Venue search... or how I almost got married in front of Elvis.

Mr. Yankee and I got engaged in December of 2008. We started to browse for venues in January 2009. We found and booked our venue in March of 2009. Two months of searching- no big deal, right?! Wrong! The truth of it is, the venue we picked was the second to last venue we had to look at before booking a trip to Vegas. Mr. Y and I searched from the north end of Santa Rosa to southern most point of the south bay in Gilroy and had come up with a fat zero in terms of venue. These places drove me crazy! They were either too out of the way, too expensive or had too many cookie cutter requirements that would take away from our individual tastes. We got information from over 15 venues- but I will condense our search for you into the top contenders.

Stonetree Golf Club

I fell in love with this place the minute we pulled into the parking lot. It was our third location of the day, but I knew in my heart that this would be our wedding location. It was perfect in every way. Outside patio with hillside views of the sun setting as we say our vows? Check. Banquet hall with stunning views and lots of space? You betcha! A price that was reasonable and within our budget? Uh, hold the phone.

Mr. Yankee and I both absolutely loved this place. We sat in in the foyer and looked at pictures after pictures of events past. But as much as we absolutely loved the golf club, there was no way we could ever afford it on our budget. But not for lack of trying; we sat and thought of everything else we could possibly cut so that we could have our wedding there, but in the end it just wasn't doable.

Oakmont Golf Club

Oakmont was another absolute beauty. It was nestled far into the Santa Rosa hillsides and would make just an absolute gorgeous backdrop. However, Mr. Y and I got lost on our way to look at the venue and figured that if we got lost it would be easy for others to get lost as well. Not to mention that it was a little farther than we were hoping to make guests travel. So it was on to the next locale.

Wedgewood Banquet Center(s)

I really tried to like this place. Really, I did. I had heard from so many friends that Wedgewood was really reasonable when it came to budget and that their service was very good. I even dragged Mr. Yankee to San Ramon to look at another one of their locations. But I just could not get jazzed about this place. Yes, it is an unbelieveable deal, but you are also giving up a lot in the process. To me (and I mean no disrespect to anyone who is thinking of, or has had their wedding here) it was too cookie cutter. They had only certain floral designs, certain cake designs, decor limitations and do not provide a tasting! So the bride and groom are just supposed to pick some random dish and hope it turns out okay?! I don't think so.

These are only a few of the many, many, many locations we scouted for our wedding. And I was getting really upset about not finding a venue and did more than a few inquiries into Las Vegas weddings. However, herecomestheguide saved me and presented me with this great little gem of a location that was right under my nose. And in my next post, I will tell you all about it.

But for the fellow brides out there, how did your venue search go?

**all photos courtesy of herecomestheguide.com**