The Search for a Venue Goes On

By Sara Cardace

And... the quest for the perfect venue continues. My failure at The Foundry last week plunged me into a crazy, determined, type-a frenzy of spreadsheet-making and I was sure--sure!--that with all my prior knowledge and know-how I'd be able to reach into the deepest, dustiest corners of Google and miraculously happen across the cheap, dazzling, cavernous venue of my dreams. When it became clear that such a miracle wasn't forthcoming, I just set up appointments at the list of places I mentioned last week The Prospect Park Picnic House, Smack Mellon , and Pochron Studios, which was now starting to feel alarmingly short.

Pochron had the first available appointment, so John and I met up on his lunch break to check it out. I was pretty suspicious of the price--$3,500 for the whole weekend, right near the water's edge?--and my concern turned out to be well-founded. There was nothing wrong with the space per se, but the cute wooden balcony overlooked an ugly billboard and the grungy indoor space would have taken A LOT of dolling up--something I'm pretty sure would give me a nervous breakdown. This was also the first time I realized that when the event coordinator for a particular venue says it fits 150 guests, they usually mean it will comfortably fit closer to 100. Boo.

I tried not to despair. Next up was the Prospect Park Picnic House. It's kind of hard to tell from the picture (above) but this place is gorgeous. It's nestled right in the middle of Brooklyn's sprawling Prospect Park, with an idyllic grassy hill just out back. The space is a pretty standard wooden-floored ballroom, with sparkling windows, great views, and tons of light. It was very tempting (and very reasonably priced), but I was worried about having the wedding outside in the park--way too risky for this stressed-out, anxiety-stricken bride! And though the venue's capacity for dinner and dancing is 175, it still just felt a little small for our purposes. I'd wholeheartedly recommend it for anyone planning a smaller wedding. Totally lovely.

The next day I wisely decided on more comfortable shoes and headed over to check out Smack Mellon. I was floored when I got there. The space is massive and soaring, with a cool industrial feel and jawdropping views of the Brooklyn Bridge. I was instantly sold and so was John...until I heard the price tag. $7,500 for a Saturday soiree, and that's only paying for the space? Ugh!

Back to the drawing board, with a somewhat heavy heart. Thankfully, I wasn't too far- gone into my venue-searching mania when I discovered IndieBride, an exponentially awesome resource for couples planning DIY weddings. Indiebride has a bunch of message boards (listed under Kvetch on the site) where brides-to-be and already-marrieds gossip and chat about pretty much every aspect of the wedding. What's really useful is that they're not afraid to get specific--from venue quotes to sample-sale dress prices to the cheapest place in a given area to rent those stupidly overpriced forks and knives. It's the kind of no-holds-barred info you never really find in all those press-releasey bridal mags, and I already know it's going to be a total lifesaver. I seriously can't recommend it highly enough.

In fact, Indiebride is where I ended up finding my perfect venue. I don't want to jinx it by talking about it yet, but by next week we should be able to kiss this venue headache goodbye and move on to topics that are much more fun--like food, booze, and the wisdom of having a friend officiate your wedding a la Joey from Friends.

Which reminds me: Do I need to start thinking about my gown? Good lord. It never ends!