The Great Venue Search: Introduction

Deciding where to have our reception has been an incredibly daunting task, for reasons that I didn't quite expect. We had what we thought was a great idea right off the bat: find a restaurant that we already love, both in food and appearance, and have it there. The benefit would be twofold...first, our guests and we would not be forced to choke down the same bland chicken that every hotel would serve. Secondly, if we chose a restaurant with a very distinct atmosphere that was already heavily decorated, this would save us money on decor, florals, etc.

So...we figured we made a list of our favorite restaurants in town, but we figured we could find some additional research online or in local wedding related magazines. No such luck. Frankly, if one more person asks us if we have considered the Bali Hai hotel for our reception, it might be the last sentence they ever utter. No boring hotel ballrooms. Seriously.

I had hoped that we would be able to find more about individual venues online - what their maximum capacity is, what the minimum cost is for a Saturday reception (which, for most restaurants, would mean a full venue buyout), etc. But since none of that information was anywhere to be found (at least in most cases), we simply had to start calling and emailing blindly. And it is with great enthusiasm that I share the results of my venue searches with you. Even though only one of these places will ultimately work out for us, maybe one of them will work out for you!