The Venue

This weekend we get down to wedding planning business and make our first trip to look at venues. Here are a few of my very favorite venue inspiration photos I've collected.




For years I pictured my wedding reception in a barn. I saw raw, exposed beams with chandeliers hanging from the ceiling. I saw classy, yet casual fun. On another hand I've heard people talk about their destination weddings with warm fondness. They reminisce about about how their guests became good friends by the end of the reception. I moved to New York, boyfriend less, directly after college, I assumed the man I would marry wouldn't also be from Michigan, in that case, destination would make sense. As luck would have it, I've fell in love with my best friend whom I met at Michigan State, the state where we both grew up. Neither of our families are travelers, so that kind of nixed the destination idea.



So we settled on a Michigan wedding, one small problem, Kyle is from the west side of the state and I am from the east. After some discussion we made our first decision and we decided to have the wedding near Kyle's home town of Grand Rapids.

(?, ?, ?, Luna Bazaar, Poppytalk, 100 Layer Cake)

In a state feeling the recession more than many others, Grand Rapids is a thriving city, the second biggest in Michigan. It has a nice size airport not far from downtown, convenient for our out-of-town guests. But the icing on the cake is the city's proximity to Lake Michigan, which makes it a gorgeous place for a wedding.

For the rest of the week I will be sharing with you the possible venue sites we'll be visiting this weekend.