These two choices really go hand in hand. Your wedding date will likely depend on the venue you choose and their availability. Also, the venue you choose could depend on the wedding dates still available as well! Here are some things to keep in mind when choosing a wedding venue and your date!
The 3 Best Tips for Choosing a Wedding Venue & Date
- Popular wedding venues book up quickly! I’ve seen Saturdays booked at popular locations and peak seasons for a year and a half out. If you know you want a Saturday wedding, be prepared to book well in advance, or book during a non-peak time of year. This depends on your location, but is generally between October-May.
- Saturday weddings are usually more expensive! You can often times save a couple grand just by getting married on a Friday or Sunday night.
- Just like there is a time of year and day of the week that is more pricey, there is also a time of day. Evenings are usually more expensive than morning or midday. Even if your venue only books one wedding a day and you get the space for the entire day, dinner food will still almost always be more expensive to cater than breakfast or lunch (brunch anyone?). Consider having a sunrise wedding followed by a yummy breakfast or brunch if you’re looking to save some $$$.
How We Chose Our Wedding Venue & Date
I always had the idea of a September wedding and I knew I wanted to get married outside. So we started searching for venues in the Portland area that had outdoor areas and wedding dates available for September.
As we started visiting the venues, we realized we didn’t want to have to coordinate the wedding ourselves. So we started zoning in on venues that included those things in their package. We eventually narrowed it down to four venues, the Victorian Belle, the Gray Gables Estate, The Reserve, and the Abernethy Center (see this post for reviews of all four!). Our choice ultimately depended on whether or not they had a Saturday in September available, and if they would let us provide some of our own home cooked food (a lot of venues don’t allow this). This was especially important because my husband’s family is from Egypt and Sudan and we wanted to be able to have traditional Middle Eastern cuisine at our wedding.
With these aspects in mind, we decided on the Victorian Belle. We got our Saturday in September, they let us order catering for half of our wedding guests and provide traditional food for the other half, and it included all those annoying little things we didn’t want to have to bother coordinating ourselves. It was also a naturally beautiful venue already, so we knew we wouldn’t have to do much for the decorations. All in all, it was a great decision 🙂
I hope you guys enjoyed my story, and I’d love to hear yours! Drop me a comment about how you chose your wedding venue and date!
xo,
B
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