By Brianna Bowman, Associate Planner + Coordinator

Even in these scary and questionable times, I am trying to stay positive by riding the bliss of being newly engaged. With our wedding set for 2021 I am still proceeding with wedding planning and of course the first thing I did was start thinking of where exactly I wanted to get married. Choosing a venue, and vendor selection in general, can be a very stressful time for a bride and groom, but can also be very fun! Keep reading to see some of my tips for finding the perfect venue for you, and to hear about my final venue selection.

First things first, what’s the price? Now that you are engaged and the wedding planning has commenced it is important you have a discussion as a couple about what you would like to spend on your wedding. There is no need to fall in love with a venue only to find out later that it is way out of your price range. Be sure to set a maximum price you would like to spend and use that when you start searching the web.

Now ask yourself where do you envision yourself getting married and what type of wedding do you plan to have? Every venue has its own look and feel. It’s important that you move into the research phase and take site tours at venues that you really envision your big day. I started out my search by creating a list of what exactly we both wanted as a couple. Take a peek at my list below:

In the city
Outdoor space
Industrial feel
Exposed brick would be nice
Can hold ceremony and reception
Space for a live band
Convenient parking

With some new found (and maybe unwanted) free time during quarantine, it is the perfect time to do your research. Before sending out inquiries or taking a site tour take the time to look up the venue online through all appropriate channels. Google and social media are your best friends when venue shopping. Instagram allows you to see photos taken by wedding photographers and gives real examples of what can be done with the space. Use websites built 100% for the wedding community such as The Knot and Burgh Brides to see real reviews from previous couples. These can really help to give you an idea of what someone who previously booked the space thought of their big day. Also, be sure to remember venues that you attended events at previously (or worked at in my case!) I was truly able to narrow down my search by remembering venues that I really liked from previous weddings.

Inquire, inquire, and inquire some more. Send inquiries to all the venues that you liked or loved from your research. (Pro tip: when doing my research I made a spreadsheet of all of the venues I found and organized them in order of love to like). Most venue coordinators will send you their wedding guides that include information on pricing, such as rental fee and catering prices, as well as what comes with booking the venue. Once you see the cost of each venue written out, it allows you to more easily determine what venues are worth scheduling a site tour.

Site tours are must do! Never book a venue or pay a deposit before seeing the space in person. Photos are a good basis to making your decision, but nothing really does a venue justice like seeing it with the naked eye. But don’t just go on the site tour unprepared. Make sure you have a list of any open questions you have for the venue coordinator. As a wedding coordinator, questions came pretty easily to me based on what I’ve seen at past weddings, but that may not be the case for other brides and couples. Here are some of the questions I asked:

What are your preferred caterers? (This question is for venues that require you to acquire your own caterer.)
Do you have in-house linens or require rentals?
Do you have a bridal party holding area? (For those brides that don’t want to be seen between ceremony and reception)
What is the parking situation? (Most venues in Pittsburgh have tricky parking situations, so this is a great question to ask if you are having a wedding within the city)
How long does it take for your staff to flip a room? (For the couples that plan to have ceremony and reception at the same place)

Don’t be afraid to go on more than one tour of the same venue. It never hurts to have more people join you the second time around if you need a second opinion.

Now that I shared some of my venue searching tips, let’s talk about the venue that my fiance and I finally settled on, The Energy Innovation Center, better known as the EIC.

When venue shopping my fiance, Alex, and I, stuck pretty adamantly to our list of venue wants and needs. When visiting various venues it was pretty easy to cross a few off our list when we saw the size of the venue, the lack of a ceremony space or an inconvenient parking situation, all of which just didn’t match what we were looking for on our big day.

When visiting the EIC the first thing that caught our eye was the industrial elements of the space. The exposed brick and piping matches exactly the vibe we are going for. We also loved the flow of the venue. The option to have ceremony and reception in separate areas of the venue without having to do a room flip was ideal for us to have the most comfortable and easy experience for our guests.

We both love a good meal and one thing that caught our attention was the fact that the EIC has a pretty extensive list of preferred caterers. This allowed us to choose a caterer that could create a menu that fit exactly what we are looking for on our wedding day, Kimberley Ashlee Catering.

Finally, the Covestro Room at the EIC is a beautifully blank canvas. The blank white walls and classic wood floors will allow us to truly create the day that we (mainly I,haha) always imagined!

I would love to hear some of your favorite venues and venue must-haves! Feel free to share them with us on Instagram @aandlevents! Happy venue shopping!

Xo,