Location, LoCaTiOn, LOCATION

If there is one thing that I learned during my four year in college its that the most important part of a business (or well, event in this case) is the LOCATION! The location sets the tone and becomes the canvas for which the entire event is placed. There are factors to consider when choosing locations.

Do you want a church wedding? An outdoor wedding? Or just a location to hold the ceremony? This can be anything from a church, to a pavilion, to a theater; just about anything can be used for a ceremony.

Your biggest thing to consider, as mentioned in the post below, is budget. You want to make sure that you stay within your budget when choosing locations. However, this is not what most of you would think. So for example... you have found 2 locations:

Location 1: One word... BEAUTIFUL. Comes with tables, chairs, linens (table and chair covers), small centerpieces - hurricane vases with candles in your colors, small mirror underneath, with crystals and flower petals in your colors scattered on the table - (or for a little extra custom ones) and needs little to no decoration. The cost... $1600 and up depending on if you do custom centerpieces or stick with the ones they offer in the deal.

Location 2: Nice. Comes with tables and chairs, but you would need to bring in linens and centerpieces plus other decor. Price... $700.

Which do you choose? The cheaper of the 2? Not here.

While the $700 seems like a good deal, think of all the additional items you are going to have to bring in. Chairs are ugly and you want chair covers... depending on the number of guests you are looking at an additional $400-500 or about $3-5 per chair. Table clothes can run from $10-12.50 and up each. So if you are having 150 guests and each table seats 8, you need 19 tables and 152 chairs. So if the table clothes are the lower price point of $10, you have $190 for tables (and if you want toppers its extra) and if the chair covers are the lower price point you have $456 for chair covers plus $152 if you use chair sashes to go around the covers. So now you are at $1498 and you haven't even picked out centerpieces yet. Centerpieces can run between $15 to hundreds of dollars. So if you are lucky enough to find centerpieces at $15 each (mine range from $20-$35... I'm having 3 different ones) you are at $285 for 19 centerpieces. This brings your total to $1783.

So which would you choose? Just because a location is cheap to rent, doesn't mean it will be cheaper in the long run. You must step back and look at the bigger picture and determine what it will take to make that location into what you imagined.

When it comes to a ceremony location, simple is the key word. You want all of the focus to be on you and your husband during the ceremony so extravagant decorations aren't really needed. If they are your thing then go for it, but you want people to focus on you and your husband, not the decorations. Some ceremony locations can range from $50 up into the thousands of dollars. Just be careful of hidden costs. Most churches or clubs will also allow nonmembers to use there facilities at a higher cost. However, if you know someone that is a member, most churches and clubs will allow a member to sponsor a nonmember; meaning the nonmember can get the member price! Just check and read the fine print of any information you get from any location.

The key thing to remember is don't just book the first place you find. Shop around. You can find great deals by doing research and bargaining. Good luck!