Finding the Perfect Venue.

Where will the magic take place? How do you envision the day you marry the man/woman of your dreams? My dream wedding would take place at Kew Gardens in London with close friends and family. Since I'm a Bridezilla on a Budget, I'll aim for the next best thing.

 

Note: I am a born and breed city girl with a country heart, but I hate spiders. The other day I was visiting the JC Raulston Arboretum with my fiance and going over wedding possibilities when a spider crawled onto my wedding book and scared the devil out of me. Reuben, looks at me and says "You do realize you want an outdoor/country wedding and your afraid of spiders." I reply, "There is no rule about liking bugs and being a country girl at the same time."

 

To start we decided to have a wedding with a country feel to it and, thus I started looking at outside venues in the RTP area with my fiance. The top four contenders were Duke Gardens, JC Raulston Arboretum, The Raleigh Little Theatre Rose Garden, and the WRAL Azalea Gardens.

 

The next step was to create a tentative guest list to determine if each venue could hold the number of guests selected and what amenities were offered at each venue. We also needed to consider which months were hardest to book for the venues and if we would be able to book a year in advance. When speaking with a representative at the Raleigh Little Theatre I learned that April and May were the busiest months and June was generally free at least until 6PM when the theatre closed the location. The JC Raulston Arboretum was also pretty much open in June as well.

 

Then it was necessary to take a look at the prices. In the end, we chose the venue that was the best value and overall had everything we could want:The JC Raulston Arboretum White Garden. It is beautiful, secluded, and has the perfect natural archway of vines for my grand entrance.

Photographer: Mark Weathington

 

Remember: When you visit the different venues it should be fun as well as informative. You should enjoy yourselves and be able to feel comfortable. Nothing worse than a stuffy wedding ceremony if you ask me. I enjoyed walking the gardens with my future husband and taking pictures of the gardens, which helped give us the idea to have our engagement photos taken at the various gardens even if we only chose one for the wedding ceremony.





Photographer: Katie Perry

Steps to Finding the Perfect Venue:
Style -Capacity-Price-Overall Feel-Backup Plan

1. Decide what type of wedding you want or the style.
2. How many guest do you want and will the venues hold that amount?
3. Price check venues and learn what amenities are available.
4. Make sure to visit the different locations and have fun.
5. Then make an informative decision while having multiple dates in mind.
6. Always have a backup indoor place just case of bad weather or obtain wedding insurance to cover lost costs due to cancellations.

Photos found at http://www.ncsu.edu/jcraulstonarboretum