Looking for a wedding venue that fits your needs can be one of the trickiest (and unfortunately, stressful) parts of wedding planning. Happily, once you’ve booked your venue, the rest of the planning process will fall into place easily (we promise!). But how do you even start searching for a wedding site? First, you’ll need to pick what venue “style” most suits your personality. Here’s a mini-glossary of wedding venue types to help you get started. And don’t forget to check out our Vendor Reviews to find the perfect wedding locale near you.
Photo by Anna and Spencer Photography
Ballroom: Want a wedding that’s grand, elegant, and formal? There’s nothing like a richly appointed ballroom. Ideal for black-tie weddings with a big guest list, ballrooms (either in hotels or other historic sites), often have in-house catering and rentals to make the planning process a snap. But it’s important to note: When choosing a color scheme for a ballroom wedding, you’ll have to take the room’s permanent fixtures into account – from the carpeting to the chandeliers to the wall color. You wouldn’t want your flowers and other decor to clash with what’s already there.
Jesse & Ben
September 22
Chicago, Illinois
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Q & A with the Bride:
1. What was the one thing about your venue that made you know it was the one?
The overall aesthetic just felt right. It was the first of 10 venues we visited. I remember we were walking out to the car, looking at each other and both said, “Yeah, that’s it.” We just knew. At our wedding, our friends and family kept telling us, “This place is so you guys.” The exposed brick, the timber beams and the natural light. It was like love at first sight.
2. Which three details from your wedding were your favorites?
1. The votives surrounding our venue: we purchased 500 votives and holders which took up a lot of space in our apartment for the months leading up to the wedding, but it was worth it. They gave the space a beautiful, warm glow.
2. The Jack Straw Band: we like to see them play at bars and festivals in Chicago, and they also played at our parents’ 25th anniversary party. One of the most memorable moments was when they started playing my favorite song, Blue Sky by the Allman Brothers Band as Ben and I walked into the cocktail hour.
3. The Lovely Love Story by Edward Monkton: it’s a children’s story about two dinosaurs, who come to love each other despite their differences. I was a preschool teacher when I first came to Chicago (our flower girl was actually one of my students!) so the children’s story had even more meaning.
3. Give us the one moment from your wedding that you cannot stop thinking about.
The most memorable for me will always be when I watched Ben read his vows. All of my bridesmaids were crying because Ben was crying, and I was just so filled with love. It was beautiful. The most hilarious moment though had to be the end of the night. We had just found out that we needed $500 cash if we wanted the DJ to play for an extra half hour. It was about three minutes before she was scheduled to stop playing when our family and friends started chipping in money. That extra half hour on the dance floor was totally worth it.
