Picking the Venue

When I first got engaged I can honestly say picking our venue was one of the most difficult parts. I didn't feel like I could plan anything else before I figured out that tiny detail. My fiance' and I are both from Florida so there was a lot of pressure to get married  back home. We thought about a few places, but ultimately decided it was too far.

So, we started looking in Georgia. We looked in magazines, websites, and asked around - hoping to find a venue that just seemed right. One night I finnally came across the Lake Lanier Islands Resort and was sold! They had an incredible outdoor enviroment that was rustic and comfortable.

The place is absolutely gorgeous! Everyone there is extremely kind. However, the prices are outrageous!! We were looking to pay a base of 14k for just 100 guests. They had a different "package," than they do now where everything was "included". Well after we started working out a contract with them - their prices, menu, and package changed. Everything was no longer included. The site that we wanted to get married at wasn't even close to be constructed and the last straw was the food tasting.  There was no way I could pay $145 a head to eat the food they were serving at their tasting. I was heart broken, but knew it wouldn't be a good decision to spend so much money on a wedding there.

So we started our search again. This time we had some requirements:

1. Affordable

2. Located on some kind of water.

3. Not in the city

We found a couple of places on the Chattahoochee River. There is a clubhouse that host weddings litterally feet away from the water. It was pretty cute, but not anything close to Lake Lanier... a little dissapointing.

It required a lot of work and a lot of decor, so we kept looking until finnally we stumbled across The Chimney's at Big Canoe...

Big Canoe is located at the foot of the North Georgia Mountains. It's about an hour from the ATL airport. Although some what of a drive, we thought it was perfect for what were looking for and for our taste in venues. The prices were much cheaper than what we had looked at before, the caterer associated with the venue is top rated in Atlanta, and the site coordinator is the sweetest lady ever! I was sold again and this time it was final. We signed a contract with Big Canoe within a week. I'm so glad that part of the wedding planning is finnally over!