Venues — what and how did you choose?

We toured four venues, but ultimately chose the third one we looked at! It fits our personalities perfectly - we both love the outdoors and camping, and the outdoor ceremony location has lots of tall trees and is on a lake. It's a smaller venue (which is what we wanted). I wouldn't call it rustic - when I think of rustic, I think of barns and open fields and such, and that isn't what our venue looks like. This has more of a "cozy cabin on a lake" feel mixed with a vineyard/winery. We're so excited to have our wedding there!

This is our venue!

It's a vineyard/restaurant/cellar door in the Southern Highlands of Sydney Australia.

I think it was really fate for us - about a year into dating, just after my parents had moved to that area, we had a birthday lunch there and then-bf and I turned to each other and almost at the same time said, "wouldn't this be the best place to get married?" we weren't talking about us at that point, just thinking what a nice venue it would make hypothetically, but when we got engaged and started looking, it was definitely on our list and I'm so happy we picked it. It's a beautiful place.

Edited to add - I don't really think either of us were looking for a place with a certain theme, just a nice vibe.

Here is our venue. It has been one of my favorite places since I was a child, and it has such a sweet, romantic history 💕

I wanted to get married in a really beautiful and elegant barn but it was a 2 hour drive away and I did not want the inconvenience or extra cost of a destination wedding but I struggled to find much locally because the bulk of our options were big and sterile looking rooms in hotels which would have required significant spending to beautify.

We ultimately decided on a grand Victorian ballroom in one of the oldest buildings in our city. We chose it because (a) it was centrally located and easy to access (b) it has lots of character (c) the room itself is beautiful and doesn’t require much décor, it has very tall ceilings (about 30 ft), ornate gold crown mouldings and ceiling detail, and 5 large bespoke chandeliers. The vibe we are going for is sophisticated elegance.

View Quoted Comment Where is this??? It’s gorgeous!

For our micro DW, Calistoga Ranch was perfect for our pirate-inspired theme! Soooo sad a lot of the property was destroyed in the Napa fires. 😭

I suppose ours ended up as modern, but what sold us was the view. It was RIGHT on top of the Hudson River, looked out at where we lived in Jersey, had a full balcony and roll up windows, so it could be open air all night, and basically the venue disappeared for the view. (It's hard to see in the pictures, which are mostly close-focus, but the Statue of Liberty was visible in the background.)

Also, a park RIGHT NEXT to the venue!

View Quoted Comment It’s in Chicago! It is always decorated so beautifully for Christmas, so we would go there every year when I was a child (still do even now as an adult). Over the years I have been to tons of events there as well. It has just always been a significant part of my life, so it only made sense that it would be a part of this huge mile stone as well!

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A "cozy cabin on the lake" vibe sounds lovely!!

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That's beautiful! I love the contrast of the white tables and chairs against the dark floors and ceiling beams.

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So pretty and definitely a statement venue! I especially like the different light fixtures in each room. I'm particularly drawn to the burgundy room (it's one of my favorite colors).

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Your venue sounds like it has lots of character and will definitely fit into your theme/vibe.

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So beautiful . . . and so sad that it has been destroyed. The reception space definitely fits the pirate vibe. Love it!

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Wow! Wow! Wow! Those views say it all. So beautiful. And you were definitely blessed to have such clear skies on your wedding day!

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Chicago at Christmas time is beautiful! It's so sweet that you have a "history" with this venue.

We only toured one venue and were sold!

I've been to our venue for various different functions like bridal conventions when my mom owned a bridal store, Sr. Year luncheons, and my work also rents out the venue once a year for our yearly meeting. I knew the food was AMAZING, but the grounds are also gorgeous, we're getting married in front of the waterfall, and during cocktail hour the ceremony area will transform to an outdoor patio with fire pits, and chairs and tables for people to take a breather during the reception.

Our venue is pretty inclusive, so it includes the ceremony, reception and food, plus since we're getting married on a Friday night we got a 10% discount which was super helpful!

So I have two. Our wedding venue and our vow renewal venue.

Our wedding was at the Maitland Art Center. I always wanted somewhere unique. I'd looked at gardens, theaters, and museums and hadn't been enthralled with any of them. My sister, who went with me, was equally unimpressed by everything we toured. She asked if there was anywhere else, and I admitted I had one other place - I actually had seen it a year earlier in a book left behind by a guest at the hotel where I worked, called Florida Off the Beaten Path. I hadn't set up a tour for it, because pictures were kind of scant and that made me nervous, but on a whim she was like "let's go." It was perfect. It was exactly what I'd always pictured. It looked like Mayan palace ruins in a forest. The moment we walked in, we both were left slack-jawed, and I knew that it was the place.

The first image is the chapel, the next two are of the entrance/hallway that joins the chapel and courtyard, and the last two are the reception courtyard. This is what it looked like on our wedding day before we had red rose petals scattered for the aisle:

I loved this venue, and I so desperately wanted to have our vow renewal there, because it was beautiful and very special and unlike anything else.

Unfortunately, my husband and I went to visit it again recently, and it doesn't look like this anymore. They've ripped out all of those beautiful ferns, they filled in those dark recesses in the "chessboard" altar with mulch and little pokey shrubs, they ripped out all of the greenery over the hallway and added these ultra-modern lanterns that don't really fit the aesthetic of the place, and they put these ultra-modern string lights over the reception courtyard. I only grabbed a (crappy) picture of the chapel, but you can see for yourself how much it has changed...

Neither of us was happy with the new landscaping or "upgrades". Combining that with our other lingering concerns (it's an outdoor space in Florida.... and our anniversary is in July) it was the final nail in the coffin and we realized we just needed to find somewhere else.

So back to square one. Still wanting something unique. We found the Orlando Science Center. It's cool because we met in science class, and we are science enthusiasts (we go out with our telescope to stargaze and we actually have frequented this center - in fact, we went there the first day of our honeymoon) so it is still pretty "on the nose."

That is a projector sphere, they have several options for images to cast there (the galaxy, Earth, the Moon, etc...)

And the reception area has big dinosaur skeletons and interactive fossil exhibits.

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This is magical. Tragic to hear about the damage, what a cool place!

My dad picked out a venue I wasn't crazy for but he's paying so I was going to settle for it. I already had my date in mind but if it had to change no big deal. My only thing was it had to be October. I refused every month. Well I went to finally book it at my dad's choice and October was completely full! So I made a list of venues and went searching. I went to a few duds and finally went to the venue I ended up booking. I got out and expected the worse! (Anyone who knows it says it looks weird from the outside) my literal words were "this is going to be a crap show" well I walked in and fell in love! They had my date open so I went straight to my dad and said we have to book it. I hear such great things about it when when mention it to people which makes me even more excited!

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Sounds like you hit the jackpot with the venue. Getting married in front of a water fall sounds dreamy!! That site will make for lovely pictures.