Wedding Venue Shopping – Day 1

Total Visited Venues = 3. Venues to include:

Winter Park Farmers Market
Winter Park Civic Center
Paradise Cove at Buena Vista Watersports

David and I awoke early and excited to start our day. This weekend was the first weekend since we got engaged that we were not traveling and finally had a chance to visit wedding venues. Our first appointment was at noon with Kristen at Paradise Cove. I was extremely excited for this one as I had scoured their website time and time again looking at photos of past weddings and had fallen in love. Since we woke up so early I suggested we hit the Winter Park Farmers Market since they are there every Saturday until one and that way we could check out the building without having to make an appointment. We wandered around the area eating yummy bagels filled with assorted cream cheeses and veggies while poking around at the different vendors. It was hard to get a good feel since the area was so filled with vendors with their goods and tents set up. The inside of the building is an old train depot and it certainly has potential. It has that very old rustic feeling and the train literally runs right behind the building. My only concern is that the building itself is too small for what I am envisioning and our guests would be too cramped. As many of you know the one stipulation that I have for our wedding is to have a band and I fear they would not fit into this venue. The outside patio and terrace do offer a nice getaway for a fresh-air break. Although for the price of this location, it’s kind of hard to pass up. See pictures here of the Winter Park Farmers Market.

Leaving the Farmers Market we saw a sign for the Winter Park Civic Center and we anticipated just doing a drive by to see what it looked like. We pulled into the parking lot and Dave insisted on going in and just looking around if they were open. I was against it as I didn’t feel comfortable popping in without an appointment. There we met Cindy, who was so helpful and provided us with bride magazines for the Central Florida area and floor plans for other venues in the Winter Park area. David and I walked around the grounds outside and it was gorgeous. It would be more of a ballroom setting and I am sort of against having just a ballroom with hideous carpet and no windows. I want our guests to be able to move freely around the grounds and be able to venture outside at their leisure. The room at the Civic Center included a large stage and I envisioned the band to be up on the stage, although on the downside, the look of the ballroom somewhat reminded me of my elementary school gymnasium with the stage. The high vaulted ceilings were a bonus and sort of gave a church like feeling. See pictures here of the Winter Park Civic Center.

We then arrived at Paradise Cove. We were a bit early and Kristen was still in another meeting so the receptionist said we could walk around the grounds and she would come find us. At first glance the place looked a bit dirty and in need of some TLC. The ground was sandy and sticky, etc., yet we were later informed there had been a wedding the night before and the Brits partied pretty hard. The staff was there cleaning it as we were arriving. We really fell in love with this place and it’s exactly what I envisioned. The entire grounds would be ours and our guests could mill around, play on the beach, take a long walk on the dock, watch the beautiful sunset and all around have a great time as we celebrated our marriage. The wispy moss trees where the ceremony would be held added such an intimate touch. We loved Kristen and she seemed to be a great person to work with. We sat with Kristen as she explained what was included in the rental package and I could tell Dave was crunching numbers in his head as she talked. We discussed our budget and the type of food we had in mind to serve our guests. She threw out some helpful ideas and we left feeling pretty satisfied. Once in the car out came “Digit Dave” with his number crunching. We both agreed that the facility seemed a little pricey for the four short hours that would actually be our wedding celebration and there may be some additional costs that we had not anticipated. We discussed how the actual ceremony would be short of course but after that come pictures, then dinner, and then that does not leave us much time to enjoy our wedding reception with our friends and family. That is a lot to shove into four hours. We would need to purchase at least an extra hour or two to get the full enjoyment of our wedding day. After all, you spend a whole year planning for only four short hours! In the big picture, it seems a bit ludicrous to me. After discussing it over with Dave it just does not seem feasible for us to put so much money towards this one piece to the puzzle of our wedding. Although perfect for what we are wanting, it’s kind of hard to swallow. I wouldn’t say this venue has been completely crossed off our list but we now know we need to visit other options. Today was only the first day of venue shopping and I feel prematurely disappointed. I do know that I need to understand there are so many other places out there and this was only the beginning of the many places we will see in the weeks to come. View Paradise Cove at Buena Vista Watersports here.

Tomorrow, as per Dave’s request, we are headed to a bridal show at one of the big hotels near Disney. Stay tuned for tomorrow’s blog entry on our experience. I told Dave we have to enter every raffle, who knows, we may be the winners of free wedding flowers or a honeymoon!! Now that would be nice.