Choosing Our Wedding Reception Venue - Long Process Before I Found The One I Fell In Love With

Posted by Pamela on Monday, August 25th, 2008 in Pamela & Brian

Choosing our reception venue was definitely a long process. I began by going through the yellow pages and writing down the names and numbers of every reception hall in the area. I then went through and called them all: asking how many guests they accommodated, their price per person, and if they were available on my wedding date. I crossed off the ones that did not meet my needs.

That cut the list almost in half. From there, I went ahead and checked websites of every reception venue, looking for pictures and reviews. I made a chart detailing what certain places offered and provided. A couple months later, I did my second round of phone calls to see who was available on my wedding day. Overall, I spent a lot of time on the phone – but I had narrowed a list of over fifty down to only seven.

Those seven places represented a whole Saturday spent with my mom, scouting out our options. Since my parents would be paying for most of the reception, I wanted and needed her approval and advice. She arrived at my apartment that morning, coffee in hand.

We both had certain standards, and I have to admit that some of my reasons for turning down some of the venues were a little extreme. While my mom was looking for valid things, such as helpful staff and a venue that wasn’t smoky, I was saying “no” to places because I didn’t like the small crack in the ceiling when you walked in.

I also crossed a few other places off my list due to an unattractive roof, a spot located too close to a nearby tattoo parlor, and one other place because I didn’t like the smell of their food when I walked in.

I was being picky, and I knew it. We only had two places left to look at, and if neither of those places cut it, then we were out of options. Luckily, one of the places definitely worked. I fell in love with it. It was gorgeous, high class, and simply wonderful.

My mom wanted to check out the last place before we made any decisions, and it was nice enough. A little cheaper, even. But I couldn’t forget about the place I had fallen in love with. It was called Club Monte Carlo, and they were willing to book their entire garden level for my wedding.

There was a huge dance floor, and platforms for the cake and DJ. There was a large bar, wonderful lighting, and my guests would not have to share bathrooms with guests from other weddings. There was a beautiful grand piano when you walked in, and the staff was very helpful. As soon as I could get Brian up there to get his approval, we signed the contract.

The staff of Club Monte Carlo was extremely helpful throughout the entire process. I called with about a million questions, and they were very patient with me. I wanted to know the size of the tables, how many chairs there were, where the buffet tables would be placed, if they provided colored napkins, which appetizers were provided, and about a thousand other things I can’t remember.

And of course I couldn’t write all these questions down and ask in one phone call - I made several calls. I even had my mom call with some questions out of fear they would recognize my voice and get mad at me.

It was a big project, but the second we signed the contract I felt relieved. The reception venue is such a large chunk of the wedding planning, and it’s nice to get it out of the way as soon as possible. I was very happy with my choice.

The staff was so wonderful, and everything was taken care of for us. One of the waiters even dished all my food onto my plate for me and carried it to my table, because he didn’t want to risk me soiling my dress. I was very impressed, and the venue was breathtaking.

Choose your reception venue carefully and do as much research as possible. Pick something that compliments your style: be it simple, quaint, big, or glamorous. And make sure they are going to treat you like royalty on your special day!



If you've enjoyed reading this post then please subscribe to our Full Text RSS Feed.


Related Posts



Leave a Reply