Before Plumeria Dude and I decided to hold the wedding in Florida, we researched venues in Atlanta, the city we call home. I bookmarked dozens of wedding sites all across the metro area. The selection, especially if you expand your horizons beyond the city proper, is quite dizzying. There are dozens of historic homes, parks, hotels, civic buildings, museums, restaurants, private clubs, B&Bs, wineries, gardens, conference centers, theaters and the like that host weddings around here. So we clearly needed to establish some criteria. Here’s what we came up with:

• We wanted a place that would accommodate both ceremony and reception. Neither of us is religious at all, so holding it in a place of worship was out.
• We wanted a place that would accommodate somewhere between 100 – 150 guests. We both have large families and it’s important that we be able to celebrate with them.
• We preferred a venue with a lot of outdoor space. Some of my favorite weddings were outdoors and I love the vibe of an al fresco wedding.
• We wanted a place that didn’t have an exorbitant site fee, catering/beverage minimum or a required (expensive) caterer. Basically, we wanted the flexibility to allocate our budget according to our priorities.
• We wanted a venue that would have easy access to the airport and be near a variety of hotel accommodations.
• We preferred a place inside the perimeter, i.e. in Atlanta proper rather than in the ‘burbs. We live and work in the city and would rather show out-of-town guests the Atlanta we know instead of a far-flung suburb.

These helped us narrow it down significantly. Here are the favorites:

1. Magnolia Hall at Piedmont Park. Tim and I love the park and have been frequent visitors since we first met.

We visited and it was just as gorgeous as it looks in the photos.

2. The Trolley Barn in Inman Park.

While we didn’t have a chance to visit, we saw photos of an acquaintance’s wedding and the venue has a great reputation.

3. The View at King Plow Arts Center. This is a very cool rehabbed loft that hosts a lot of events. There’s not as much outdoor space but I love the overall vibe.

Stay tuned for the next installment of our venue hunt– this time, we take on Islamorada!