Choosing a Venue: Part 2

In Part 1 of our choosing the venue adventure, I talked about a gorgeous ballroom that I fell in love with, and how seeing the pricing was an eye-opener experience. If you haven’t read Part 1 and want to catch up, go ahead, I’ll wait ;-)

The adventure in our second venue was… well, short. I’ll call it the venue that never was. And, before I continue, I need to give props to the mister, as he did the legwork on this one!

Venue #2: Independence Grove

Independence Grove is a gorgeous forest preserve in Lake County. The grounds are breathtaking! I’ve visited the preserve on weekends with the mister, and also for a few work-related events. However, I really hadn’t given it much thought as a possible venue. Not until someone at work suggested it, since a family member had held a wedding there.

Now, I’ve never been the outdoorsy type. Yes, I enjoy a walk here and there, and yes, I appreciate a beautiful landscape. But, I’m a girl of certain comforts, like air conditioning, and not having the wind mess with my hair (car door windows are always up in my car, drives the mister nuts!). The mister, on the other hand, loves the outdoors, loves camping, and loves driving with the windows rolled down. Knowing how happy a wedding at Independence Grove would make him, I decided to add it to our list of venues to check out (he was ecstatic!). I looked at their website, seeing they offered indoor and outdoor spaces, I knew we could come to a compromise: having an indoor reception with the opportunity to step outside to enjoy nature. Plus, the pictures would be gorgeous!

I wish I had pictures to show you, but here is a beautiful slide show of weddings at Independence Grove. Go right ahead to see them, I’ll wait :-)

The mister offered to make the necessary calls, and he did (who says grooms can’t be involved in wedding planning?). A couple days later, he received all the needed information in his e-mail. I have to admit, I was excited at the possibility of holding the reception there but, by the time I was through reading all the information, the possibility completely faded away.

The information included the cost of renting the venue (no problem), table cloths and linens rental (that’s fine), and the $8,000 food minimum for that evening by a specified caterer—wait, WHAT!?!? All dreaming of a wedding at Independence Grove came to a screeching halt and, sadly, the mister and I decided to immediately scratch it off our venue list.

Do you dream of an outdoor or indoor wedding? Do you foresee a compromise between the two?