If you’ve read my older blogger posts, you’ll remember my section “Proverbs for a Wedding Planner”  I wrote it about three years ago and considering I’ve been to a lot more weddings and combined what I’ve seen and heard, my advice is somewhat different now.  The original post is quite long, so I decided to focus on just a few subjects.  Therefore, calling it by the same title with “The Venue” attached.

The Venue

Firstly, I’d like to share some advice about the venue of your wedding.  When it comes to the general aesthetic of your wedding, where it takes place is the most important part. I can’t express how important it is.  Think about how important the atmosphere of a restaurant is.  It immediately explains the type of food you are about to eat.  The same goes for your wedding venue.  The atmosphere of a wedding on the lawn of a mansion is completely different than the atmosphere of a Catholic church in December.  If you are going to splurge on anything, splurge here. The best venue takes very little to no decor.  Not only will this save you money, but it will save you a lot of headache!  Of course, not every city or town has an array of options, so you may have to settle somewhere.  At our wedding, the ceremony was held outside under a tent behind in an old civil war home that was turned into a restaurant where the reception was held. We didn’t have to rent tables, chairs, linens, glasses, etc. And the restaurant was decorated so nicely, we just put a small candle on each table. It saved us so much time and money that we were able to spend on other things!

Lighting

As a photographer, I’ve had some really bad lighting conditions. No one looks good under fluorescent lighting. Pick a place that has some great natural lighting.  Your photos will turn out so nice. If you are having your wedding at night, a white ceiling will help with external flashes and spotlights.

Discount

Venues and other wedding services love weekday weddings. If it could be an option for you, ask them if they would consider giving you a discount for a weekday.

Location

Having the ceremony and the reception at the same place is a good idea. If it isn’t an option for you, make sure you have a card with well written directions and even a map. Designate someone to pass the cards out after the ceremony or include it in the program and invitation.

Parking

Think outside the box.  You can have a ceremony and/or reception almost anywhere!  The biggest thing to consider is parking.  Although, that may not even stop you.  I was a photographer at a wedding right on 3rd Avenue in Nashville where it would be impossible to find parking on a Saturday night for that many people.  She really wanted to have the wedding there, so they resulted in hiring a valet service which made it even more classy than it already was!

Your Guests

Also, think about your guests.  If you have several older guests attending, insisting they sit outside in the middle of July is inconsiderate.  So many people will want to make the wedding day the bride’s day, but when your guests are uncomfortable because they had to hike to get there or had to wait 2 hours just to eat will more than likely make them feel unpleasant and in return dampen the mood of the afternoon or evening.

Most importantly, pick a location where you know you will have a great time!  A lot of people forget that the wedding ceremony was intended to be a CEREMONY, so CELEBRATE!