing with my dress. I LOVED it, but I didn't buy it right then...I went out another day and kept trying on others "just to be sure". For me, if I didn't do it that way I would always have doubts. But if you're not that way, then go for it!

cupcait927 · January 2015

I only looked at one venue in person. I did a bunch of research online and got prices but only visited one place. It was exactly what we were looking for and in our budget so I booked it the next day. If you've been dreaming about this place, it has what you need AND it's in your budget - I say go for it. Don't stress yourself out any more than necessary.

tammym1001 · January 2015

I never looked at any venues. DH wanted a specific venue and we booked with them. I don't regret it at all. We were familiar with the venue and their quality so we didn't have to worry about that.

charcoalandblush · January 2015

I only looked at one venue. Check back with me in 9 months, but I have no regrets so far. We knew we wanted to get married there and booked a week after getting engaged.

theartistformerlyknownas · January 2015

We only looked at one venue. It was important to H to get married there, it was in budget, so we pulled the trigger.

My only caution would be to be careful about the TIMES available for your ceremony in addition to the date/place. Most Catholic churches don't allow Saturday afternoon/evening ceremonies since they need to clear out/clean up for Mass, and you don't want to be "stuck" having a gap (you're not stuck; it would be a choice). Make sure that either your ceremony is available as late as you want or your reception venue is available early, so that the reception can start as soon as guests arrive immediately following your ceremony.

Good luck!

AddieCake · January 2015

Just something to keep in mind when looking at only one venue:

We only looked at one venue and fell in love with it and booked it. And then some shady shit happened (owners became embroiled in some legal/fraud/bankruptcy stuff) and we no longer felt comfortable keeping this venue. This was 6 months before our wedding, so we needed to find another place ASAP and prayed we could keep our date so that it wouldn't affect us with our other vendors.

So even if you just KNOW you've found "the one," it doesn't hurt to have at least browsed online for some backup plans.

indianaalum · January 2015

IF you love it and the price fits, no need to keep looking.

In fact, continuing to look could be detrimental. You might fall in love with a pricier place or you could lose out on the current venue by wating.

I say "go fot it"

Do I really need to look at more than one venue?

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