Showing posts with label Venues. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Venues. Show all posts

Tuesday, October 1, 2013

{tips & tricks} TUESDAY :: choosing a venue, part 2.

as you may remember from last week's post, choosing a wedding venue is serious business.
 
the availability of your desired venue and its location {hint: don't necessarily plan for your wedding to take place in cuba at the height of hurricane season, or on a barely accessible mountain peak at the snowiest part of the year} determine your wedding date - unless, of course, your wedding date is extremely important to you and you choose a venue around that - which is the first step in sending out your save-the-dates and your ability to select a photographer, dj/band, and all other vendors that are only able to work one wedding per day.
 
if you haven't narrowed down any venue options at all and need a nudge to get started, answer the following questions and talk about your responses with your fiancé:
 
{} have you always envisioned yourself getting married somewhere specific, like your childhood church in spring or perhaps on a beach?
 
{image via google}
 
for as long as I can remember, I've always wanted to get married in virginia {my home state} in the fall, specifically in the mountains around charlottesville.
 
this is probably the best place to start since someone with a specific idea of what they want lingering in the back of their mind will have an obvious bias against anything that does not automatically jive with that idea, whether or not their future spouse realizes it when innocently suggesting something he or she thought would work {for example, when my fiancé suggested a beach wedding to me when I have always wanted to get married in the mountains in fall}. having this discussion early on in the planning process can prevent this from becoming an issue later!
 
 
{} do either of you have a particular attachment to your childhood hometown, the city in which you met, the city in which you went to college, the city in which you currently live or the city in which you got engaged?
 
{image via google}
 
i love my alma mater {georgetown university in washington, dc - hoya saxa!}, but i can honestly say that i have never had even the slightest inclination to get married in a city as expensive as dc. moreover, i'm not catholic and hence cannot get married in our beautiful dahlgren chapel anyway.
 
if you're blanking on where you want to say your vows and don't already have an idea of what you want, these options are all great places to start!
 
{} is it important to either of you that you are married in a church or other house of worship?
 
{image via google}
 
this is the exterior of the beautiful dahlgren chapel at georgetown.
 
 
obviously, this will determine where your ceremony takes place. if it's important to one of you but not the other - welcome to the first of many compromises you will make in your marriage ;)
 
{} are the bulk of your potential guests able to travel any distance to attend your wedding?
 
{image via google}
 
this is a cute little destination wedding save the date i found on etsy!
 
consider elderly grandparents, very close family members/friends with long term illnesses that prevent them from travel, very close family members/friends who are pregnant and may not be allowed travel close to their due date, etc. sometimes it's best to choose a neutral location in between both families {say the bride's family is from california and the groom's family is from maine - somewhere in the midwest or the mid atlantic seaboard would be a neutral place relatively equidistant to both families} or, if your friends and family are of the means, choose a destination that anyone would have to travel a long distance to - say, hawaii, the caribbean or europe.
 
{} what is your budget?

{image via google}
 
the smoky mountains are a fantastic example of how a seemingly rustic location {and a gorgeous one at that} is secretly an extraordinarily popular destination for weddings, meaning that it is deceptively just as expensive - if not moreso - than a metropolitan locale.
 
more rural locations are often more affordable than popular metropolitan destinations, though popular destinations are often more well-versed in the wedding industry and have a greater number of battle-tested wedding vendors for you to choose from. even in relatively similar spots there can be significant price variations to consider: savannah, for example, is a much less expensive alternative to charleston, believe it or not!
 
once you've narrowed down potential cities/states to just a few, do a little price comparing between venues fees, rental company pricing and even factor in sales tax rates. for example, imagine my surprise when a venue in charlottesville, va {where I want to get married} charged over $6,000 to use their venue and you were required to rent your own tables, chairs and even bathrooms! that would never - never ever - fly anywhere here in savannah, I can assure you.  
 
feel like you're making a little progress, dear brides who haven't yet chosen savannah?
 
let me know in the comments!
 
XO,
 
jennifer

Tuesday, September 24, 2013

{tips & tricks} TUESDAY :: choosing a venue, part 1.

choosing a venue is no joke, y'all.
 
after determining your budget and deciding on your guest list, the next step is to pick out a venue. if you have already decided on a city or state {or are otherwise limited to a certain location} in which to hold your wedding, you're off to a fabulous start and have by mere virtue of that fact narrowed down  your potential venues.
 
congrats!
 
this post is for you.
 
{if you have not decided on a city or state, or are vacillating between a handful of different locations, look out for next week's post - that will be geared toward you all!} 
 
the first thing to do once you've decided on the general location of your venue {say savannah, ga for example ;)} is to decided on the general type of venue you're looking for:
 
a mansion?
{brockington hall}
 
a museum?
{telfair}
 
a garden?
{ships of the sea}
 
a plantation?
{ford plantation}
 
a restaurant?
{cha bella}
 
an historic site?
 
