For me, finding a dress was easy, but finding the venue has been hard. You have to identify your collective personality through decor, theme, colors, vibe, and ultimately the location! I have found this experience time consuming and overwhelming. This is a very important day, after-all.
I think I’m not alone when I say, I went from first feeling like I could get married anywhere and it wouldn’t matter, to all of a sudden getting sucked into wedding planning madness and feeling pressure that it has to be perfect. I feel pressure to find a beautiful venue that feels like us, is how I envision it and fits into our small budget. (Small on average standards.) Did you know the average American wedding costs over $25,0000?????? That’s craziness!
The Ace Hotel
We are so grateful that we already own our beautiful home. With $25K I could use that money on MANY different things around here, but when it comes down to it I do want our wedding day to be special. I want to find a wedding venue that I love, but doesn’t feel like I’m settling. We will cut corners where we can and save money throughout the year. And we are counting our lucky stars that our families are generous enough to pitch in. We all know that no matter where we get hitched it will be unforgettable. Here’s the game-plan: Do not get caught up in unnecessary details. Be creative and have fun.
Ok, back to the venue. I want it to be amazing, but modest, and most of all I want it to be personal and feel like “us.”
When Vinnie and I first started discussing where our dream wedding (which was the night he proposed), we didn’t give ourselves any boundaries, or budgets for that matter. We let our imaginations run wild, and dreamed of our ideal location. The location that first popped into my mind was Palm Springs. Why you might ask? Well, a number of reasons. We love to take little get-away vacations there. It’s only 2 1/2 hours away from LA. I fell in love with the desert when I hosted a travel show there a few years ago. The weather is warm year round, and you truly feel like you’ve escaped LA. Another reason we love it there is because of its history. Back when the Rat Pack was around they used to take trips to the desert to relax and play. The charm of Old Hollywood is still there in its simplistic beauty.
Frank Sinatra's Home. The pool is shaped like a piano!
On that note, we LOVE music from that era! Whenever we cook dinner together its become instinctual to cue our Pandora Radio to the Dean Martin station. Vinnie is Italian, and hearing Dino sing “Return To Me,” as Vinnie lip syncs along, while we prepare a delicious meal is just about the most romantic thing ever. OK, back to our “vibe.” We are old souls. I love mid-century design and fashion, and music of the 1950s and 60s, so when it came to our wedding venue search I was immediately drawn to venues that transported you to another time and place. Here are a few that we previewed in Palm Springs.
from left to right: Cree Estate, La Quinta Resort, The Parker
After a long day of searching over 6 venues, we fell in LOVE with the Colony Palms. The hotel recently had a $10 million dollar renovation. It was originally built back in the 1920s. It was owned by an alleged mobster who used it as a speakeasy, gambling house and brothel. It was later owned by the owners of the famous racing horse, Sea Biscuit, who used it as a boutique hotel. Today it has the old charm and character of both worlds, but it’s brand new! The Spanish Revival-style structure, and cool bar with olive leather couches and purple lamp shades brings you back to a different era. (Think Boardwalk Empire!) What made it even cooler is that Vinnie’s family used to own the property behind the hotel. His family used to vacation there every year over 50 years ago!
The Colony Palms Hotel
Where does the bummer come in? Oh, you guessed it. The price. They require that you book out 100% of the rooms (there are approx 56), which can be extremely pricey. In addition to that, there is a $26,000 food/beverage minimum. For someone like me on a tight budget, this was just not realistic. Even if we had the money to do the wedding there, I would feel awful asking our guests to pay the room premiums when there are plenty of other nice hotels around for a much cheaper price. Anyway, this is where we can do our vow renewal 10 years from now. (sigh) I feel better now. Feast your eyes on the coolness of the colony palms above and below.
The Purple Palm Restaurant at The Colony Palms, and one of their gorgeous rooms
The one thing I learned from this day trip out to Palm Springs is that not only do I love old Hollywood Charm, but I also love Spanish Revival Architecture. I love an outdoor venue that has history and character. I want something different and unique. The question remains, is it possible find these special nuances at another venue? Does my dream venue exisit outside of Palm Springs? Perhaps it’s not about the location. Maybe it’s about discovering your own unique style, then searching for a city that has it all and is more convenient and affordable. What are your thoughts?
