Wedding venues

The first place we looked at was F.E.A.S.T. at Round Hill. It's a small, cozy place upstate with a beautiful garden and a gazebo. They have a bridal suite in the building and the dining area is in a section separate, but not separated from the dance floor, which appealed to my fiancee (still can't get used to calling him that!). They had availability for the date we wanted, September 5, the Sunday of Labor Day weekend, but because it's a holiday weekend, they would be charging us the higher Saturday prices. We really liked the place, so we thought about cutting down costs by choosing the Sunday after, which would be much, much cheaper.

The second place we looked at was Catlin Gardens, which is also upstate. The place was absolutely gorgeous! It doesn't have an actual bridal suite, but they do have a room that can be used as one. They have a lot of strict rules and are not flexible when it comes to what you can and cannot do at your own wedding, but I just fell in love with the beautiful flowers, waterways and adorable sculptures. Unfortunately, the place is also expensive! It's about as expensive as F.E.A.S.T. on a peak Saturday, so maybe it's not really that much more. Still, it's more than I wanted to spend originally. Still, we asked them to hold September 12th for us, as the 5th was already taken. In the end, I think I've settled my heart on this place.

A contract proposal was sent out this past Monday and boy is this going to cost us! The proposal is really just for the basic minimum, which means most likely, it's going to cost more! Ah well, looks like I'll have to increase and re-work our wedding budget. Anyways, we will be speaking with the sales rep on Monday and we may send in the retainer fee then. Fingers crossed and everything goes smoothly!