Tuesday, April 20, 2010

The Great Venue Debate

We have an appointment to officially join our church and schedule our wedding date - woohoo!  We decided months ago to join a church together, but didn't anticipate the hoops we'd have to jump through to join the one we liked best. We're joining St. John the Baptist, a Catholic church in the Italian Village neighborhood just north of downtown Columbus. The church is beautiful, recently renovated and several of my family members were married there.

So now that we are finally booking the church, we have to make a decision about the reception. If you had asked me a week ago, I would have been 99% sure we'd be going with LaScala. The food is good, the space is modern and fun. Minimal decor would be needed to make it a lovely reception. There's an onsite planner and she's ready and willing to set up everything I send her way. The prices are very reasonable, but even still, we'd save LOADS of money if we went with the YWCA ballroom and Caterers Three.  Also, we'd be able to invite more people - like 50 more people. It's a steal, but it would also mean a very plain reception hall and spending the day before or morning of my wedding setting everything up. I think I'm ok with that, but who knows how many times I'll go back and forth about it.

What are your thoughts? Do we choose the nicer-looking, all-inclusive place and invite 50 less guests? Or should we give the YWCA a shot and risk some day-of stress in exchange for a bigger party and a lower price tag?

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