By the way, I’d like to thank my friend Mrs. Jessica Haro who inspired me to keep searching for the perfect venue and not give up hopes on a desert wedding. Jessica quit her job as a successful PR consultant to become a wedding planner. (BTW her Sonoma wedding was off the hook and I’m not surprised that she found her destiny.) Thanks again to her for getting me involved with this blog. I’m having a blast and I’m so grateful you are all following me along on this creative journey.
Elizabeth Taylor. Marilyn Monroe.
I leave you with photos of two of my favorite Hollywood ladies of the 1950s who inspire me :)
FINALLY FINALLY FINALLY! The venue has been found and booked! Yep, there is officially a backdrop to this wedding.
I have definitely seen this place before, but the price tag always scared me away. ( But I can’t tell you how much I appreciate them putting their prices on their website). Finally I decided to call and what do you know, they had options, they had solutions, and they were going to try to make it work. After talking to the Hunter, the events girl, and calling a few caterers, it was clear that this could actually work. What do you know, with the low-ish budget that I have, I actually did! You know what the real kicker about this whole thing is, it is actually only a few hundred dollars more than Radonich Ranch would have been! Can you believe it?? I got something one million times better, for just about the same price and no headaches. Totally worth it! So now I can thank Marky Carr for being so ridiculous because I held out and got something so much better for the same price. You all were right, it all happens for a reason!
So, here is a look at the venue:
The Entrance: The fire pits and bocce ball field are to the left for guests to entertain themselves prior to the ceremony starting.
The ceremony spot: At first I was totally turned off by this spot from pictures I have seen, but in person, it is incredible. The view beyond the alter is vineyards and the Carmel Valley. It is actually incredible. Oh and those are the wood chairs that come with the venue. They are nice, right? Definitely better than what they could look like!
The cocktail patio: The thing about this place is that every part of the wedding takes place in a different area which is incredible. The cocktail patio opens to a sitting room (pictured below) for guests. It is a little unlike my taste, but Ian really likes it, so we’ll see what I end up doing with that place.
Courtyard Patio: This is the coolest little patio ever! Definitely a photo spot, but I may also put the cake or place cards and present table here. Not totally sure on the layout, but I will most definitely be using this area for something!
Reception: This is the dinner spot! So excited for all this place has to offer! I think I am going to do long tables like this. I am definitely going to look into renting picnic tables, because I was totally obsessed with that idea, but that all depends on price. I love the look of the long tables, but it is definitely not as good for conversation.
The Carriage House: After dinner people end up at the Carriage House (MY FAVORITE PART!) for the dancing portion of the event. This is where the s’more and cigar bar come out, fire pits get lit, music starts up, and bocce ball can be played if people want. I can’t wait to do something incredible with this space. See those fire pits?? This place really was meant for me! They supply fire pits and the bocce ball court. Incredible.
So this is the venue! Great neutral colors, great photo spots, overall gorgeous space. A bride rented those lounge tables and chairs. Oh and the guests all arrive by golf carts and the cars are parked about a mile away. So those won’t be obstructing any kind of view.
I don’t have any pictures of the area where the bridal party gets ready, but that I am excited for. The girls have a huge room with couches and everything. I want a lot of space for getting ready photos because I love those! This place has A LOT of space!
The boys room is pretty characteristic, and Ian is pretty excited. Pool table, Poker Table, Darts and a full bar area complete with bar stools. Needless to say, they are going to have a lot of fun in there!
Overall, this place is perfect. And on top of that, I love the wedding coordinator! She isn’t jaded by the wedding industry and all it’s glory. It isn’t a matter of “we were seen in the Knot therefore we can charge more and you are lucky to have a wedding here.” Nope. Her family owns the place so its not about getting the paycheck whether you have the wedding or not, its more about the well-being of the family as a whole. This is actually an amazing quality because despite that this place is incredible and has been featured in tons of magazines and blogs, she still has a modest outlook on the place, and thanks us for even coming to see it. Needless to say, I am incredibly excited to work with someone that really gets it, and acts like we are her only clients even though in reality they are booked solid all year long!
So, we sent in the check and it is official! This place is ours! Now I get to do all the fun stuff, I can’t wait to see it all come together. Oh and our wedding date? April 8, 2011.
