Varied Venues: On the right track

Our venue search is dwindling down now that M and I have all but signed the contract on our dream location.  On our way to this point though, we stopped and viewed two other possible wedding locations, both of which had promise.

Bristow Manor:
It was a dark and stormy day when we arrived, sopping wet, at Bristow Manor for their Bridal Show.  I'd seen the golf club online and admired the historic building (much like Stoneleigh Golf Club), proximity to airports and hotels, and affordable price.  I found out they were having a Bridal Show through the Knot and figured it would be a good time to check out the venue and see some local vendors.  One of my college friends was visiting that weekend and she was a good sport to come along with M and I and take pictures for us!

The entrance to Bristow was open and welcoming, despite the monsoon-like rain

The Bridal Show was fun - we got complimentary mimosas and bellinis, tastes of cake and appetizers, and oh right, info about the site.  Our first stop was upstairs to see the ceremony location - held on the front lawn, the best view is from the upper balcony:

 We were a little... underwhelmed.  While ceremony pictures looked lovely between the majestic columns, we weren't loving the whole "turn around and walk toward... a hedge? A street?" right after we were married.  In addition, the hedge didn't really block traffic noise or sights (though in all fairness, it wasn't a particularly busy road).  Still, we didn't rule it out immediately, we wanted to see the rest of the manor first.

It really is a lot nicer from this angle!  [source]

We moved on to the reception hall, which is connected to the main building by a covered walkway to the left of the entrance (you can see the windows in the above picture).  It was a little perilous crossing the stone porch in the rain, but the reception pavilion was cozy and dry. 

Actually, it was a little too cozy.  With vendor stands lining every wall and about 6 tables in the middle, the reception hall felt packed!  We had a hard time imagining 12 ten-top tables plus buffet lines, dance floor, etc in the space.  I can easily imagine a smaller wedding (maybe under 100) held here, but it felt a little cramped for our 125 person wedding. We did like the brick patio off the front of the pavillion (not pictured) and had it not been raining that could have relieved the tight-space issue.  But every bride needs a rain plan, and being inside Bristow during that torrential downpour made us realize that space would be really tight if it we had the "good luck" of rain on our wedding day.

*All pictures are personal photos unless otherwise stated

The Inn at Kelly's Ford

We stumbled across the Inn at Kelly's Ford almost by accident.  It was recommended to us as a B&B to stay in on our wedding night by the owner of the venue we chose.  As I was searching their website, I noticed they also did wedding, and since we were still open to looking, we decided to check out their wedding package as well as their accommodations.  I don't have any personal pictures because my camera died (always bring extra batteries!) but they have a lot of pictures on their website.

The Inn has two reception sites, Ripley Hall and the Area.  The Area, which holds about 400 guests, was much too big for our wedding and already booked for the date we wanted:

This place was huge!

Ripley Hall holds about 150 and was much better suited for our party, plus, not booked yet!  We liked the warm oak to match with our gold color scheme, open floor plan, and amenities like a slideshow projector (for that embarrassing video of our childhood pictures that I know my parents are already planning...).

Also, the very back corner of the room had a fireplace and cozy chairs, which was a nice touch for any bride who has been bitten by the "lounge-furniture" bug.  Too cool, right?

The Inn at Kelly's Ford is an equestrian center, so the entire site was full of rolling hills, pastures, and views of the Rappahannock River.  We could have our ceremony in one of several picturesque locations, from a fountain outside the reception hall to a gazebo overlooking the river:

Ripley Hall (left) and the Area (peak and right wing) with fountain in front

They have a lot of different catering options and tons of cool add-ons, like a horse drawn carriage or vintage car to drive you around the campus for pictures.  I could see our reception getting pricey really quickly once we started adding on features, even though their base package was within our budget.

The Inn has 6 cottages which would be perfect for the bridal party to get ready, or for the bride and groom to stay in on the wedding night.  Their honeymoon suite, The Silo, was modern and unique (a two story suite housed in, yes, an old Silo) but I wondered about navigating the spiral staircase in a wedding dress.

Top floor of the Silo

Honestly, the Inn would have been a very good option for us.  We were slightly deterred by the connected reception halls, though the event manager we spoke too assured us that there were never any problems with parties running into each other.  Had we seen this place first we might have chosen it, even though it didn't meet all the criteria I'd originally dreamed about.  We're still considering renting one of the cottages for our wedding night though, so it's not completely out of the picture!

