Wedding planning fell to the wayside as soon as we started in on the house buying thing.
But before all that jazz, we made a huge leap in the wedding planning process: we picked a venue.
When Brent and I sat down to think about what we wanted in our dream wedding, we imagined getting hitched in something that looked like this:
When we looked at how much it would cost to coordinate a barn wedding (within a reasonable drive), we decided to look at other options. Maybe a unique venue like a museum or something could work?
But, that’s didn’t work out either.
We’re sticking to a modest budget when it comes to our wedding plans, as we’ve both resolved that we absolutely do not want to go into any debt for the big day. Thankfully, our parents are helping out, but we still wanted to keep costs in check.
When I started to run numbers for these sorts of occasions, it ended up being a lot more than those photos make it seem. A barn wedding? That’ll be $4K+ – just for the empty barn. For a day. Really.
So, we started getting creative. I couldn’t even begin to tell you how many different venues I researched. I tried empty floors of old buildings, loft spaces, gallery spaces, airport hangars, museums, storefronts, historic sites, parks, picnic groves, country clubs, hotels, B&Bs, gymnasiums…you name it and I probably considered it. It all came down to three things:
- Would we be able to fit and host our guests comfortably?
- Would it be in our price range?
- Would it fit with the type of wedding we wanted?
Meeting all three criteria? A handful. Maybe. And that’s being optimistic.
One of the biggest challenges, I found, was finding a venue that was going to be within our price range and able to accommodate our projected guest list.
Thankfully, we did.
Appletree Terrace was a venue that I wasn’t sure of when I first started looking, but once I toured the facility (I had been there before in high school, so I hadn’t seen some of their updates) and discussed their pricing and capabilities, it was going to be a good fit.
Is it the venue of our dreams? No, but I’m sure that it met all of our criteria. Our guests will have great food, plenty of parking, and it’s easily accessible. We can get married right in the same place as the reception (another point on our checklist) and we know that it’ll be a great venue to work with.
Fun Fact: My aunt got married and had her reception at this venue! I’ve also dined here for sports team banquets (yes, I did that at one time) and can vouch for the food: it’s delish!
We committed to our date – 10/10/15 – and now…we wait and plan a lot of the other stuff. In January, we’ll go to meet with our venue to talk about menu and the schedule of the day. You know, the deetz.
In the meantime, I’m just going to enjoy the feeling of having a date and a place. Thank goodness.