Ultimately any place will work to get you and yours hitched

Following far on the heels of my last informative wedding plans post comes another about venues. This time I want to talk wedding ceremony venues. Do you need one? Not if you’re lucky. You could hold the ceremony

in the same space as the reception. After all, the typical wedding ceremony only lasts a half hour. You might as well reuse the reception space and keep it easy on the guests and the wallet. That move is highly recommended for couples on a tight budget, but most brides wouldn’t dream of such a thing. No, you need a church, or something just as lovely as a church. Either way it’s one more vendor to deal with, one more thing to worry about, and one more check to write. Thankfully, a wedding ceremony venue isn’t that bad to nail down.

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Anyone who has actually been reading this blog series would know that Tina & I were married 4 months ago. We had an awesome wedding on a sunny, crisp Chicago fall day. The ceremony and reception went smoothly and there was zero drama. We had an absolute blast, and our guests seemed to as well. It was unforgettable, and I can honestly say all the planning and spending was worth it (OK, I still have a hard time justifying the cost!). Since our wedding day we’ve honeymooned, settled into our first home, and dealt with all the wedding aftermath. Good times–but never again. Right now I balk at the idea of us doing anything that big for ourselves in the future.

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I’ve talked about how to craft the perfect wedding guest list, now let’s talk about where you’re going to put all of those people. You need a venue–perhaps multiple venues–and, depending on where you host your wedding the options can be dizzying.

You can do whatever you want at your wedding reception, but you have to find the right place to do it.

Once you have a head count there is no time to waste on booking your venues. They book fast and you need the perfect one on a good date. This is the crucial next step because you can’t book vendors without a date or location. It’s also your biggest expense and will set the tone for your whole wedding budget.

Wedding venues fall into categories based on what they provide. Which is right for you depends on your time frame and the type of wedding you and your fiancé(e) are willing to pay for. Reception venues broadly fall into these categories:

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Wedding plans have been frying my brain

Given my recent post on wedding guest list management and wedding proposals it may seem like my wedding is a ways off. In fact, it’s right around the corner on October 1st. I’ve just been pathetically slow at writing posts for this blog series. It’s not easy finding time to write when I’m juggling full-time work, full on wedding plans, my wedding invitation business, and Chicago summer socializing. Something has to give. Thank God fall is here!

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So far in my one man’s wedding series I’ve discussed engagement rings and my engagement story. Now I’m going to switch focus to the wild world of wedding planning. First let’s consider the guest list. This powerful document names all people you and your beloved deem worthy of attending your special event. It is the head count keeper, and thus the biggest determining factor in the cost of your wedding. That’s because you need a head count to determine how big of a venue to get, how much food to order, and how much booze to buy. After engagement most couples start their wedding plans by creating a guest list. That’s what Tina & I did. At first it was fun, but it quickly got out of control. Between our friends and my family we had a BIG list. A too big list that needed to be cut down because each name is at least $100 to feed and keep plied with alcohol. It’s a common situation, and when it occurs you need to trim the list. But everyone on the guest list is important, right? Wrong! You and your lovely need to thin out the crowd with a few rules.

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