Venue options

[greatmachinery]

So, South Florida has, like, SO many venue options. So many. I am having serious trouble narrowing them down! But I find that they sort of fall into two categories:

1. Venues that just provide the space. No tables, chairs, food, planner, what have you.
2. Venues that provide the space, plus the table and chair set-up, food, and, to varying degrees, other

Comments

[offbalance]

Here's the thing - how hands-on do you want to be? That was a question my mom asked me when I was trying to pick a venue. Raw spaces are a lot of fun in theory, and there were a few I was really crazy about. HOWEVER. They require double the work, and in some cases, a heavy amount of expense. If you rent tables/chairs, for example you're on two clocks - the one from the rental company AND the one from the venue (who may be renting to someone else before you can fully get everything packed up and out of there). It's something that requires a lot of tight coordination.

The other thing that made me go the all-included route was definitely money. We were offered a lovely free venue, but the the cost and scope of necessary rentals would have caused us to spend what we are currently spending on a beautiful historic hotel that comes with the whole shebang of food, drinks, glasses, plates, napkins, tables, service, linen, bathrooms, tenting, and a coordinator to rule them all. I think we may have even saved ourselves some cash by going wtih the package.

My advice is to seriously look at the all-inclusives and see if you can't find one that might meet your taste level. Weddings are stressful enough, there's no reason to add to the agita of it all.

[greatmachinery]

yeah, this... is really good advice. i mean, i do want to be hands-on, but i'm also planning this from 1500 miles away so there's a limit to how much i can do. interesting that you should mention taste level -- part of the reason i'm apprehensive about choosing an all-inclusive venue is that they tend to be either tacky banquet halls or mondo expensive. i have found a few in between, though. thank you :)

[offbalance]

I thought the same way about the all-inclusives. I've seen some completely awful ones (I'm very close to Long Island, land of the Wedding Factory), but I found some that weren't so terrible, and then upon closer inspection, one I'm so very excited about.

1500 Miles? Gah. I'm only 115 miles from my venue and that even feels like a long distance.

If I were you I'd be tempted to check out a few that were "in the middle" comprehensively - try the food, pay an on-site visit, talk to the staff, and see how you feel about the place. If you like the people you're working with, I think the stress of not having to do everything might be a big relief for you. If it's not outside your budget to make a trip to do just this, you could hit a few in a weekend and see how they stack up (kind of like college visits...)

[greatmachinery]

i'll definitely be paying a visit to each of the places that makes the short list. i'm planning to do just what you said: take a long weekend and visit all these places. plus my mom lives in boca so she can be my spy. but i could never book a place without tasting the food. i have been to too many weddings and eaten too many pieces of fish slathered in what i can only assume was aunt jemima syrup.

[offbalance]

Excellent. The place I'm having mine has a well-regarded restaurant, so we went for brunch one weekend and even my hard-to-impress in-laws were pleased.

What you describe is so gross I can't even fathom it. Do people not have taste buds?

Best of luck on your search!

[greatmachinery]

i think some folks are just satisfied with mediocre wedding food but both of us are "foodies" (although i swear to god we're not pretentious assholes) so the food has got to be top-notch. once place we're considering is a palm beach museum and their caterer sounds so damn good. "five-spice duck breast with ginger scented sweet potatoes and braised baby bok choy"? yes please.

link me to your venue! i'm curious!

[offbalance]

I hear you. Like the dude in my icon, I'm all about the study, appreciation, and involved consumption of food. So no anti-foodie bias here, I promise.

The museum sounds awesome. I would have loved to get married in one, but they were so far out of our price range it was borderline hilarious.

Here's a link to mine: http://www.therhinecliff.com/ Lovely, no?

[greatmachinery]

ugh. that is gorgeous. love the yellow and the view!

here's the museum: http://www.norton.org/Museum/FacilityRental/Weddings/tabid/167/Default.aspx

a little more "modern" than i'd prefer but whatevs; it's actually a great museum. also considering:

http://www.morikami.org/
http://theaddison.com/
http://www.seagatedelray.com/
http://www.sundyhouse.com/

so... many... choices...