The Search for the Perfect Venue, Part 3

Where last we left off, I had fallen in love with a venue out of my price range and ruled out one that was a little too traffic-adjacent for my taste.

The next venue was at another golf course (what can I say, Southern California is heavy on golf courses!).  We were early for our appointment, so my sister and I decided to poke around on our own.  The course was amazing, and they were setting up for a wedding later in the day, so we were able to see where the ceremony would take place.  I didn't take any pictures here either, but here are some from the interwebs:

I was really into this location, with one major exception: it's located very close to the Long Beach City airport, and in the 15 or so minutes we were outside, no fewer than 3 planes passed overhead, and were so loud that we could hardly talk to each other while they passed.  I had immediate anxiety about having to pause our ceremony ten times for planes to pass, and I just could not handle that kind of stress.  So we called the coordinator to cancel our appointment, and moved on to our last venue.

The last stop for the day was the El Dorado Golf Course in Long Beach--yes, another one.  And no, Jeff and I do not golf.  But that's kinda beside the point here.

El Dorado was also really pretty and, while I remembered to take pictures, I don't think they show it to its best advantage.  Still, here are a couple, just to give an idea of the space:

The ceremony would take place on the lawn on the edge of the course, and the reception would be under these gorgeous white tents adjoining the ceremony space.  Those poles at the top of the tent are strung with vines and twinkle lights, and the venue would provide some decorations for the reception, as well as all of the tables and chairs.  They had their own caterer on site, and the price was really very reasonable, especially if we got married on a Sunday.  However, we had other plans for a caterer (I promise I will get to that soon) so this was not necessarily a plus for us, since we wouldn't be able to go with an outside vendor.

So let's sum up what we had after four venues and serious patience on the part of my saintly sister:

• 1 venue with the rush of traffic going by the ceremony site
• 1 gorgeous stable that was out of our price range
• 1 heartbreakingly beautiful golf course where no one would be able to hear our vows
• 1 very nice and affordable tented venue with too many restrictions

Hang in there, in my next post I'll reveal our final choice, as well as the big caterer mystery.