What was most important to you when choosing your reception venue?

I obviously wanted a pretty venue, but my number 1 must-have was the menu.... a huge cocktail hour, followed by an amazing dinner menu, followed by the dessert buffet. Add in the amazing bar, and I was sold. I wanted my guests to want for nothing

I think style for me. I knew I wanted rustic chic so if the venue couldn't accommodate that theme and support it/mesh well with it, it was off the list. I didn't want anything about my wedding to feel disjointed

I wanted a venue that had an indoor and outdoor space, as well as some character. I chose a historical bank in the end! Which works perfectly because my FH loves talking about the financial market. It also has a really cool vault guests can walk into. Plan on putting the groomscake in there.

Location and date. We wanted somewhere near the beach and we had a very specific date in mind and only six months to plan. Thankfully, our first beachside location was available!

Definetely the style, look and feel of the place! We are going with a elegant modern feel so finding a place that had gold chivalry chairs and beautiful gold and crystal chandeliers worked out perfect! It is also nice when you don’t have to do too much to decorate it since it’s already very classy and elegant looking!

For me, it had to be an outdoor space and an open, airy vibe. We're getting married in Greece so it's perfect.

I was very specific in the one thing I wanted which was a mountain backdrop for the ceremony. Now, I didn't want to get a venue like that with nothing else to show for it so the second most important thing to us was value. We wanted to get the best with what we could pay so that we could give our guests a great time.

Practicality was the only factor.. I mean, I wanted it to look pretty but its basically just a ballroom. We had a lot of guests traveling here and having our reception at a hotel was important.

We wanted something that would fit our style and that had great food. We went and looked at a few different styles to ensure that is what we wanted, but it was clear when I walked into my venue that it was the one. FH wasn't even with me! I called him and told him I found it and he told me that if I loved it then he would too! I wanted a place that was elegant but was also warm. I wanted a place with character and rustic modern decor. I love all the exposed wood in my venue and the unique chandeliers in the ballroom. I also fell in the love with the ceremony space. It is outside but under a covered patio.

Price was a huge factor. I wanted something with history or outdoorsy. I got both with the lodge we found. Plus the price was only $1200 for the day with tables and chairs included. I love that it won't hold more than 70 because it forces you to really limit the guest list.

My FH wanted something different so no ballroom/banquet hall. I wanted the ceremony outdoors. Most of our guests are OOT so we wated somewhere close to our house. We choose the second venue we visited. It’s a non-inclusive so we save money with the open bar

First and foremost it needed to be in the mountains and close to my mountain-top ceremony location.

I was in no way having a golf club or ballroom wedding. I wanted mine in a barn or campground (indoor and outdoor use) and not because it was currently trending. My husband and I actually own 6 acres of land where we're currently building a little homestead, not to mention a barn felt way more consistent with the "mountain and forest wedding" label I was putting on my wedding.

After that it needed to be affordable. I was $3,500 to have on a Sunday (no Saturdays left for 3 years), then an additional $600 to use their gorgeous farm tables and chairs. Very affordable to me!

Then I wanted to be able to bring in ALL my own vendors. None of this $17,000 food minimum bullshit I kept finding with other venues. This saved me THOUSANDS. We were able to bring in our own alcohol and allow guests to self-serve as well, which was another huge savings.

They needed to be able to communicate with me via email, as well as accept payments online. Aint nobody got time for stupid freaking checks and phone calls.

I wanted a place that was just as beautiful bare as it was set up so it could easily be transformed to fit our rustic elegance theme. We also wanted a place that had a gorgeous bar. Finally, we wanted a place that was NOT all inclusive. We wanted to hire our own vendors individually to ensure it was everything we wanted and more.

We chose our venue for a few major reasons:

- Location - the reception venue is tucked away from the road, so it is more private.

- Plenty of parking and bathrooms, and we will be the only couple there.

- Outdoor and indoor space available

I had one venue in mind since the minute we got engaged, however, prices started adding up too fast, I would have had to have a morning wedding, and I couldn't justify that amount for a wedding.

SO, we went and saw this cute little location, has greenery everywhere, tons of lighting, the price was more than alright, and I got to have my evening wedding.

It's got an open vendor policy, and the tables, chairs, centerpieces, and unlimited use of their easels, their decanters, and sound system were included in the price. I love that it has a baby grand piano, and chandeliers.

To me it was just what was in the pricing. I mean you can make any venue gorgeous, this one just happens to have the price, the beauty, and convenience included!

A picture from their website.

SO pretty

We chose our venue because:

1. The price was reasonable for what we get.

2. They had our date available (a surpringly number of venues are already booked 1.5 years in advance here).

3. It’s pretty! This means we’re going to be spending next to no money on draping (someone almost every venue was going to need).

We had some difficulty in that we needed to stay within a certain distance to his grandparents because they were unable to be in the car for an extended period of time, and most of my family is around an hour and a half from where we live now. We needed something that could be ceremony and reception in one, with great places for pictures. We knew we wanted to have our ceremony outside, so we looked for places that could accommodate that too.

Eventually, we narrowed it down to 4 choices, saw 3 of them. And decided on the one we did, mostly because of the DOC. She was friendly, excited, and answered all of our questions. The location could be very flexible with us, and we felt that we could entrust a lot to this individual. And that's how we settled on our venue. But we think it has just the right mix of everything we need, and I wish I could get pictures of it to load, so I could include them on this post!

I wanted to be in the city (Minneapolis) as opposed to the suburbs, and I wanted it to have some historic meaning. Our venue used to be a theater and was converted to an event space. I'm still obsessed with it a year later!

The biggest thing is convenience for our guests. I didn't want it to be too far from the airport or too expensive of an Uber ride for local guests. There were a lot of great options that were just smidge farther out than we thought was best.

Because I saw so many venues without a bathroom, a bathroom was essential. But for me the deal breaker was handicap accessibility. Not for myself, but for my friends and family. I have many family members and friends (one who is my bridesmaid actually) that it needs to be accessible for them. What I love about mine is that the lady that runs the place has gone above and beyond to make it one of the most accessible places I have ever seen!