PS: Have you entered our giveaway yet?? One vendor and one bride will win this prize! So hurry and enter!
UPDATE: As much as I LOVED this venue for our wedding, everything took a sour turn and the venue ended up turning into a nightmare…..Read about the Radonich Ranch venue nightmare here.
Holy Moly this has been quite the morning! I haven’t been able to sit down and write a blog post as I have been busy talking to the coordinator of the venue I love :) I always have a good reason!
Yep, you read it right. Going to book, like in real life, like that point of the wedding planning I never thought I would get to. Yep, I’m there! And boy has it been a journey.
Source: 100 Layer Cake
When I first started all of this, I told myself (and all of you) to hold out for the perfect venue with the perfect price, not to settle for something less, and even if it takes forever, don’t give up. Well, I just barely followed my own advice! I was looking for so long at so many places. I almost settled on some amazing and totally over budget venues many times. Each time I knew I wouldn’t be happy feeling ripped off, but that there seemed to be no other solution. The idea of looking on herecomestheguide.com one more time made me want to die. I gave up many times, and came back to it many times. I have created some tips to venue searching in case it helps any of you that are going through hell finding the venue.
Google It: Whenever I find a venue that I like, I search google images to get more photos of the space, inspiration from other weddings held there, and an overall reality on the feel of the space. When I found Vignette Vintage Ranch I did that and found some really great weddings, so I had an idea of how it all went and what the feel of the space was going to be.
Talk It Over: Right before going to see the space, I prepped myself for it. A few of my BM’s and I talked about different ideas I wanted to add to the wedding and how (or if) those would fit in. Turns out that all the various ideas I wanted for my wedding would fit perfectly with this space. I also realized that the runner-up venues, weren’t the right style for the ideas I had. This made me mentally prepared to picture everything in the space when we went to see it.
Prioritize: No venue is going to have every single thing you ever want, especially if you are in a budget. You sort of have to prioritize whats important and what isn’t. I actually didn’t have to do that too much. Because of the price, I was able to keep my whole guest list and the one thing I really wanted, fire pits, I was able to negotiate and get them. Yay for that.
Get Inspired: If you have a vision of your wedding and a style you are going for, it makes it a lot easier to picture yourself and your wedding in that space. Get inspired with ideas for your wedding so you know what you want. Vineyard, Rustic, Barn, etc. This can definitely be rather hard, especially if you are taking items from so many different styles, but once you get the vision together, I swear it will make it so much easier.
Don’t Give Up: I’ll be the first to say it, easier said than done! I totally know! You want to settle and you want to go over budget just to get it over with. But in reality you probably won’t be very happy in the end. Going over budget either means more stress and cutting out people or ideas you really wanted and neither of those are really fun. I literally waited for 8 months of constant searching and feeling like nothing would ever pop up. I felt like I had seen every venue again and again. If you just wait it out, you will find something.
You’ll Be Surprised: When you find the venue, you will definitely be surprised about it all, and it will feel amazing! I talked to the coordinator of our venue and it turns out she does the centerpiece flowers, supplies mason jars, old boxes, milk jars, apothecary jars, antique old linens, etc. SCORE! That is going to save me a lot of money right there! On top of all that, the price is far. See, it somehow all worked out and everything fell into place, though I pretty much assumed it never would.
Overall, this place is perfect for me. It won’t stretch my budget to an ungodly amount and I will still be able to have everyone there that I want to be there. (Except Bear sad face) I get to incorporate all the ideas I have into this space, and best of all, it will all turn out perfectly! I never really knew that this is what I was envisioning this whole time, but it totally is!
Anyone else have really good suggestions for those in venue turmoil??? It’s such a hard process.
Hey, check out the journey I have taken to finding a venue from the original Aptos dilemma, to the back yard wedding pros and cons, including the actual backyard I would have it in! Also, there was the time I was going to pay a ridiculous amount in site fees. Down to the time where I just sent a plea for help on the blog! And finally, pictures of the actual wedding venue!
How am I planning on decorating this amazing venue?? Check out a few of my favorite things I plan to incorporate, S’more favors, my actual wedding favors pies, and some really cool centerpieces that I love!
