It's Official! We have a date and a place!

Yesterday evening, my fiance and finally I put down a deposit on our reception venue - woot!

We decided on a place and date and it only took us 5 months... ouch! I'll admit, I was beginning to think elopement was the saner option and that perhaps I should heed signs from God and give up on a large wedding, but I think we have the best possible options finalized and I am feeling relieved.
So, we will be getting married on February 19, 2011 at La Scala Italian Bistro in Dublin, Ohio.

Huge sighs all around.

Why a February wedding?  Honestly, after about a month of searching and researching, I decided on an off-season wedding.  The stress of fighting for dates with vendors and locations during the wedding season was too much. I heard horror stories of brides camped out overnight to secure a venue and the best DJs being booked years in advance - INSANITY! And there's one big perk to consider: you'll save MONEY!  Lots of it. I'd guess we'll be saving between 10 - 15% on our wedding just for avoiding the April though November rush. Cha-ching!

As for the ceremony, Father Metzger has decided we jumped through enough hoops and has allowed us to join St. John the Baptist. We are waiting on my fiance's baptism certificate (I have mine ready to go, of course!) and then we can book the church.

Now I am ready to throw myself wholly into making this wedding beautiful. Get ready to see crafts galore, centerpiece mock-ups and invitation drafts. Also, I will be launching my Etsy.com shop in the next few months - because clearly I'm not busy enough between work and wedding planning. Yikes! It will be hard, but hopefully it will also be fun. Here goes nothing!

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?

Trucking Along

It's been much too long since I posted - so sorry for the long silence!  It's been an eventful and traumatic month. A few weeks ago we received a quote from my DREAM reception location that was actually within our budget! For two weeks I was walking on a cloud. We changed our date, moving it up by 7 months, and our colors to something more winter-y and waited for the event coordinator to put together our final proposal so we could put down our deposit.

The final proposal came back $2,000 higher than we were initially quoted. Ouch!

Since the initial quote was already pushing our budget to the max, I made the very painful call to rule out the venue. My wonderful fiance offered to do everything he could to make my dream reception a reality and I can't tell you how much I love him for that. But we also agreed that if we were to increase our budget, it should be to include more guests, not to splurge on a venue. And so we are back to the drawing board...

We ruled out all three of the previous locations I mentioned. Smith Brothers was just too expensive. North Bank Pavilion is too difficult to rent and would require a tent (expensive!) and Olde Gahanna Sanctuary was just... not ME. Our current options are:

LaScala Italian Bistro in Dublin, Ohio. Don't let the pictures on their website fool you! They've recently renovated and their two event spaces look great! Also, the room is free with minimum food and alcohol purchases. The alcohol is on the pricey side, but the free room balances it out. Also, really good food and full staffing are included in the price. This is a great option for those of us without wedding planners.

The YWCA Ballroom is little advertised and a great find! I stumbled on this venue through a caterer's preferred venues list. It's inexpensive, widely available and you can usually get in the night before to set up! Also, if you're planning a warm weather wedding (which we unfortunately are not), it comes with a balcony patio overlooking downtown Columbus - very nice! The YWCA combined with the crazy cheap and yummy Caterers Three is a great deal. Don't be fooled by their website - they can cook! And their prices are half of anywhere else we've found.

There's our update! We're checking out a wedding set up at LaScala at the end of March. I anticipate they will be the winner and we will be putting our deposit down the first week in April. Now that our date is February 2011, I am getting quite anxious!

My fiance and I officially in planning mode. We've visiting 3 possible wedding locations here in Columbus, Ohio. Here's what we have so far:

Northbank Pavilion, owned and operated by Columbus Department of Recreation. The space is absolutely beautiful, sitting right on the Scioto River, just north of downtown, with skyline view and an urban feel. You can bring your own alcohol and use any caterer you wish - what I luxury! The downsides are the size (only 100 can fit comfortably), the lack of parking and the reservation system. Due to demand, the city draws a name from all interested parties exactly 1 year prior to the date of your event. In other words, you better have a backup!

The Old Gahanna Sanctuary, an old church that was rehabbed and is maintained by Gahanna residents. The upsides include having the space to yourself the entire day of your wedding and no restrictions on alcohol or caterers. The downsides? The space still needs a bit of polish. It would take more than a bit of decorating to hide it's flaws.

The Venue at Smith Brothers is my favorite by far. It's an industrial factory turned beautiful event space with exposed brick and a city skyline view. It's moderately priced and they allow you to bring your own alcohol. Yippee! The venue is getting quite popular though and the owner/executive chef recommended we book within the next few weeks for our September 2011 date. Yikes! I was planning on a leisurely winter of researching. No such luck!

I expected finding a venue to be difficulty. We are on a very tight budget and I have a reputation for expensive taste. However, the greatest challenge has been finding something that fits our style. I am not a country club kind of girl. I don't get turned on by gorgeous wedding cakes or giant martini glasses overflowing with flowers. The options for those who are looking for something non-traditional are few and hard to find.

Planning this wedding is sure to be a challenge!