Rachel and Shane’s wedding day was unreal! Perfection!! One of those days you don’t want to end because it’s just so amazing! Shane & Rachel are 2 of the most genuine and kind people…so put them together and everyone around them feels so loved! Plus it was at one of our favorite venues, Farm at […]
This was such a special wedding to get to photograph and be a part of! I met Deanna and Kevin a year ago up in the Adirondack’s the day after Kevin popped the question & they got engaged!! We had mutual friends from Arrowhead Camp and after taking some engagement photos of them, we went […]
Krista and Ben’s Friday night wedding was everything you’d dream of for a summer wedding! Perfect weather, good food, all your favorite people, a beautiful golden hour and your dog by your side!! Their family and friends traveled from southern PA to be with these two as they got married in their new home of […]
Laura & Paul are the type of people that immediately feel like you’ve been friends with forever…they are so laid back, kind and caring and are so much fun to be around! Last summer when these two drove down from Connecticut for their engagement session and I knew their wedding was going to be amazing! […]
This wedding was straight out of a fairytale!! Kelly from Ambiance Events and I kept agreeing that Nicole was a dream of a bride to work with! So sweet and so excited to be getting married while trusting us to do what we do best!! Which with that trust from a bride, allows us to […]
It all started in the physical trainer’s office at the Montrose Area High School…Katherine got hurt while playing volleyball with her Blue Ridge team so was in icing her foot when Dylan came in from his team’s spaghetti dinner with some cookies. He offered her one to cheer her up and sent her a message […]
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At Seneca Ryan Co. we have a heart for LOVE - not just beautiful wedding days, but beautiful marriages, beautiful families and beautiful memories of your life together 50 years from now.
One of the big first steps of being engaged is choosing where you are going to get married! It’s exciting and dare I say overwhelming?! Really, most of wedding planning is the mix of excitement and overwhelm. It’s this mash up of all the emotions which makes for a very interesting season 😉
Something to consider would be hiring a wedding planner, this would be a great time to reach out and get information. Wedding planners job is to make your life easier, they are the little magicians that have all the info you will need in an organized document that will save you hundreds of hours over the course of planning your wedding!
Make a Rough Guest List
Start a rough guest list to get an idea of how big the venue needs to be to accommodate your guest list. You don’t need to narrow it down yet but getting a feel for the number will help you narrow down venues to look at. Once you have a venue and an exact number of guests it can accommodate, you can finish your guest list. Zola has a great free resource for creating your list and it keeps it all organized for you!
Now that you have an idea of what you are hoping for, you can start researching venues! Wedding Wire or The Knot are websites that allow you to put in your city to see venues within your desired mile radius. Google will also be an easy way to search. Be sure to look at the reviews for venues on Wedding Wire, The Knot, and Google as that is a good way to weed out venues that have bad reviews so you don’t waste your time visiting! If you have other vendors in mind that you would love to work with (for example a wedding photographer or florist), you could email them an inquiry…they would love to help and offer suggestions! You could also look on instagram using hashtags like #yourlocationsweddings (like #nepaweddings, #syracuseweddings, #cnyweddings, #scrantonweddings, etc) to see if anything catches your eye! Ask friends who have recently been married or attend alot of weddings, if they have any recommendations! Nothing beats personal recommendation! Try narrowing it down to your top 5 venues.
Request Information from Venues
Send out emails requesting information to your top 5 venues. We always value when a venue is quick to respond as that will come in handy later in the wedding planning process. It adds stress when you have to wait days for a response to your question.
Is your venue available on the date we are interested in? What dates do you have available?
How many guests does your venue hold?
Can we choose our own vendors, or do you have a preferred or exclusive vendor list?
Can I hold my ceremony here? What are the options for that?
What does the rental fee include? What are additional fees that apply?
What add-on’s are options here?
How many parking spots are available to guests?
Are there any restrictions for the space?
When can we begin to set up for wedding? When does it need to be taken down?
What is included as far as day of staff to help with setting up / tear down / transitions?
What is the backup plan for rain or inclement weather?
How much is the deposit? When is the final payment due?
Are tables, chairs, linens, plates, silverware, and glassware provided, or will I have to rent them myself or get them through my caterer?
Do you have any sample floor plans we could see?
As you start visiting the venues and asking the questions, you will be able to see which ones would work for what you would like and your budget and which ones won’t work. Keep an open mind! Let’s say all of you top 5 are booked already, too expensive or you don’t love when you see them… go back to your list you created while researching!
If you find one you love, make it official and book it! You don’t want to risk losing your date!
Venues we highly recommend in Northeast Pennsylvania :