Did you start seeing closer matches to your "dream venue" as your venue search continued?  Was it a tough choice between two venues at the end, or were you completely sold on a location?

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Varied Venues: The search continues...
Varied Venues: How to not find a perfect wedding venue

Varied Venues: The search continues...

Let's go back in time about 1 week, and talk about the three wedding venues my cousin and I visited that I never wrote about.  I told you guys at the time that I was already having doubts and thinking about canceling my appointments, but we did in fact go through with them.  We ended up having a nice day driving through Virginia wine county, eating lunch at a cute deli with slooooow service, and getting no closer to finding "the one."

Bluemont Vineyard:
When I first thought about having a vineyard wedding, Bluemont is the place that came to mind.  M and I have been here many, many times and always enjoy hanging out on their patio, splitting a bottle of wine with my cousin and her husband, and admiring the absolutely gorgeous view:

With an elevation of 951 feet, Bluemont can easily boast the best views in Loudon County [source]

They have a dedicated event space called The Stable which is practically made for weddings, and when we visited, was undergoing renovations to add a bridal suite and front portico.  I had some concerns though, like the distance from hotels (about 30 minutes), the twisty windy roads that our guests would have to navigate to get there, and, of course, the price.  The site fee was steep, and Bluemont has an exclusive catering contract which meant that we couldn't shop around for a cheaper caterer to offset that fee.  Sadly, the more we looked the more we fell out of love - the ceremony spot wasn't quite as picturesque as I was hoping for (though some brides have dressed it up nicely) and was practically on top of the reception hall.  Plus, they had a minimal backup plan in case of inclement weather, which is something I worry about more and more.
In the end, I think I realized it was not for us, although I do encourage any NoVA bride to check it out for a vineyard wedding.

Ceremony Site

Front porch for cocktail hour

Inside The Stable reception hall

Stoneleigh Golf Club
I was attracted to Stoneleigh because it offered the rustic, vineyard setting with all the amenities of a country club.  The Club itself was gorgeous - rambling stone walls, tiny bridges for photo ops, creeping vines - but the wedding area wasn't as appealing.  First off, the reception site was tented on a concrete top.  M and I are leaning away from tented receptions because we know how unpredictable the weather in May is, and don't want strong winds or rain ruining our reception.  Concrete instead of grass was preferable, but still not exactly what we wanted.  In addition, the venue had no backup plan in case of rain during the ceremony, which was held in a grassy field directly adjacent to the reception tent.  We also didn't like how close the two areas were, feeling like our guests might get distracted during the ceremony by caterer set up or feel like there wasn't any place to go while we were out taking our gorgeously scenic wedding pictures. 

Ceremonies are held in the corner of the courtyard

Adjacent reception site (with tent down for winter)

Overall, I just didn't get a great impression from this venue, and we moved on.

Bowling Green Country Club
Our last stop was Bowling Green in Front Royal.  A bit of a hike from the airport for our out of town guests, but with nearby hotels and a very affordable price tag.  We were shown two reception sites and their dedicated outdoor ceremony location:

Lovely, no?

The first ballroom was huge and oh-so-very 80s.  Think gilt everything and run down carpet.  I won't bother posting pics, because we moved on very quickly.   The second ballroom was equally large, but had been updated within the last 10 years so it was a bit more modern.

Set up for a company party with a 1920s French theme.  Ooh la la.

Still, it had a very "ballroom" feel, while I was hoping for something a little more rustic.  We sat down to talk to their coordinator and he explained in detail their catering menu, flexible setup policy, back-up rain plans, and every other question we had.  I'll admit, he would have been a dream to work with, but when we found out that they were already booked for our preferred weekend (Memorial Day) I took it as a sign that it wasn't meant to be.

In the end, the trip went as I expected - good exposure to new sites, and I learned a lot from the questions my cousin (who was married 3 years ago) asked, but still, no real winner.  My dream location would have to wait until the following weekend...  but you only have to wait until the next post.  :)

*All pictures are personal photos unless otherwise stated
 
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Varied Venues: How to not find a perfect wedding venue

Varied Venues: How to not find a perfect wedding venue

On Saturday, M and I woke up bright, early, and excited to check out our first venues.  I didn't have high hopes that we would find "the one" that day, but it was the first step on our road to finding the venue.

