Pretty much as soon as Hydrangea dude and I got engaged, the first order of business in regards to wedding planning was…choosing the venue.  As I am sure most brides-to-be can agree, choosing the venue is one of the first (and most likely) the hardest decision to make.  With wedding venues booking up more than a year in advance, I knew my fiancé and I had to get on the bandwagon and fast and choose where we wanted to hold our dream wedding.

The first step was choosing the actual city we wanted to get married in.  Since most of my extended family is in Illinois, I grew up in North Carolina, my parents live in Orlando and I currently live in Atlanta, it was no easy task choosing a location that was convenient for everyone.  We ended up deciding on a semi-destination wedding in Fort Lauderdale, FL, where Hydrangea dude is from.  Since most of my family and friends would be traveling in for the wedding, not matter what, we decided on Ft. Lauderdale, since it was one of our favorite places to go.  Not only is Fort Lauderdale beautiful in April (when we are getting hitched), but it also is close to beaches, the airport and a location that most of our guests would likely want to visit.

After choosing the city, next was the venue.  After what seemed like hours and hours of research and thousands of Google searches, I created an excel spreadsheet that compared all of my favorite locations in Fort Lauderdale.  Creating the document was very helpful because it helped choose what was very important to us by comparing prices, amenities and the overall feel and look.  We looked at every possible venue, from hotels to historical homes, from the beaches to the marina and even downtown.

After several long days looking at venues, Hydrangea dude and I decided on the Hilton Marina – Fort Lauderdale.  It was perfect for us because of its wonderful waterfront views, convience to restaurants and the airport, and its willingness to work with our budget.

If you are debating between choosing a hotel for your wedding, here are some great things we have found by choosing one for ours:

1. Choosing a hotel for your wedding location is great for those who have a lot of guests traveling from out of town.  Not only do they give you great discounted room rates for all of your guests, but it is very convenient and allows your guests to save money by not having to purchase a rental car.

2. Most hotels offer wonderful wedding packages that include pretty much everything you need for your wedding, from the ceremony to the reception to the catering.  We found that most hotels are also very negotiable, especially when you have guests staying at the hotel, and they have wonderful menu options and prices comparable to that of an outside vendor.

3. Most hotels include a wedding coordinator as a part of the package and if they are anything like mine, they are beyond what is expected.  The wedding coordinator (Gaylene) at our hotel is wonderful.  She is there every step of the way providing insight to vendors, helping to schedule the ultimate wedding itinerary and will be there for me during the rehearsal and day of the wedding.  This was perfect for me because now I don’t have to add the expense of hiring an outside wedding planner.

Have any of you had good experiences with a hotel as a wedding venue?