What were your venue "must haves"?

My must haves were a venue where all events can be outside, but they also have a backup option. Tent is included if necessary. Also a house on the property, but not large enough for everyone to eat. I also really like the mostly inclusive style of my venue, but it wasn't a must have.

I wanted a venue where everything could take place in the same building or at least same lot. We ended up booking with our church because we can have the ceremony and reception in the same room, there are rooms for both the girls and the guys to get ready as well as extra rooms for the children as I'm providing childcare!

FH: HOTEL in the suburbs
Me: TENT in the city

Both: a place where ceremony and reception could take place and without a gap, most everything on site.

Ultimately we found a hotel with a tent in the suburbs (city too expensive for us). We had to negotiate the ability to have a ceremony and reception without a gap, but it worked out!

Had to be something "out of the box", I knew I didn't want a "ballroom" wedding. Also a location that was mini destination to keep guest count low. I couldn't have dreamed up a better place!

My must haves were kind of simple. Just wanted it to be elegant and upscale!

Our biggest thing was that it was all inclusive! We did a DW and I did not want to have to worry about doing anything but picking the food and flowers and showing up

We wanted an elegant full-service venue where we could have our ceremony, cocktail hour and reception (in 3 distinct spaces). We also wanted something special or unique! We’re having a big wedding so there also needed to be plenty of space.

We definitely wanted something that had almost everything included for a good price, especially the coordinator. Our goal was really just to be able to show up at our wedding and have a great time, low stress. We wanted something that had a nice feeling where there’s a little something for everyone so they don’t feel confined to one area, good vibes and of course yummy food!!!

All-inclusive! Our venue had a coordinator (but we still hired a DOC), bar, catering, linens, tables, and chairs (we upgraded through them). I wanted as few moving pieces as possible. I also wanted beautiful scenery outside for photos, and our venue was a very well-maintained golf course so the greenery was stunning. I also didn't want to mess with a ton of decor, so I wanted a venue that had it's own charm. I also wanted a separate area of the buffet/bar and an outdoor patio space since we were getting married in the summer. Our venue had all of these things! It was perfect for us.

While not a MUST, a perk to our venue is that there is a hotel that shares the same parking lot which was super convenient for us and guests that chose to stay in a hotel.

View Quoted Comment Yes same we will get married on golf corse. It it rains In front of fire place. Then we can have a patio for guest to go on to if it is nice. This is a back for fee. So we wil not get charge if weather is bad.
Bonus they have a room we can make a kids room. We are doing it as optional. So if kids are board with them wedding stuff they can go to the kids room. Hiring a sitter to be there for 2 hours.

Our must haves were large bridal & groom's suite, somewhere to smoke cigars, indoor reception & outdoor ceremony & cocktail hour! I also wanted our wedding to be the only one at the venue that day.

Our main must have was being able to bring in outside food and not have to use in house catering.

View Quoted Comment That's great! I won't have kids at the wedding other than our 2 year old flower girl and if you count my 15 year old cousin. Not necessarily because we don't want them, just because we don't have any other ones in the family. Lol

I didn't really have a list — I just saw the venue, loved it and booked it! But it had a lot of things that, looking back, I wouldn't have been able to live without. Number one was a RAIN PLAN! Alabama weather is so tricky, so I wanted a spot indoors where we could move the wedding in case of rain. I also loved the bridal suite and grooms suite – the grooms suite had a poker table, so our photos of them playing poker while the girls got ready were really cute. Last was lighting – I'm very glad they already had a ton of lights set up so we didn't have to pay for rentals. Our venue was all-inclusive which I also don't think I could have lived without.

I wanted the venue to have enough space for the ceremony and reception to take place at the same location. I also wanted a bridal suite and to have the venue for the entire day. No need to rush!

All inclusive (seating, tables, catering, event coordinator), option for an open bar, attached to or very near a hotel, GOOD FOOD and ample space for 200 rowdy party animals to have an amazing time. We got all of that AND MORE!

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That's awesome!! I'm so glad you were able to get all of your must haves within that venue!

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Aww that's great to hear that you found an amazing venue! If I'm remembering correctly it's in Florida right?

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Yes gotta have that good food!!! That's awesome, what kind of style venue did you end up going with?

We wanted somewhere where the ceremony was in the same location as the reception. We didn’t want guests to have to travel. Open bar was also a must. Other than that, we were open to anything!