After you have a complete idea of your wedding budget, finding your venue is the next step. On my personal journey so far, the venue search was the most challenging because I knew the location would really set the tone for the whole day. We were looking for venues that had a lot of character, and so for that reason, they would each speak loudly towards the overall vibe. Read on to find out how to narrow down your venue options, and a reveal for the awesome venue we have decided to book!
Your Wedding Vibe
In order to determine what we wanted, it was helpful to ask each other what the most important aspects of the big day are. We quickly agreed on a few highlights… unique food, lots of booze, and even more dancing! As I have mentioned before, dancing (and hopefully a band) is so important to us that we want to make sure loud, amplified music is allowed at our venue! Knowing these important features can help you narrow down the types of venues that will facilitate your kinda party.
First Things First
It’s a blessing and a curse that in Southern California we have a seemingly unlimited number of wedding venues available to us. To narrow things down even more, you will first want to answer two additional questions:
Question one - When do I want to get married?
I advise you not to fall in love with a specific wedding date before you find a venue, but instead decide roughly what time of year you would like to be married. Luckily around here, there are perks to any season. Spring time has the most flowers, summer has the long hours of day light, fall has the beautiful sunsets, and winter has the off season cost savings. You will also need to decide whether you are open to any day of the week, or only Saturdays for example.
Question two - Who is invited to the wedding?
A huge piece of the puzzle you’ll want to know before looking for a venue is how many guests you will have. Venues vary a lot by size so knowing roughly how many guests will be there could change things for you. It is not important to know an exact number, but just a guesstimate within 25 people or so. The exact number will not be needed until about 2 weeks before.
Venue Location
One question that may be easy to answer is, what city or area would you consider for the venue? With me being a Long Beach local, and Ryan growing up in OC, we knew we wanted to stay nearby. After searching around this area for a time, we then broadened our regions to San Diego and also considered the desert. But, we knew we didn’t want to leave the country or ask our guests to go anywhere too crazy. You will also want to discuss whether you prefer an outdoor venue, indoor venue, or both.
Types of Wedding Venues
There are two basic ways of dividing most wedding venues. The first is what I call a DIY (Do it Yourself) venue and the second is considered more inclusive. It is commonly thought that DIY places are less expensive, and while that is sometimes true, they are much more work for the couple and often end up costing more, too! If hiring a planner is not in the budget you may err on the side of caution and go with a more inclusive venue. The money you might save with a DIY place may not be worth the stress. Here are the characteristics of both types as well as the list of the places we visited:
Do it Yourself Wedding Venues
most often industrial spaces, breweries, gardens, parks
a flat rental price, depending on the day of the week and time of year
includes the use of the space for a specific number of hours
may include some basic furniture and a few staff members like security
you bring in everything else from food to furniture to staffing
Some DIY venues in So Cal we considered were: Griffith House, Brouwerij West, Ruby Street, Smoky Hollow, and 32 North
Inclusive Wedding Venues
most often hotels, golf courses, historical buildings
they provide the food and booze themselves either in-house or from a required caterer
pricing is based on a food and beverage minimum expenditure based on your date
most likely include all of the tables, chairs, linen, plateware, and flatware in the pricing
most likely include all the staff you need such as servers, bartenders, security
Some inclusive venues we considered were: Green Parrot Villa, Villa del Sol, Heritage Museum, and Ebell Santa Ana
In Person Site Tours
Last year I helped a Canadian couple get married here in LA. They were the only people I’ve known to NOT see their wedding venue in person before booking! Luckily I was very familiar with their ceremony location and their reception venue so I knew they had made good choices. However, I strongly encourage you to see your venue in person before making any decisions. Honestly, this is really how I feel about meeting all your vendors as much as physically possible.
Before making your site tour appointments, I recommend doing as much research as you can. Ask for pricing, menus, and all your important factors that you and your fiancé determined to be top of the list. Some sales managers are even willing to do a full proposal for you before your visit, while most of them will ask you to come in person before disclosing all the pricing fine print.
To be honest, my fiancé and I could have done even more research before making our appointments, which would have saved some time. For example, after visiting one of the venues we loved, we found out they don’t allow amplified music which would have meant no band. A few of the breweries also prohibited us from customizing the bar at all. They were asking for a minimum amount of beer to be purchased but not all of our guests are beer drinkers so we wanted more flexibility. Looking back at this information we may have been able to narrow down our in person visits even more!
Our Final Choice
I am excited to announce that we have finally selected our wedding venue! We have chosen Lomas Santa Fe Country Club in Solana Beach, and will be married there in May 2021. We both really love the venue for these reasons:
their food and beverage minimum for a Saturday fit into our budget
they will take care of the food and have some really cool menu options
we get to completely customize the bar to offer a great mix of beer, wine, cocktails and mocktails
they have three separate spaces for ceremony, cocktail and reception but all are very close
they were renovated in 2015 and have stunning bathrooms, common areas, and brand new fixtures
they work with three hotels that offer free shuttles (loved this!!)
they allow bands and we can party until 1am if desired!
For us, this venue was a great package overall and after processing everything we are super excited about our decision. I do want to say a note of encouragement to the couples that might be having a hard time. I heard A LOT that “when you find your venue, you’ll just know” but this really wasn’t the case for us right off the bat. It was not love at first sight. I liked it, but it wasn’t at all an instant decision. Part of this could have been the fact that we continued to look at several more options after leaving this first site tour and this may have added to the confusion. But, after reviewing what was most important to us, and taking an honest look at our budget, we felt really strongly about our venue choice. It just took some time to marinate and I want to let you all know that’s okay!
Now that our venue is booked and our date is set, we can move into even more fun details! More to come, so stay tuned and best of luck!
Lauren + Kevin’s Wedding Photos
Photography Natalie Schutt Photography
Venue Descanso Beach Club - Catalina
Flowers + Coordination Love Her Madly