It’s true when they say that you can’t really start wedding planning unless you’ve found a venue. We have been on a long and exhaustive journey to find the right venue that has left us with less than 4 months to plan the rest of our wedding. By the grace of the Lord, He has allowed us to find one that met those basic needs, but it definitely was not easy.
Originally Kris and I had discussed doing an outdoor wedding that allowed Howard (Kris’ dog) to act as our ring bearer during our ceremony with a non-traditional reception that didn’t require seating arrangements and had enough room to include a bouncy castle… because…it’s a bouncy castle. However, at the end of the day, we settled for a traditional convention centre/hall with a sit-down coursed meal without an outdoor element to it. Why? Cause despite it being a big part of our initial planning, they weren’t our priorities. Our main goal was to be able to accommodate as many of our family, friends and close acquaintances as we could to celebrate our marriage.
Kris and I never considered our requirements to be overly complicated, however in the venue world, it looked as if we were asking for the moon. The main points the venue had to accommodate were that:
- Their price per head would be within a range that both Kris and I could pay for the whole wedding on our own without going into debt or relying on other people giving gifts. With 300+ guests in our initial invite list, this was the biggest hurdle since we’ve noticed that smaller weddings were already hitting the $35k-$40k mark. Down payment on a house vs a one day event? Hmmm…
- They needed to be flexible with us supplementing outside catering on top of their basic package. We all know that catering is the bread and butter of profitability within most venues and the more internal catering they can do, the better for their profit margin.
- They had availability for our date range which was the 3rd weekend of May (since we had already gotten feedback from certain family that they may not be available before or after that weekend). Other than the general range, Kris and I were pretty flexible as to when to hold the wedding (which was a treat for most venues since they wanted to sell their Friday and Sunday blocks).
What we were looking for may seem simple on paper, but we found out that especially within the GTA, it’s quite difficult to find places that can give you all three points without some sort of shortcoming; whether it be the limitations of the menu, the lack of upkeep to the actual facility, or even the requirement of extra rentals for things like glass and tableware.
I’ve lost count of how many venues we had contacted, and any suggested venues from other people were ones we had already browsed through and rejected for one reason or another. But continually praying that at some point God would provide, He did. The Burlington Convention Centre was not only able to accommodate our numbers for a reasonable price, but was also open for outside catering and had the Friday available on the weekend we requested. It really was a blessing that we were able to find a venue despite the amount of months left from our goal date.
With that said, I leave you with some points I’ve learnt or have been reminded of while going through this process of venue hunting.
- Never stop praying for every part of your life in whatever circumstance or timeline. This is just a testament to how much God has helped us since all we could do was rely on Him to help us find a venue in such a tight timeline.
- Despite what people say, it is possible to find venues a couple of months before your wedding date. I wouldn’t say it’s good for the bride’s heart but in terms of availability, as long as you keep your expectations reasonable and flexible, there will be places that are still available close to your date range.
- Be straight to the point about your budget. It was only when I had given an exact range of how much Kris and I were willing to spend for catering per person, that I got responses that were meaningful in our search. Getting an idea of your budget range requires you to break down what you’re willing to spend on different aspects of your wedding. If it doesn’t fit in your initial budget, you then have to re-assess the best way to shuffle your budget or expectations.
- Flexible expectations means less stress. Kris and I agreed that non-essentials were expendable at any time which helped us keep an open mind about our venue. We may have gone for a setup which we originally were not planning, but at the end of the day, it still allowed us to get what was essential with enough wiggle room to play with other ideas.