I was adamant that we would not ask our friends and family to take a day off work or sacrifice a long weekend for our wedding. Well, best laid plans and all of that! As much as you say I'm not going to do this and I'm not going to do that when it comes down to what your potential venue has to offer for available weekends you really have no control in the matter.
It came down to three venues:
Glenbrook Park and Amenity Centre, New Westminster - http://www.glenbrookpark.com/
South Bonson Community Centre, Pitt Meadows - http://www.pittmeadows.bc.ca/EN/main/residents/742/8733/South-Bonson-Community-Centre---Photos.html
Old Orchard Hall, Port Moody - http://www.portmoody.ca/index.aspx?page=222
When Aaron and I decided to start ring shopping I knew we should have an idea of where we wanted to hold our ceremony and reception because these days venues book up a year and a half in advance. I started researching venues that met our criteria: central for all guests to get to (in the lower mainland), hotels close for out of town guests, beautiful scenery, ceremony and reception site, and of course within our budget.
I originally fell in love with Glenbrook in June and looked at their calender and most Saturdays were already booked. SHIT! I inquired about their prices and was surprised to find they were reasonable: $1320 including insurance and SOCAN fees. I thought that was doable. Of course when I showed Aaron he was not in the mindset to book a venue before we were legitimately engaged. Because we were doing everything else in perfect order (sarcasm). This venue has amazing gardens, a duck pond and a stone bridge. The location was perfect for a ceremony and reception in one place not to mention the convenience of having the photos done on site also. The only downside this venue had was the availability was scarce and it was only available until 12midnight so drink and music had to end at 11. As a night person and former haver of good times that seemed a bit early for me. So.... we continued to look at other venues and didn't book Glenbrook.
This is where the excitement drains
from my face. Even with the discount, after insurance, the SOCAN fees
and the mandatory security guard, SBCC would cost us over $2000. Granted
it is a beautiful fully sustainable facility and there were many
features that were hard to pass up like the bride room, the patio, the
availability to have the ceremony on the lawn right outside the centre as
well as the brand new full AV system. 
Not to mention that Bonson had a
Saturday not on a long weekend available. Unfortunately it really came
down to cost for us. We are trying very hard to do our wedding between
10-15k and booking Bonson would have put us over our venue budget by a
lot. We hadnt made our final decision but we kept looking.Then we (I) found the Old Orchard Hall in Port Moody. The pictures I found online were nice simple kinda hipster weddings with little to no decorations and were still very lovely. The part that sold me was the proximity to Rocky Point for wedding portraits. We did our online research, but there wasn't a lot of information out there so thus began the correspondence with their event coordinator. This should have been my first red flag. The brochure that was emailed to me contained the price for the day: $956.55+HST SOCAN fees: $66.27, insurance fees: $60.00, liquor insurance: $100, time limit: 10:30am-1:30am) and maximum capacity for a seated event: 125. After reviewing the price and capacity and seeing pictures online we decided we would go ahead and book the Old Orchard Hall knowing full well that booking a hall would mean twice as much work for us but probably half the price.
After we booked Old Orchard we started finding things out we weren't really prepared for. Our venue doesn't have a sound system so we will have to hire a DJ or rent equipment. There isn't a bride room to get ready which means we will probably rent a B&B close by (more $$). the ceremony location we thought would be a sure thing actually has a lot of stipulations included (ceremony can only be 20mins, no decorations and only 5 chairs). Commence with the freaking out!!! So now I'm having buyers remorse and going back to all the other venues and price comparing! I had originally had my heart set on a DJ but I am slowly being swayed into doing the ipod DJ thing. Not having decorations at the ceremony is not the hugest deal since really the most important part is that we are getting married in the presence of our closest people. So we did the math and thought about it for a week and came to the conclusion that even though we were annoyed that all this information was not provided in an easily accessible brochure, the math worked out in our benefit and it would be advantageous to stay at Old Orchard but have to do more work and separate vendor bookings to save money.The moral of the story is get ALL the information before you jump into booking a venue because there are always hidden costs and things you forget you want in a venue until after your in the planning process. That being said I know our wedding is going to be beautiful no matter what and we are going to stay on budget at all costs!! Oh and for those who don't know the date on which we will be joined in holy matrimony is a Friday August 2, 2013. Yup that's a Friday on a long weekend. Like I said, best laid plans and all of that!
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ReplyDeleteHey, I randomly came across your site when looking for a venue for my wedding. Thanks for posting this information - such a tough decision!
ReplyDeleteMy daughter is getting married at this venue next July. Any advice?
ReplyDeleteHi there and congratulations on your daughter's wedding! This is such an exciting and stressful time especially when you are getting married in a venue like OOH. My advice would to be prepared for everything. Think of alternatives for weather. If they are planning on having their ceremony in the park (the meadow) they should have a rain back up. We got married on a Friday and it rained. We moved the ceremony up onto the balcony and it was lovely but we forgot it was Friday and the children from the daycare were out in the yard during the entire ceremony.
DeleteAlso, there is (or wasn't) an ice maker when we rented the hall so make sure you have lots of coolers with ice for drinks to chill and ice for putting in drinks. We thought we had plenty but then had to send the dads out just before the ceremony to get another 10 bags.
With OOH you literally have to do everything yourself so make sure she has lots of help and plans her time wisely. We were lucky and were able to get the hall the night before to decorate. We thought it would only take us 3 hours to get everything set up and it took us 8 and things still needed to be done in the morning (I had a crew of about 12 people).
The chairs are hideous so we just rented chairs because it was cheaper than buying chair covers since the chairs cannot be removed from the hall and we needed to provide seating for our guests at the ceremony.
Make friends with the grounds person. I think her name was Heather?? Not sure cant quite remember. We left the hall late and used extra hours the night before and she was fantastic! When it comes to disposing of your bottles we just left them by the dumpster and someone will come and take them away. Other than that you are not to leave ANYTHING in the hall that was not there when you arrived.
The event booking office is really great about returning emails and phone calls if you have questions. I am more than happy to offer any other morsels of wisdom I might have for you and your daughter!
Hi there! Do you know where I could find more details about cost breakdown for South Bonson? I see that you said it would be over $2000 for the venue. I really appreciated your breakdown of the 3 venues. Thank you!
ReplyDeleteHi there! Do you know where I could find more details about cost breakdown for South Bonson? I see that you said it would be over $2000 for the venue. I really appreciated your breakdown of the 3 venues. Thank you!
ReplyDeleteHi Abigail,
DeleteIf I recall there is a facility booking email address on the ridge/meadows website. I don't think anyone ever got back for us so we went right into the Pitt Meadows community centre and inquired about information right at the front desk. They have a brochure with the information on it and they also will be able to tell you what dates are available for the year you are looking to book. We were inquiring in august of 2012 for August 2013 and they only had 2 Saturdays and 3 Fridays available for the following August.
A friend of mines cousin was married there in July of 2013 and it was very hot. No air conditioning. But it was a beautiful setting. It is quite pricey IMO for a community centre booking, however there are some lovely features included such as the PA system and a bride room. Also the river view for pictures is very nice. Just remember being that close to the river there will be bugs at night so bring bug spray if you are going to be on the balcony!
Feel free to ask any more questions. We had a 15k budget and we nearly nailed it. I was very creative with where I was willing ot spend the cash and where I was willing to save the bucks. Its all about what your top items are and what your deal breakers are.