{old fort jackson}
 
you get the idea.
 
once you've gotten that far, visit a website like weddingwire, the knot, or borrowed and blue {to name just a few} to sort through available options by cost and type.
 
or, if you've done the right thing and booked a planner, you can ask us for recommendations geared specifically to you and your needs! this is obviously the best option;) if you're a full service client, we will even give you a personal tour of each site in which you are interested.
 
once you've found a few venues wherein you could see yourself getting married, here are a few questions to keep handy that you should either ask the site coordinator or be sure to look for in any contract that you sign for a venue:
 
 
{} is your preferred date available? if not, is there another date available that you would consider?
 
{} how many events does the venue book each day? is it possible there would be another event in your venue in close proximity to your wedding?
 
{} is there any construction planned prior to your wedding? if so, is it guaranteed to be complete by your wedding day? if not, to what extent will it affect your wedding? is there a discount due to any inconvenience it creates?
 
{} what is the site fee, if any? does it change based on the day or time that you hold your wedding? if a venue is significantly cheaper on a week day or during the day, for example, you might consider being more flexible with your wedding date to accommodate your budget.
 
{} are there any hidden costs associated with your venue? for example: service charges, gratuities {both usually associated with restaurants and hotels}, cleaning fees, membership dues {often required at historic sites and museums}, overtime fees, or cake cutting charges?
 
{} what is the venue's cancellation policy? is the deposit refundable? what about a security deposit?
 
phew! hopefully that gives you ladies a good place to start. suggestions? questions? additions? let me know in the comments!
 
XO,
 
jennifer

Friday, December 10, 2010

Real Savannah Wedding: Amanda and Joey Part 3-Reception

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The inspiration for this wedding actually stemmed from the amazing Lenox vases I found at an a Lenox outlet store. They looked antique and were pressed with different flowers to give a garden feel. How ELEGANT! We bought loads of bud vases in varying heights and a about 7 larger vases. They flowed down the table intertwined with taper candles and old milk bottles wrapped with twine. So onto the goodies! Guests found their seats by these adorable DIY luggage tags that sat in vintage suitcases. Each tag had the city in which the guest was from and a number that corresponded with their chair. On each chair hung a linen bag stamped with a peacock feather and adorable saying which held a jar of Savannah Bee honey and a oak tree cookie cutter. The menu cards were cut by hand and added a nice dimension to the gold rimmed charger and gold napkin. The show stopper?? The beautiful vintage cake by Two Cakes. I mean trying to describe the cake wouldn’t do it any justice so you just have to look and LOOK carefully. It is so detailed! Guests wrote notes to the couple and put them in old coke crate slots and when it was time for their departure…they adorned them with blue and green biodegradable confetti as they made their way to the pedi-cab! Thanks again to Shannon Christopher for the incredible shots of the day and Kiwifleur for the jaw dropping decor! We wish you many MANY years of happiness Amanda and Joey! What an honor it was sharing in  your planning and wedding day. xoxooxoxo

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IMG_8673IMG_8682IMG_4299IMG_1552IMG_4306 IMG_8671IMG_8689IMG_5989 IMG_8775IMG_9001 IMG_9007IMG_8579IMG_8581     IMG_9257IMG_8591 IMG_9279 IMG_9295 Savannah Theater Shannon Christopher

Wednesday, August 25, 2010

Real Savannah Wedding: Brittany and Jason Part 2- Reception

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Congratulations Brittany and Jason…we truly enjoyed sharing in your wedding day and wish you many years of happiness!

Wednesday, August 11, 2010

Real Savannah Wedding: Melanie and Jason Part 3-Reception

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Where to start??? There are just so many goodies to tell you about! They picked an amazing restaurant to host their reception in true intimate fashion. Delicious food, a great guitarist in the background, plenty of wedding cake, details and yummy favors of Savannah Bee Honey! Each place setting featured a peach with the guests name on paper gently curled around a pin, and a custom menu card with the Savannah oak atop a gold rimmed charger. The centerpieces were galvanized gold buckets with peaches filled to the brim and a small hydrangea bloom tied to the side and in between the buckets were tall candle holders, 1/2 with pomander balls to mimic the ceremony decor and the other 1/2 with floating candles. The wedding cake toppers were adorable little wooden birds and a tree from (where other than…ETSY). When the lights went down and tummies were full…the real fun began! Dancing, singing and cake cake cake! At the end of the night, guests lined up with sparklers to send the couple on a quite rickshaw ride back to their hotel to begin life as a new family!

Best wishes and it was such a pleasure sharing in your wedding…it was perfect!

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Thanks again Openlight Studio! These are one for the books!

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