The first decision we wanted to nail down was the venue. While a beautiful venue would certainly be nice, convenience and practicality were more important to us. We didn’t have a specific date we were tied to, but the priest had provided us with a couple auspicious dates to choose from. Lastly, we needed a venue that could accommodate the number of people that will probably be at the wedding and allow us to have the fire necessary for a Hindu ceremony.

Photo from australianindianweddings.com.au

Keeping our priorities in mind, we decided that a hotel ballroom was going to be the easiest way to go. All of our events could be at the same venue so we wouldn’t have to worry about arranging transportation. We wouldn’t have to worry about pricing things like linens, tables, etc. all separately. The price (and extra work) can add up pretty quickly that way.

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There are so many available venues for weddings out there. So before we started searching, we sat down and discussed what we were looking for in a venue. We came up with the list below:

• Between the cities we live in
  Since we live 4 hours apart, we decided to get married somewhere in between. We also figured that my family and friends are more likely to travel, so locations closer to Tulip Dude will also be in the running.
• Close to water
  We love the water and getting married close to water is one way our wedding can reflect who we are.
• Ceremony and Reception both on-site
  We like everything in one place so our guests don’t have to travel far from the ceremony to reception.
• On-site catering
  We are not hiring a wedding planner, so we try to minimize the work we need to do.

Using the four criteria above, we narrowed our venue choices to four:

Belle Mer, Newport RI

Castle Hill Inn, Newport RI

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Image from chrismadden.co.uk

Visualize! Visualize! Visualize! If you close your eyes, what do you see? Here is what we envisioned. We wanted to have everything in one location. Our other goal was to be in a place where we can truly enjoy the space with our friends and family and not feel like we had to be in and out in 4-6 hours. And oh man, did we find the perfect place for us!

The Five Bridge Inn in Rehoboth, Massachusetts is where we will hold everything – from the rehearsal cookout the day before to the ceremony and reception. They have a preferred caterer, Ralph’s Catering, and though you have the ability to go with who you want,  we are taking their advice because Ralph’s is said to do a wonderful job! And, oddly enough, my brother held his stag party dinner at Ralph’s restaurant… small world! He had nothing but good things to say about the food so that was a plus! We also get to have the entire house and grounds the night before the wedding. So the moms and bridal party will be able to relax and have some bonding time before the craziness begins!

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The first thing I learned when planning my wedding was that the traditional wedding guide is for the average gal. I was planning my wedding in a medium size college town (Madison, Wisconsin), in the busiest month of the wedding and football seasons (October), and with a head count that includes all of my very large extended family (220 or so). Nine months was not enough! I called around and found out that the most popular places were taken 13 months in advance! This sent Dahlia Dude and I into a frenzy of trying to book everything we could, site unseen before our planned trip home a few months later.

I know we could have found a place, regardless of the planning window, but we were committed to having a wedding that was both fun to attend, and eco-friendly. I will share details of the wedding shortly, but I’m glad to say that we found the perfect place, for both the reception and ceremony, and guests will not need anything but two feet to get there.

Has anyone shared similar experiences? Have you had trouble finding vendors available on your day?

Every guide to planning a wedding that I have found online and in print say the very first thing you should do is to search for and book the venue… For all the planning I did early on in the process, we didn’t check this biggie off of the to-do list until about a year and a half into our engagement.

Why the long wait? Well, having grown up next to a recreation center where I witnessed many a wedding taking place, I really wanted to have our wedding at a Parks & Recreation facility. We’ll be getting married In Oakland, CA, my partner’s hometown, because he still feels very connected to Oakland although we live in Davis, CA. As it turns out, Oakland Parks & Rec only take reservations up to 11 months in advance, so we had no choice but to wait…

And we ended up booking the Lake Merritt Sailboat House!!!!!

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