I present to you.. our awesome VENUE!!!

In my last post I shared with you the journey that was our venue search. It was tumultous and draining to say the least, but I believe it paved the way for me to actually appreciate our venue even more. To realize what we found and how to truly love and enjoy it. Ladies and gentlemen, I present to you Inn Marin:

personal photo

Isn't that tree just beautiful? Gorgeous even. The moment I saw this tree I had all these visions of bridedom sweep over me; suddenly I could see myself and Mr. Y under the tree, exchanging vows in front of family and friends and enjoying the moment. I saw a wonderful cocktail hour by the roman inspired fountain while Mr. Buble crooned those recycled favorites. It felt like this was our venue. And the catering director? Ohmygosh! I'll be the first to admit that I don't deal very often with catering directors or venue managers for all the posh parties I have, but let me just tell you- Inn Marin has one of the best people in the business. Her name is Lora and let me say- she is 50% of the reason we booked. Not once did I feel like we were being "sold" something; or that we weren't worth her time because we were working within a budget. She took her time to give us a tour of the entire venue- rooms, suites, the grounds and the banquet hall. Needless to say I clicked with Lora immediately, but before I got too excited I had to make sure it fit within our budget. So we sat down with Lora after the tour and told her what our expected guest list was and what we were hoping to accomplish (ceremony outdoors, reception indoors, sit down plated dinner, cocktail hour and all around fabulous party) and she smiled and said that she absolutely felt like she could accomplish what we were looking for. She promised to throw together some numbers and shoot me an email by the end of the weekend. Score!

a photo of the court yard where we will be having our cocktail hour. adorable, no?

As soon as we were safely out of ear shot in the car I told Mr. Yankee that this absolutely had to be our venue and that if the price was even somewhat doable we were going to move forward. I felt so valued and understood that I thought no other place could do us justice. Mr. Y agreed saying that he thought it was a good fit and that hopefully the price was right. And oh my goodness, was the price ever right!! When Lora sent us our price quote I nearly fell out of my chair in excitement. You mean we can have a wedding, with a served dinner, drinks, linens and a day of coordinator without breaking the bank?! **SQUEE**

I immediately emailed her in response and proposed marriage.. uh, I mean asked what she needed to proceed with the date. And so after what seemed like a lifetime of venue searching, we found the best spot for us.

How did you find your venue? Did you know right away is was where you were going to get married? Or did you have to warm up to the idea?