If you are anything like me, you probably looked at about a zillion venues online before deciding which ones to visit. In all honesty, I fell in love with some of the first venues I found, only to find out that Mom didn’t like it. Thankfully all is well that ends well.
Our original venue-visit list topped out at nine locations. I am not sure if this is a little or a lot, but with Jay and I coming from Arlington and my mom coming from Baltimore we never quite made it to all our appointments. Mostly because we were lucky enough for our venue to just fall into place.
Tonight, I will give you a quick run down of the locations we almost visited, but decided not to.
Venue 4. The Mansion at Valley Country Club
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The Mansion at Valley Country Club was a front runner for a long time. This venue had great reviews on theknot.com, it was in our price range and close to my parents house.
After our visit to The Cloisters, my mom decided to do a “drive-by”which ultimately nixed this location. She did not like how close it was to the highway, there was a pool close by and the Art Donovan (a former Baltimore Colt) sometimes tends bar during weddings. I honestly could care less about Art Donovan being there, but she was convinced I would lose all the (Baltimore) men to Art during the reception. She decided this just wasn’t it, but boy was I ready to fight her on it. In the end, it was not the one and I knew if mom wasn’t happy it was just not going to work.
Venue 5. The Maryland Science Center
The Maryland Science Center also topped our list at the beginning. Jay and I really wanted to go out after our wedding to local bars. What better location than right near Federal Hill in Baltimore. After a little research, I felt only OK about the facility and menu options. Aramark caters this location which gives you the standard options. At first food was not a priority, but as we researched more venues, food quickly became a bigger issue. I think this blogger gives a great review of the Science Center and why it just was not ideal for our wedding.
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Venue 6. Overhills Mansion
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Overhills Mansion was one of my mom’s finds and first rejections. A friend at work recommended the location after hearing my mom’s major concern about my wedding, logistics of my grandparents. This location is only a few miles from my grandparents retirement community.
I was not sold right away, but I also did not have anything against the location until I saw this picture.
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I just couldn’t imagine my wedding in this room. I love the white clean feeling of the rest of the mansion, but I just could not stomach this brown room. Plus, my mom drove-by one afternoon and decided this mansion was too small.
Venue 7. Historic Waverly Mansion
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Of all the locations, the Historic Waverly Mansion is the one location we did not give as much of a chance. Heather was very responsive via e-mail and over the phone. Their menus looked great and they offered a lot of options. The main reasons we did not choose this venue (let alone visit) was because of location. This venue is off of route 70, so it is a little out of the way from Arlington but still an acceptable distance from Baltimore. Plus, at this point we had already found our location!
Venue 8. The Country Club of Maryland
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The Country Club of Maryland is one of my favorite wedding venues because I am soo comfortable with it. Yes, I worked at CC of MD in High School and part of College. I am very familiar with the menu and facility and while I love their work, it was not what I imagined for my wedding day. Correction, the tent is what I imagined for my day, but not the rest of the facility. And, unfortunately the tent could not accommodate all of our 175 guests. My mom and I have the image of all my guests in one room (or tent) with the dance floor in the middle. Sadly, that is not an option for a larger wedding at the club. :(
Did you or your mom drive-by potential wedding locations?
Were there venues that you fell in love with online but never visited?
