Reception Venue? ✔

The past couple of weeks we've been checking out reception venues, let me tell you, I was really starting to get worried that we wouldn't find a place. But, we did!! Thankfully we can cross that off the list and now we can relax for a while.


In all the bridal magazines I've been reading they have indicated that you should limit yourself to two or three reception sites and choose from one of them. After our first visit, I pretty much thought that would be impossible. We found ours in four visits. I'd say that's darn close considering I thought we'd have to visit at least 15!


Our first visit was to the Four Seasons Columbus. They had an amazing outdoor area which is very important to us. We probably would have booked there if we hadn't tasted the food first. Thank goodness we got to taste the food before making a commitment.  The venue itself was nice, it had a "barn" like feel and we liked that since we can't find any barns in Columbus where we could actually hold our reception. BUT... when we went to the food tasting -to put it nicely- it just wasn't for us. We didn't want to spend an $8,000 food and beverage minimum on food we could make at home. It was very bland and we wanted something different.


Our second visit was to The Lake Country Club and was actually at the top of our list for a while. We liked that we would get the club for the entire day and could get ready there before heading to the church. The menu was reasonably priced, and it's a on a beautiful golf course that would be perfect for pictures. I have nothing absolutely nothing bad to say about it!!


Our next visit was to The Columbus Athenaeum and I had high hopes before we got there. They have a beautiful ballroom that wasn't offered to us for our reception (it's possible it was already booked for our date). While I did like some of the rooms they showed us, they were all kind of dark and stuffy. Matthew was not a fan of the theater room, because it's just that. A room with theater seating. And a stage. And quite possibly curtains? Ok, maybe no curtains, but the fiancé wasn't a fan. Moving on...


The fourth destination we planned was for The Venue at Smith Bros. I had extremely high expectations of this site but after visiting the Athenaeum I was starting to think I was going to have to add some other potential sites to our list. There were very few pictures of the Venue online, but the ones I did come across, I L-O-V-E LOVED. When we got to the Venue we met w/ the owner and as soon as we walked into the room we knew it was the place for us. It's an awesome rustic looking room and has a huge patio and courtyard (a definite plus). It looks amazing when it's lit up at night. I love that it will fit with the vintage theme we're (I'm) going for and that it's not too fancy. Although I think it's a relatively new venue, it has character. Here are a few pics... :)

I took a few of the inside, but haven't gotten them on the computer yet. So you'll just have to wait for those! Looks awesome, right?!


While driving home I wanted to make sure we were both in love with it, and that Matthew didn't want something more formal. His response to me was that this place was just "us." A ballroom or country club, while beautiful, wouldn't suit us as well as the Venue. When we got home I called Steve back and he put a hold on the room. We are scheduled to meet with him on Monday morning! Can't wait!


Now I can breathe a sigh of relief. After worrying about how difficult it might be to find the perfect place I can relax...until it comes time to find the dress!