To me prioritizing meant
telling my girls that I wanted them in my wedding party, coming up with a color
scheme, booking my flight to California and setting up appointments for food
tastings, dress fittings and coordinators. Basically, everything I just told
you to hold off on doing. The husband is from California and it seemed like a
fabulous place to invite our guests to join us for a weekend of fun. I was a
little nervous with the idea of leaving our wedding planning in someone else’s
hands that lived over a thousand miles away from us. Never mind that California
has crazy wildfires in late October and that the Malibu home that I had been
eyeing was right on top of a hill where it would surely fall victim to the
intense winds blowing smoke everywhere. In addition, my wedding party with
their dates had grown to 26, this was having a big impact on accommodation
options. Oh! I can’t forget to mention that our budget seemed to be getting
bigger and bigger as everything in California was 2x times more expensive than
Texas. Which meant we would have to seriously cut our guest list (in half). Needless
to say my first two months into engagement were not going so well. It was a
Lindsay cluster.
So, we regrouped,
re-prioritized and looked at Austin venues. We discussed what was important to
us - what mattered. Chad and I lived in Houston at the time and had fallen in
love with the Texas Hill Country when we had traveled to visit my parents who
lived near Lake Travis. The idea behind California was that we would give
guests a unique Californian destination experience in a beautiful location.
Think ray-bans & beach boys. This meant that our Austin venue must: fit at
least 150 people, mesh with the Hill Country/ Austin vibe and allow us to hire
outside catering/vendors in order to save costs. If we were going to be having
guests come to the Hill Country, we wanted to treat them to a real Texas Hill
Country experience. So Mom and I hit Google and searched for days to find
venues in and around Austin (smartest decision we made.) The next weekend Mom,
Chad, and I went and toured our favorites. After about 10 minutes at VWR, we
knew it was the venue - it was perfect.
However, VWR did not have anything
in October available, and I mean nothing - no Fridays, Saturdays or Sundays. In
fact they didn’t have a single open day for the rest of 2012 and it was only
February. I remember my mouth hitting the floor with astonishment that they
were booked so far in advance and recall being slightly confused when I didn’t
immediately say “ok, thanks anyway” but instead asked “so, when is your next
available Saturday?”
Suddenly the date was
inconsequential, I had found something I wanted more. I needed a Saturday,
because we wanted to host our guests for the entire weekend - everyone was
traveling in from out of town. VWR was already booked into the summer of 2013 and
we jumped at the first available day, Saturday, June 8, 2013. We booked on the
spot. The minute I signed that contract I felt like the slate was washed clean
and I was given the opportunity to start fresh from the mistakes I had been
making. And that felt fabulous. Don’t make the same mistake. Find your
perfect place before you pick your date. You will be much happier in the end.
Things to ask yourself
when selecting a venue:
- Do you love it?
- Do you have flexibility in the time of year you want to get married or year?
- Is it realistic for your budget?
- Will it work for your needs?
If you answered NO to any
of the above, it may not be the place for you.
It’s important to have a
general idea about what you want to spend on your wedding, but as a general
rule, this likely will change. Before allocating your budget determine your
venue and then move forward from there. Keep in mind the venue is the stage for your
wedding. I'll cover budgets next time!
If you have any questions
just ask! I’d love to hear from you!
