Chasing Butterflies (Venue Hopping)
A day spent with friends is always a day well spent. Especially when it’s your bestie and she agrees to go venue-hopping– or what I refer to as chasing butterflies– with you. Saturday was the perfect day to do all three. With the must–have site visit tools of every good event/wedding planner; a reliable camera and GPS, a note pad and pen, and a good measuring tape– and we were on our way. We had three venues on our list. The first was Cylburn Arboretum; a city park located in Northwest Baltimore with beautiful gardens, relaxing trails, and a gorgeous 19th century mansion, all perfect for weddings. The second stop was Hebron House, a two-story stone house situated on eight acres of picturesque grounds in the Mt. Hebron neighborhood of Ellicott City, Maryland. The third was The Canopy, a small restaurant space that we never found. Oh well, two out of three was not bad!
As a wedding planner it is our job to know the ins and outs of any venue rented by our client, how it will function with the given guest count and how vendors will be able to navigate the space. We represent countless vendors through the planning process and it’s our due diligence that allows them to do their jobs to the best of their abilities. Site visits help to ensure that a space is suitable for the vision you are creating. Often times, event spaces look drastically different (for better and sometimes for worse) from their online photos. It’s like choosing a college – you don’t truly know what a venue will be like until you get there, walk around, sit in the space, and feel the ambiance. Sometimes you are pleasantly surprised by what you may find or unique ways to use the space.
Personally, I like to do what I refer to as pre-site visits; visiting sites that I can add to, or when necessary exclude from, my venue list. This allows me to build a nice list of venues that I can easily customize to the needs of my clients. Both venues were a hit and is certainly now on our list. Look for a future post on what to look for when deciding on a venue for you special day.
In the meantime butterflies, remember you were born to fly!
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