[Source]

 Why wasn't I hopeful?  In my mind, I'm still picturing a rustic, semi-formal reception with an outdoor ceremony at the same location.  None of the three sites we saw on Saturday matched that description.  But we knew they were some of our best options if we wanted to stay in the DC Metro Area, rather than venturing into the Shenandoah Valley region.  Plus, one of the venues was very reasonably priced and we wanted to see what we could get for the least amount of money.

  Our first visit was to the Grand Atrium in Tysons Corner.  Since they have their pricing online, I don't mind telling you that this place was downright cheap compared to a lot of the other venues I'd gotten pricing from - especially wineries.  Still, we could tell from the photos online that the hall colors probably weren't going to be to our liking or fit in with our wedding colors.  This was confirmed almost immediately, as the entire place is decorated in hunter green and burghandy.  Not bad colors in and of themselves, but at this venue they were very overbearing and made the whole hall look dated.

A view of the bar and cocktail lounge, from website

The other problem we had is the split level style of the banquet hall.  Cocktail hour was downstairs, dinner was upstairs, dancing and cake cutting were back downstairs.  We had a feeling that some guests would want to mingle at the very comfy couches downstairs, while others would stay at their tables upstairs - leaving M and I to run up and down stairs all night trying to talk to all our guests.  Overall, we thought this venue would probably work much better for a business holiday party or meeting.  It would have been great for our budget, but we didn't want to sacrifice our style, our wedding colors (which have particular significance to us, I'll talk about this later) or our poor legs to do it!

Next up was Hidden Creek County Club in Reston, only a few minutes away from our house.  The nice part about this venue is that it is very close to the Reston Town Center, which has a ton of hotel and dining options.  It would have been so convenient to have our friends and family stay in a hotel just a few blocks away and be able to shuttle to the wedding/reception site.  Not to mention, going out for drinks or dancing after the reception would be a cinch.  Price-wise, they have several wedding packages and they were very flexible about working with us to make sure we stayed in budget.  The coordinator we had was super friendly and a delight to talk to.  No problems there.

The general flow was much better here - the ceremony would be on a deck with a nice veiw of the golf course, then our guests would move to a covered patio for cocktails while the new Mister and I take a golf cart out for some pictures (M was very excited about this!):

Covered Patio

Carting around to take pictures!

(I have personal photos of all these venues, but forgot my camera at home.  So you'll have to rely on what I could find online.  These are nicer though, since it's of an actual summer wedding, whereas all of ours look dead and wintery!)

Then we'd move into an inside reception area connected to the patio for dinner and and dancing.  It was all very nice, but...  In the end the place just didn't have the right "feel".  The reception room felt a little too crowded, the dance floor was oddly positioned, and again, there were hunter green accents everywhere (what's with these places and hunter green??).  We checked it off as a "....maybe" and moved on.

The third place was our best bet out of the three.  Fairfax Country Club was a little pricier than Hidden Creek, but we were hoping we could get a deal, because not only is M's granddad a member - he used to be president!  Honestly, when that name got dropped, I saw our coordinators eyebrows raise sky high.  I felt like I was marrying a Kennedy!

M - Is that you?

We also found out that M's parents had their reception here, which made it a place of Great Interest to us.  Despite the fact that it wasn't our ideal location, we were optimistic!  M had been to the club before, but they had recently remodeled the ballroom, so it was new to both of us.  It was lovely looking, and done in a very neutral palette with gold accents.  Happily, with purple and gold as our wedding colors, we'd only have to add in some purple to make it match completely.  The ballroom was spacious, the dance floor was huge and well positioned (not splitting the room in two, nor tucked away so people can't see it).  The coordinator was very nice to work with, the catering was reasonable, and there was a small patio outside that our guests could access.
Overall, it was a great location, and with a generous discount from being sponsored by M's granddad, totally within our budget.  So why wasn't I in love with it?  Maybe I still have my heart set on that vintage winery wedding, or maybe it all felt a little too stuffy (let's just say no one in my family is even a member of a country club!).  Either way, something felt off.  Thankfully M agreed with me, so we decided to continue the search.  It's nice to know the Fairfax Club is still there if we can't find anything better, but also nice to know we still have plenty of time and don't have to settle.

This weekend I'll be checking out a few more locations, and I have a list of probably eleventy-hundred more if those don't work out.  We're still getting a good head start so I'm not worried about a place not being available for our (very flexible) summer 2012 dates.  At this point it's just about scoping things out and figuring out what works for us and our guests.