Location, Location, Location

It's been nearly a month since we got engaged and we have not selected a venue for the wedding or the reception. We go back and forth between having something in town and in a nearby town. One location for the wedding and reception and two locations. Oh the options!

There's a bonus to having it at one location: not much traveling around for the guests or the people of honor, but the idea of not getting married at our church, where we met, isn't all that appealing. Of course, we could have the reception at the church, but I think the hall is too big for the size of the wedding.

Here are some reception sites that I've found that we've crossed off of our list due to pricing or availability:

http://www.monteverdeinn.net/ this is my dream site. I would LOVE to get married here, but they are booked solid and it would be expensive. The surrounding area is beautiful, it's nestled away in the woods, so it's pretty private, and the staff is amazing.

http://www.ardenhills.net/ rumor has it that this place is looking for couples to get married there, but John and I couldn't agree on whether we liked it. It's a possibility, though.

http://www.cattaverdera.com/ totally gorgeous, love the packages that they offer, but super expensive. I e-mailed them and they seemed receptive to working with me to develop a package that would work with our size wedding, but it seems a little far to ask people to drive and we were concerned about traffic towards that area. We might return to this one as well.

http://www.villabuscaglia.com/ I love looking at the photos of this place. I feel like they must have Andrea Bocelli on a looped soundtrack. It just looks like an Italian villa. Way expensive and probably too big a venue for us.

http://www.villamontana.com/caribbeanweddings.html I fell in love with this site when I saw it in a Martha Stewart Weddings magazine. I thought to myself, I've never wanted to get married in Hawaii, but this place is just lovely; I might consider it. The joke was on me, though. As it turns out, it's near my parents' home town in Puerto Rico! They've revamped their website since I last visited it, but I love how "at home" I feel when I look at those photos. It would be a small wedding there, I think, but with my family being so nearby, that wouldn't work out so well.

Some options right now include

http://www.lerivagehotel.com/ It's a new hotel that's located between Davis and Elk Grove. It has mainly seafood fare (not something I eat), but it looks lovely and I thought it might have some price breaks in hopes of getting its name out to the public. The assumption is proving wrong, but it does look like a nice venue.

http://www.sacramentorivertrain.com/ John and I went with his parents on a similar train ride run by a sister company, and the food was great. The idea of having a moving reception is kind of cool. We could sit back and enjoy the view and if people wanted to dance or entertain themselves, they could roam around the train. The view as you get to the train, I've been told, is not the best. Another downside is that people are "stuck" for the whole time; no one can leave at different times.

http://www.sacramentoyachtcharters.com/ another unique venue option. We could get married there and have the reception or just have the reception here. We could take a short tour of the Sacramento River and enjoy a cool breeze. I thought this would be a neat idea until someone reminded me that this venue's positives are related to the weather. If the air was stagnant, there would be no breeze and the likelihood of a stench from the still water would not be appealing. Maybe for a romantic dinner, then.

Our favorite restaurant, www.tazzinabistro.com, does not offer receptions at their site, but they do catering. I love their food, but I wonder how good it is when produced on a mass scale. If we used them, an option for a reception would be www.historichotelwoodland.net. John's attended a wedding there and said that the outside area was nice, but that the inside was kind of blah. Blah means lots of decorations.

I am also kicking around the idea of renting out the Stonegate Club House (www.dcn.davis.ca.us/go/stoneg8/) or seeing if we can have a reception at the El Macero Club House (www.elmacerocc.com), which of course makes me wonder if Wildhorse has a club house.

Of course, I just looked it up, and Wildhorse does have a club house (www.wildhorsegolfclub.com), so that's another venue I can follow up on.

Oh the options!

Hiring a wedding coordinator is looking better and better.