Finding your perfect wedding venue

For all those couples who just got engaged and spent the holidays drinking champagne and celebrating, now's the time when you may have started thinking about dates and places. I truly believe that finding the right setting is the most important choice you'll make about your whole celebration. Why? Because where you celebrate influences how you celebrate.

What I mean is, place creates mood. So your party mood at a black tie reception in a country club or at a historic mansion will undoubtedly be different than a clambake on the beach. You'll eat different foods, dress differently, and just feel different.


Left is a very downtown reception I designed at Pipa restaurant... the space itself is casual, sexy, and spicy, just like the party!


Above, you can see the grand scale of the Puck Building ballroom, which set the stage for glamorous designs and oversized elements...and an outdoor reception on the lawn at Wave Hill in the Bronx.


The point is, before you dive into looking at the overwhelming number of different wedding venue choices, think about the mood you want to create. Make a list of adjectives that describe how you want your wedding to feel. "Casual and carefree," "Modern and Minimalist," "Classic and elegant..." choose words that will help define your priorities, look in travel and interior design magazines for inspiration--if you can find words and images that capture the spirit of what you want, you can much more easily target finding your perfect place to celebrate. Happy hunting! I love to hear from couples about great venues, so definitely let me know if you've found your ideal setting, or challenges you came up against in seeking a venue.