My Wedding Story: Picking the Right Spot

Happy Tuesday ya'll!  It's been a while since I've last updated you on where our wedding planning stands, but I wanted to make sure I had some information to make it worth your wile to read the post... and I can say I now have some good news!  In the past couple of weeks I've checked a couple of BIG items off my wedding planning to-do list!  For those of you who follow Cammi Lee Events on Facebook you'll already know this - we FINALLY set our date!  August 17, 2013 will be a great day!

A wedding at our venue {source}

As you may have read in past posts, finding a venue was a becoming very stressful.  I had many variables that I had to work with:

- Our guest list.  We originally started with around 450 people, which is A.LOT.  It was a struggle finding a venue that would fit our large group that wasn't going to cost us our unborn children and maybe some organs to cover all the costs.

- Location, Location, Location.  A lot of my extended family comes from Wisconsin.  A lot of his family comes for Iowa.  Most of our friends are from the west side of town.  Although our venue is on the east side of town, it's still less than an hour drive back home... or a 10-minute shuttle ride to the hotel! (we DON'T support drinking and driving!)

- Venue characteristics.  I had a vision for my wedding and trying to find a venue that had most of the items on my checklist was quite the task.  I knew I wanted an outdoor ceremony... but with the Minnesota weather being so crazy, I knew I needed a back-up plan.  I wanted an outdoor space to play lawn games.  I wanted a big party that would at least last until midnight.  I wanted hard alcohol.  I NEEDED cheaper menu options.  My venue meets all these wants.

- - - - - - - - - -

So, what made me choose our venue site besides what I've listed above?  I love it.  This golf course (yep, never did I think I would get married at a golf course) did a GREAT job of thinking about what a venue needs in Minnesota.  It has an event center that's separate from the main clubhouse which is comforting to know that we're not going to get a bunch of strangers attending our big day.  The event center has two areas: an indoor space and an outdoor tented area.  We'll be hosting both the ceremony and the reception underneath the tent and having our cocktail hour in the indoor space (allowing for the space to be flipped).  The indoor space is also where the bar will be set up, in addition to where we'll have the cupcakes, photo booth (and possible caricature drawings!).   Lastly, it has an outdoor space right next to the tent for us to play yard games...  Can I get an AMEN!?!

So, what were your MUST-HAVES when looking for your wedding venue(s)?  Was your venue one of your biggest concerns or were you more relaxed on where you had your wedding because you wanted other items more?

Be sure to come back later this week!  I've got more to talk about when it comes to venues!  AND I bought my dress!  Want to hear about it?  Again, be sure to sneak back!