The Search for the Perfect Venue, Part 1

Clearly, as the last post and subsequent disappearance indicate, I became consumed with wedding planning.   From the day I pored over magazines and began forming ideas of what I wanted our wedding to look like, I've become a woman obsessed.  I'm going to attempt to fill in the gaps from then to now with a series of posts highlighting the major ups and downs of the planning process so far.

To appease everyone's curiosity, we had to set a date for the wedding ASAP.  When I asked Jeff, he said he wanted to get married the following summer.  Okay, done.  It was a little less than a year from the time he proposed, and that seemed like a decent amount of time to plan a semi-casual, not-too-big wedding.  We ruled out June, because his brother was supposed to come back from Afghanistan at the end of June and we really, REALLY wanted him to be there (more on that later).  That left July or August...the final decision would rest on the venue's availability.  Which, of course, led to us actually having to find a venue.

We both agreed that we wanted the wedding to feel like a backyard picnic.  Whereas I envisioned an elegant affair with a laid-back vibe, Jeff envisioned this:

This is a park in Long Beach that is sometimes used for birthday parties, large work-related gatherings, etc. etc.  This was Jeff's idea for the venue.  Honestly, I was just glad to have him brainstorming at this point and, to be fair, the park itself is absolutely gorgeous.

See what I mean?  Very pretty.  And if I could have somehow sectioned the park part off from the tables-and-snack-bar part, I think the venue search may very well have been over.  However,  I just couldn't get over the vibe that the picnic tables set...I know the photo doesn't show it well, but the concrete was cracked, the lighting was bad, and there was an awkwardly-placed stage behind it all.  Not to mention the fact that it was situated directly behind WalMart and the guests would have to drive through a maze of overflowing dumpsters to get to the wedding.  Overall it was not the look I was going for.  And I felt like a total diva bride for saying so, but somehow I had actually managed to from an idea of what I wanted for the wedding, and this venue just didn't jive with it.

So, one venue down, on to the next.  Part 2 of the venue search coming soon...