Selecting a venue is by far the most difficult decision in planning a wedding. Not only will it typically be the largest expenditure of the budget (when dining/bar packages are included), it will also serve as the house for nearly 200 of your closest friends and family during the 7 happiest hours of your newlywed life. The venue will be a canvas for countless pictures that will be taken, memories made, and drinks spilled; so, it better be what you hope to remember. 

As soon as we were engaged, everyone immediately began asking, 'Have you set a date' and 'Where will it be?' We literally just got engaged; calm it down! 

We began discussing what we did/did not like at past weddings, what we would like to gain from our wedding, how a venue can be representative of us, guest count, and our budget. Fortunately, we are quite flexible and will be happy nevertheless. We came to the following desires, though, to at least help along the process:

  • Unique venue space with high ceilings
  • Brunch menu with mimosas and bloody mary bar
  • Attached to or near hotels
  • Preferably Cleveland/Northeast Ohio, but considering Chicago and Columbus also
  • Autumn or Winter wedding...I hate long engagements

After researching unique venue spaces in Cleveland for a week or two, we settled on 10-15 places to take a first, casual look at. We figured we could just walk into most of the places, take a quick look around, and see if we could speak with someone to get additional information/packets. Then, we would set followup meetings with venues that made it past Round 1.

After a touristy day of wandering around country clubs, wineries, museums, mansions, ballrooms, and barns, with a few drinks along the way, we narrowed the list down to three - The Arcade in Cleveland, Mooreland Mansion in Kirtland, and Glenmoor Country Club in Canton.

In the end, we decided on the Arcade in Cleveland. 

Not only is the Arcade in downtown Cleveland across from 4th street where all the restaurants/bars are, but it is also a hotel (Hyatt Regency), has a personalized menu, comes with a fabulous wedding organizer, has dates available in Winter, is within our budget, and has additional amenities that put the Arcade over the top (free hotel suite, 90,000 Hyatt points, free breakfast, etc). Win! What gave me the happy butterflies, though, was being able to witness the Arcade hosting its first ever same-sex wedding, how beautiful it was, and the excitement from all the employees. We even got free drinks from the bar above!

After a few additional calls, emails, and meetings, we reserved January 28, 2017 at the Arcade and couldn't be more happy, excited, and relieved. Overall, it was a fairly painless process, and we had a ton of fun going through it together. Totally glad it's done, though.

It's going to be a fabulous party.