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I had a couple venue disappointments when we were looking. One looked GREAT online, but then when we got there it was right off the highway (at an outdoor venue). So close that we were concerned not only about noise and ambiance, but also the safety of the kids at the wedding.
I'd say keep looking unless you can actually visualize getting married there, because otherwise it is too hard to come up with ideas on how to decorate etc. and you'll probably end up spending alot trying to compensate with decorations. It is hard to tell from your comments whether the problem was how it looks in the winter, or what... Would it still not be what you want once it is spring and decorated? It never hurts to keep looking at other venues as long as you aren't getting close to when you need to book something. But, it wouldn't hurt to look at it again once it is a little greener either.
FF Prazs Girl,
Hang in there. You have time and everything is going to work out. I am also in the North Dallas area and would be having a Fall 2010 ceremony. I have just started looking for venues. As a matter of fact, I am scheduled to visit a couple of reception venues next week-end. Some of the places I am scheduled to visit are The Heard Museum, McKinney Cotton Mill and the Swinging D Ranch. Did you visit any of these places? If yes, what were your general impressions?
Oh, I fully know your pain! We booked our venue site unseen. Now, while you might gasp and think that I'm insane, we do know the area very well... so while I'd never evaluated any of the venues as a wedding site, I knew the general ambiance and appearance.
I finally visited my venue on a 100+ degree day last August. It was dusty, brown, dirty, and just generally miserable. I was regretting our decision big time!
I think there were several things going on in our case:
1) Wrong time of year. We basically went on the hottest part of one of the hottest days of the summer. Whoops!
2) Overly optimistic expectations. Yeah, I wanted Florin from the Princess Bride... but we live on planet earth, not a movie set!
3) Buyer's remorse. Just the fact that I knew I couldn't get out of it made me hate it. I like to have as many options open to me as possible, and couldn't get over the fact that I had limited them site unseen.
4) The owner was kind of rude, and I was like, "Oh, what have I gotten myself into?" I'd had good interactions with him prior, but there's no substitution for reading someone's body language.
In the end, I think it was good for me to sort out the issues. My venue is not perfect, but it is beautiful and we'll make it work.
My advice: If you are still open, explore all of your options thoroughly before settling on one place. Good luck!
I am planning my wedding long distance and had very limited venue options, so I was very disappointed when I visited the place I had "decided" to book and saw cracks in the plaster, signs of wear on the chairs and carpet, and all the other signs of use that went with the historic nature of the venue. The gorgeous view was just how they had depicted it, but all the little things added up to a less glamorous feel than the price tag would have suggested. I probably could have worked around it, but I fell in love with almost everything about the next venue we visited. So, I suggest continuing to look.
That said, it was easier for me to agree to a place if someone was with me who was easily inspired and could start making decorating suggestions to help me visualize the large open space as something other than an empty ballroom. If your sole source of disappointment where the twigs where trees should be, I would suggest returning in a couple months for another look, unless you find a dream location between now and then.
If you were just disappointed with the outdoor areas, then I think I'd stick with it.
My venue looked like crap outside when I visited in early April- it was still cold, overcast and drab looking. By the time my wedding rolled around in Sept the foliage was blazing, the lawn was lush green and it was great.
See if you can find photos of your venue independently of them. Of course their sample photos will show it beautiful, but if you can find photos from other brides that show what it looks like, you may be able to calm your fears.
If you like the place otherwise, it seems foolish to dump it because it's not green and lush in the winter!
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So Mr FF and I went and saw the venue that we were leaning towards this weekend. We are having our wedding in the DFW area and we live south of Houston on the coast. So we are having to do everything via internet, phone and traveling up there when we can. When I saw the venue I was sort of disappointed in it. I think maybe I had built it up so much in my head. Not only that it is winter so everything is not pretty and green. Mr. FF was very supportive and advised that we should come back and look at it when it is green. So do I keep looking and push that one off? Was anyone else disappointed when they saw a venue that they thought would work great?