Venue Venue Venue!

For us one of the biggest things was location and availability of parking. At one point we had considered the Fairmont Hotel MacDonald in Edmonton (very upscale, beautiful venue) but we wanted to ensure guests would not only be able to afford rooms as many were out of town, but that parking would be available. Unfortunately at this one parking was valet only and $40/day which was unrealistic for many guests, so that was out. We chose the Sandman Inn at Sherwood Park, Alberta, with catering from Chop Steakhouse (located in the hotel), as it not only had ideal rooms for both the ceremony and reception/cocktail hour but the rooms for out of town guests were affordable and parking was available on site for them. I think we really did end up with the better facility as more people were able to come and the catering for the reception was on a par with anything the Fairmont could have provided. I remember when my wife & I were visiting and saw the rooms and looked at the catering menus, my wife and I looked at each other and said 'I think we've found our venue'.

Having something covered was a must and we wanted a big party for the reception. As it is traditionally for my Croatian fiancés family having a venue that allowed shots was a must! Zivjeli!

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It was super easy!

We wanted a venue with things included.
The cost can add up when everything is separate.
So finding a venue that had the catering, bar, staff, set up take down for ceremony and reception all at one location was very appealing.

Honestly we had to choose a place that wasn't in our dream spot solely based on the price. We wanted to get married in Jasper, AB but everything was so pricey. We decided on the See Ya Later Ranch, Okanagan Falls, British Columbia, because they had a beautiful venue and the price for everything was extremely reasonable!

Living in a tourist town makes me want no tourists anywhere in site on my wedding which is why we plan on having it far away from Banff!

We really didn't have a dream venue in mind. I've had it in my head since I was a little girl that I've always wanted to get married at my childhood church that is rarely open anymore. Luckily, we had some family connections to book the church! My fiance was very open to it and we went to see the church. We booked it on the spot.

Being that we're getting married in one of the hottest months in the Summer (July) air conditioning was a must for our dinner/reception venue! The Community Hall we found is accessible and air conditioned with two massive rooms for guests to be comfortable!

We also lucked out with family being able to help us plan all aspects!

View quoted message Ou, that's a great tip! My son actually made me think of that with a photographer, just taking out the word wedding brought the price down so much, I'm not looking for the entire day with all the bells and whistles so it's been difficult with their minimums

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Yes so true! And also if you attach 'wedding...' to anything it becomes a premium price, "wedding updo" "wedding cake" ...instead of just an event updo and a fancy cake - a little trick I learnt along the way

View quoted message Absolutely, I've gagged at some of the prices. One thing I learned, is a weekday vs weekend will play a factor in price as well. My 2k would be 5 if it were a weekend

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Price is definitely a factor! I could not blow a budget that much and sleep well at night lol

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Love that! I can relate on the smaller wedding size.

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Good call! I fell in love with a couple spots too that had never hosted a wedding and ultimately I did not want to risk the possible disorganization and I hear you on not being stuck to a certain vendor list - food is important!

I'm sure it will all work out beautifully

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That sounds beautiful!

Price! I'd love to be able to choose the brickwork gothic dream venue. But.... Min 12k not including anything but the space.... Found a space, I paid 2k down which covers everything from setup to year down and all the linens, center pieces, you name it.... Price will always win

We wanted a place that would allow 50 people or less and would let us bring our own alcohol (since it is a huge money saver). We found a perfect place - it used to be a church but has been used as an event venue for years now. Super simple and relaxed feel to it. And that is just who we are 😁
Most places I looked at had a minimum ppl count set at 75-100 and we didn't want to have so many ppl

We had fallen in love with what we thought was our 'dream venue', but they had never hosted a wedding before and were adamant about a specific catering company we didn't love. We were willing to take on the extra work to make it happen but it didn't feel like they were willing to put in the effort on their end. Our 2nd choice venue had a wedding showcase and they put so much love and care towards everything without any pressure. It truly felt like a community, and we immediately realized that working with a group of people who cared about us would be more important than sticking to our original vision. It was our deal breaker!

We thankfully didn’t have any deal breakers, we’re getting married on my fiancé’s family farm! Rain back up, multiple beautiful ceremony locations weather dependent, and of course an 1800’s barn as the back drop 🥂

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That sounds easy!

We had no deal breakers we both knew where we were getting married at from the get go since we had been to the venue a few times over the years.