Skip to main content

Happily Ever Johnson: Venue Shopping

Happy Tuesday! I hope everyone had a great weekend! I'm so happy that the warm weather is finally here. Today I'm bringing you another installment of Happily Ever Johnson. This past weekend we went to see three venues and it was tiring lol! This process of finding the perfect venue seems to be a little stressful and the most important thing you want to get out of the way. I feel the venue sets the tone for the rest of the wedding planning. Once you know where you are going hold your wedding, the other planning such as colors, wedding dress and center pieces can be determined. We plan on getting married at the church and then holding the reception in a separate venue. We are also open to having everything all in one place.

When we were looking at venues, we based it off searching online and recommendations from other married couples. It is nice to look at the pictures online but better to see the venue in person. I look for visuals and places to take pictures. Are there outdoor and indoor options for photo opts? I also want to make sure there is enough space for everything like parking, cocktail hour and the actual reception. What is included with the packages? All the venues we looked had everything we wanted in the package. We were looking a for venue that offered a decent time for cocktail hour and reception, had enough space for our party, open bar, hors d' oeuvres during the cocktail hour and just amazing customer service. I don't want to stress or worry about if something needs to be done, I just want to get down the aisle, dance all night, drink, eat amazing food and have the wedding to remember. I want my family and friends to walk away saying that was one of the best wedding they have been to. Of course, everything comes at a price and talking numbers can be stressful. Here are a couple pictures of the venues we saw over the weekend.











You want to make sure you are getting the best deal and not spending too much. My Mom was very helpful one night making a spreadsheet of all the places we went to visit. She put how much it was per plate with the number of guest, taxes, gratuity, how much it is having everything there vs just having the reception and what each place offers. This was so helpful because I was starting to get a little overwhelmed. We then could narrow down what place was outside of our budget and what places are a possible venue site. It made the process a little easier and I think we will have a decision soon. It also helps not to fall in love with the first place you see. It is best to look around and compare before making a final decision because deposits are mostly likely non refundable. I'm just hoping to get this process out the way so I can start the rest of the planning lol!

So that is it for Happily Ever Johnson. What was your experience with venue shopping? Any tips or suggestions? Comment below and let me know. Hope you enjoy this beautiful weather and see you Thursday.

Have you checked out my previous post on my February Goal and Result and March Goals??



~**Drea Notes**~

I recently invested in new editing software and recorded a tutorial that will be up next week. I will have one up this week as well. I'm super excited!!

I can't wait to play Easter bunny again, it makes me happy seeing how excited my son gets!

It seems like the big thing in the makeup world is color correcting now. They have something for everything. 



Comments

  1. Venue shopping was the hardest for sure, the idea of a spreadsheet is genius!
    xo, Lily
    Beauty With Lily

    ReplyDelete
  2. Lovely venues! The first one looks so pretty!

    ReplyDelete
  3. I really like the first venue with the natural sunlight coming in.

    ReplyDelete
  4. Its great your mom is helping you out so much and making things easier and organized. I look forward to your tutorial!

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Sometimes its hard.....

You know when you keep thinking of something and you just feel like you have to get it out? That was me before sitting down to write this post. I had something else planned to write but I kept thinking...sometimes its hard and it just evolved from there. We all heard the sayings, life isn't fair, life is hard and so on. Sometimes life can be hard but we don't experience it for long. There are so many things that I want to do but I know I can't do a million things at once. I can't just pick and go anymore, I'm someone's parent now. There are times I want to but I know things have to be planned out now. I will get to those place I want to go, just have to be patient and plan it out. It seems like we focus so much on what is hard about life that we forget about the easy stuff. We forget sometimes about all the good things that happen and to be grateful for getting through those rough patches. You may not like your living situation but you have a roof over ...

On a personal note....Update on Blogging and Personal Goals

Happy Football Sunday!! I hope everyone has been enjoying the weekend and getting ready to celebrate Thanksgiving!! I can't believe it is this week! I can't wait to spend time with family! I thought about giving an update to the personal and blogging goals I set for myself last year with the Resolute Beauty Blogger series. You can check out my results post  HERE!!  I completed this in May of this year so let's see how I've been doing since then. Blogging Goals 1. Attend A Blogging Event- Since then I have not attended another event. I was so happy when I did find my one event to attend. I have been keeping in contact with those bloggers I met and reading their blogs. I have been finding events but there are scheduling conflicts. I hope to find another one very soon. 2. Set A Blogging Schedule- I am still sticking to my Sunday, Thursday and every other Friday schedule. It has been really working with my hectic schedule I already have. 3. Change Up Current Style-...

Taking a break.......

On Tuesday I did mention that I had some exciting news to share. I have been working part time for a while and searching like crazy for full time work. I was starting to get a little frustrated but never gave up. Well a full time opportunity came up at my current job and I am now full time status!!! I was just so overjoyed and thankful. I will have a more stable income, I can go back to school and start to make some moves. Then I started to get a little overwhelmed. How was I going to juggle being a full-time working mom, grad student, blogger and balance everything else. It has been a while since I had a full time schedule and based my blogging schedule around my days off during the week. I start my full time hours next week and just need to take a small break away from Naturalle Drea. I really didn't want to because I love this so much but I need to see how to handle everything. I will most likely change my blogging schedule around. Thank you to those who have been encouraging to...