I Found the Last Clue

Ladies and Gentlemen get excited because last Friday our venue was booked for

our ceremony and reception!

This amazing place is called the Hilton Garden Inn. The inside looks just as great as the outside (I'll post pictures in a couple of weeks). The staff is cool because they put up with my indecisiveness/S personality (I don't want the ceremony there, I change my mind I do want the ceremony there but I think after I sign the contract I can't make anymore changes...that scares me).

To stay in budget I am having a lunch reception. Sometimes brides have a breakfast or brunch reception to stay in budget.

Do whatever you have to do to stay in budget

Clue #?

Congratulations you found the right place!

Searching for the clues ?

I started this series because I thought I had found a place and my scavenger hunt was over

but I'm still looking (as of yesterday).

So now I will busy researching, calling, and emailing venues until I find

the last clue congratulating me for finding the right place :(

with the Holy Spirit reminding me of Proverbs 3:5-6

"Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge Him, and he will make your paths straight" :)

Searching for the clues II

Close to my church is the Bide-A-Wee golf course. I had high hopes with this place the golf course is so pretty. They have an on-site caterer but you have the option of bringing in an outside source. When I finally got in touch with the event manager (she is a hard lady to get in touch with) she informed me that with my guest list I would pushing the limit for a seated dinner and my date was not available :(

clue #3

look for a bigger place

Searching for the clues

The next place I looked at to have my recption was my church. The sanctuary doesn't have pews so you could remove the chairs and use it as a banquet space but they don't let anyone do that (unfortionitely, i tried). The sanctuary is really nice and can sit close to 900 people (i think) but they never expanded the fellowship hall. The fellowship hall can only sit 100 (with no room to move). No help there...

clue #2

look for a banquet hall

Let the game begin

The original plan was to have the reception in my parent's backyard. This can be a budget friendly option (if you want to be casual or have a standing reception with just cocktails and dancing) but with my vision of my reception (and guest list) it was not:


I had to have tents but I couldn't get one huge one because of the pool in the back I needed three tents to form a 'U' around the pool. ($)


I like to wear heals but they like to sink in the grass so I wanted to rent floors (usually you just have to rent the dance floors). ($$)


I also would have to rent the tables and chairs (usually you just rent the table decor). Oh yeah plates, cups, silverware, and a serving set because my mom didn't want to hire a caterer (who would come with these supplies). ($$$)


Then there was the issue of parking. My guest could park at the school and we could shuttle them to the house but then gas prices went up so even a school bus was out of the question. They are still building up my parent's neighborhood (they build streets before the houses) so my guest could park in the back of the neighborhood and I could rent golf carts or valet parkers. ($$$$)


There are extra things you could rent like sides to the tents and air condition units. ($$$$$)


You always need a plan b if there is a thunderstorm or strong wind. You can only fit so many people in the house and you have to pay whether you use a banquet hall or not. (Oh no...this is not going to work)

So off I went on a scavenger hunt for the right place

clue #1

look for a building