By Lauren and Haney

Choosing a venue for your wedding ceremony, reception, or both is not simple. It takes time, and you have to factor in many “not so obvious” elements. We are here to pass some tips to make your search a little easier.

First, return to your wedding vision, and using that as a guide, ask yourselves what your big flick priorities are.  For example…

• Are you trying to be practical about costs?  If so, then what does your budget look like? Are there special offerings or deals currently available?
• Do you want to work with a family friend or friendly staff? Did you review some of the online comments about the place or staff?
• How many people are you inviting? How much space do you need? How personal can you make the experience for your guests when they are in attendance?
• Is there a cultural twist that needs particular décor?
• How important is the menu? Do you want to bring in your own food?
• What is the pre- and post- wedding commute like for your guest?
• Are there symbolic elements that you wish to integrate?

Start your search using the big flick priorities that you’ve developed.  We’ll offer one warning.  It is easy to get carried away thinking about possibilities, letting different people sway your thoughts and your opinions.  Guidance from others is great, but with your priorities decided ahead of time, that will help keep you on the path to success.

Before you start visiting sites, do a little searching yourself online.  Be prepared to block off time, and be patient.  Ask a lot of questions. Trust us, getting your ducks in a row and prioritizing before you start visiting places will save you time and energy—and travel costs if you are planning from afar!

For us, we wanted to pick places that could integrate our two families and highlight the values important to both—building common ground, in one sense.  Both of our families value education very much, and because guests from both sides would have to travel from across the globe, regardless of where we picked, we chose the San Francisco Bay Area as the general locale and middle ground for our festivities.  One of our priorities was maximizing the chances that our friends and families could attend.

With a general locale decided, we narrowed down our locations.  We decided that our wedding ceremony would be at Stanford Memorial Church, while our reception would be at the Garden Court Hotel. Both are fantastic spaces that fit our priorities.  Don’t be fooled into thinking this was an easy choice, however; it took a lot of discussion back and forth and consistent reminders about what was important to us to make these final decisions.

Bottom line is to find something that works within your top priorities. Know that you may have to budge or be flexible, but that’s part of the deal. Don’t lose sight of the big picture pre- or post-venue selection, because you’ll have a lot of other decisions to make from here on out. Get ready to keep plugging away!