A Wedding Rant

Warning: This blogpost is going to be a wedding venue venting session. I would love to promise you that this will be the only wedding venting session, but I don't like to lie. Bear with me please.

Since Kurt and I got engaged, I’ve been on a google rampage. Whenever I have free time, I head to my favorite website and type in terms such as “outdoor wedding, princeton, nj” or “vineyard weddings, 08501”. We (and by “we”, I mean “I”) have two requirements for our wedding. (1) We don’t spend a ton of money. Even if we had all the money in the world, I can’t justify spending beaucoup bucks on 8 hours of my life. (2) It is outdoor or tented. I will not compromise on this. I love parties outside. I think there’s something so romantic and fun and casual about them. That’s what I want my wedding to be like. But finding a venue is proving to be more of a challenge than I thought. I have the option of a backyard wedding, but I have two concerns. First, we would have to rent everything, plan everything, assemble everything, break down everything, AND worry about mud if it rains (I really don’t want a ruined lawn on my conscience). (2) renting everything might end up being really expensive and since saving money would be one of the biggest draws of a backyard wedding, I’m not sure it would be worth it.

I read blogs (this is my favorite: a $10,000 wedding), buy magazines (I would have a lot more money to spend on the wedding if I hadn’t bought so many), and scour theknot.com for tips. You’d think with the economy the way it is and with all the information in the world at our fingertips, planning an inexpensive outdoor wedding would be easy! Not so. First of all, the options are endless. Just looking at the number of pages my search generates makes my head spin. Second, why don’t places post pricing!? All I want to know is how much it will cost per plate. Is that really so much to ask? I have a list of venues as long as my arm and I’m sure a large majority will be easily and quickly eliminated once I see the price per head. The only things I have planned so far have been discovered through connections. A chef/restaurant owner we know will cater (so the venue we choose, if not the backyard, would have to allow us to bring in our own caterer), and due to a hobby of my aunt and uncle, we have our favors. The thing is, the more I search for venues, the more frustrated I become. I don’t want a reception in a hotel (no offense to anyone who had their wedding in a hotel – it’s just not for me). I’ve found a few “perfect” places, but they’re either too expensive or too small. I’m hoping the backyard reception will be easier and cheaper than I think, because the more I think about it and envision it, the more I want it. If any of my readers knows someone who owns a tent/table/chair rental company, please hook me up! Also, any anti-mud suggestions would be much appreciated.

PS - I know I've been slacking with the book suggestions and new recipes. I promise to get back into it. I've been reading a manuscript so I can't really write about it, and I've been cooking some favorites lately. I've found some new recipes though for next week.