Venue hunting begins!

I know it's been a bit but I have been super busy the past week or so with dancing, teaching, and .... WEDDING VENUE HUNTING!

I have to say, after dreaming, imagining, and researching for about 18 months, it feels good to finally be able to actively be pursuing information and tours and such.

Spreadsheets

After compiling a list of about 20 Nashville venue options I made a giant spreadsheet with all of the venue info available online. From there, I narrowed it down to about 10 venues that would both fit the budget and aesthetic of our wedding. This was a much more manageable list to look through with Ben. We narrowed it down again to about eight venues and I reached out for more information.
We toured two venues yesterday and have another one planned for tomorrow morning!! I'll make another post soon with pictures and things from these tours!

Yesterday was so much fun, I've been sorting though pictures online and it was amazing to finally be able to walk around and see the spaces for myself. The two locations we looked at yesterday were both between Franklin and Murfreesboro. Well worth the drive, both were totally gorgeous! I came up with a worksheet the night before listing all of the questions that I had about the venue. Using the information packets the venues had sent me via email, I filled out as much as I could and then highlighted the sections where I had additional questions. I printed the info packets and brought them all along. I'll write a separate post with all of my spreadsheet layouts and other tips.

In addition to all of this tour excitement, a coworker of Ben's connected me to a local wedding dress designer. I never dreamed in a million years that there was any possibility of getting a custom-made wedding dress, but it sounds like it might not be such a far-fetched idea after all! I had a consultation with the designer today and I'm so amazed at how many options I have that sound like they will be affordable and beautiful!

I'm also coordinating with several people to have some engagement photos taken in early 2017. Exciting stuff in the works!

It's been a complex process so far but I'm so excited and relieved to finally be planning!

More soon!