Can't Get Enough Of Our Venue

I just can't get enough of our venue! The Tribute holds 2 bridal open houses a year where brides and their families can see the venue set up for a wedding, taste some food and meet with preferred vendors. With our 25 month engagment it's safe to say I've been to more than one :)

As we drove up to the venue, we decided to head to the back where the gazebo is to test out the length of our DIY tissue paper pomanders. I think they look great and will add some color to the ceremony area.

Please note that this open house was in February, the grass will be a lot greener in April

We headed inside to check in and begin scouting some areas for the escort cards, gifts, guest book, and musicians for the cocktail hour.

Imagine this table with our wonderful travel themed escort cards

A great place for the musicians for the cocktail hour

We headed into the ballroom, which is plan B for the ceremony if the weather isn't on our side. If there's rain, we'll get married in front of this romantic fireplace.

They set up all of the tables with different linens and centerpieces showcasing some of the items that are included in our package and others that would be upgrades. Our planner is a preferred vendor at the Tribute, so we got a chance to talk with her about ideas for centerpieces (since she will be doing all our of florals).  

Probably change the green hydrangeas for blue and possibly white, and the branches to bamboo sticks.
 

Love this submerged low centerpiece! We would probably change some of the white flowers for green versions.

Love the color

After looking at some of the tablescapes, we headed for the food. Everything tasted great, and Mom & Dad Elephant and I picked our top three favorites to put in the race for our butler passed apps. We're leaning towards the golden coconut shrimp with plum sauce, chicken teriyaki skewers, and spinach spanakopitas. I also made a stop to the carving station and mashed potato bar.

Carving station goodness

Dad & me enjoying some of the food

After some eats we headed upstairs to snap some pictures of the bridal suite and the room that the guys will get ready in.

Can't wait to get some great pictures on those stairs!

 

The room that the girls will get ready in, and where Mr. E and I will spend the night after the wedding.

 

Mama Elephant in the guys' getting ready room

And a couple shots outside

Practicing the walk

Love my parents! (and look, green grass!)

Did your venue hold any events prior to your wedding that allowed you to envision your big day?

Another Reason for a DOC

Another good reason to hire a wedding planner or day of coordinator?

Source

Halfway through our engagement (almost a year after booking our venue) we were notified that the event coordinator at our venue had resigned. I have heard of other instances when event coordinators have left a venue after a bride has booked her wedding, but I didn't think that it was going to happen to us.

The main reason I did not freak out upon hearing this news?? Kathie Seeley of Grand Events.  Mama E, Mr. E and I decided early on in the planning process to hire a planner to help us during the planning process and alleviate stress the day of the wedding. Kathie was the first vendor we booked!  She has been there from the beginning - she knows all of our plans/DIY projects, has copies of all of our contracts and will be the one in charge of everything the day of.  I like knowing that I will not have deal with any vendor calls on our wedding day.  I know that she will have our vision nailed down, and will be able to instruct the new venue coordinator to make sure that our wedding will be exactly what we're working so hard to achieve.  She has already saved us money by her extra research on our DJ & lighting package, and will be doing all of the flowers (in our budget) as well.

On a side note, ALWAYS get things in writing!  When I got in contact with the new coordinator at our venue, many of the prices had gone up.  None of these things (price per person on appetizers, price to open all the taps of beer, etc) are in the form contract that we signed with the venue.  The contract is mainly for the minimum, the deposits and the percentage of tax and service charge.  Thankfully I kept all of the email conversations with the prior coordinator where those prices were mentioned and the venue is happy to honor all of her commitments.

Will you be using a planner or DOC to assist in your big day?

How we ended up at the Tribute

I just realized that I haven't really said anything about our venue.  I'll keep the search section brief, and if there are any DFW brides that would like more info feel free to PM me :)

Our search mainly centered around the Internet.  I searched online for places that could hold both the ceremony & reception, and contacted them for pricing information.  I feel for the brides of yesteryear who had to comparison shop without the wonderful web! We made a list of our top four venues and made our visits.

We visited one hotel (the Westin Stonebriar), and decided that it just wasn't for us.  Our second stop, the Las Colinas Country Club, my favorite venue on paper.

Las Colinas Country Club (Source)

I loved that they had a separate room inside for the ceremony and reception.  The one thing that I wasn't a fan of was the lack of responsiveness of the coordinator there.  After the quick response for pricing information it took 3 emails over a 3 week period and a call to get a response on setting up a date to visit the site.

Moving on, the 3rd stop was another country club that was alright, but nothing to write home about.

The fourth and final stop on our venue search was The Tribute Golf Club. Mama E and I headed out on a drizzly Saturday, down a long and winding road (ok maybe not that winding but it was a long road), to meet with the event coordinator. We had scheduled the meeting the day of a wedding to see the beginning set up process. We got a tour of the guest rooms that would be reserved for the wedding party to get ready, the bar, the ballroom and a quick from a distance view of the outside gazebo. I loved all of it! Unfortunately due to the weather the evening’s outdoor wedding was being moved inside to take place in front of the gorgeous black fireplace, which will be plan B if the weathermen aren't on our side for our wedding day.

I couldn’t help but smile when we walked out of this place, The Place. I knew it was the one! I could picture our wedding day there and knew by the numbers that it was in our budget. If I could have put down the deposit that day I probably would have, but clear thinking Mama E knew that we needed to sleep on it, weigh out the pros and cons of each place and of course have Mr. E see it before we made any final decision.

Fast forward a couple weeks and the whole gang (and I do mean whole gang: Mama Elephant, Dad Elephant, Elephant Bro, Mr. E, me, Mr. E’s parents and my cousins Geri and Zo) went to see the Tribute. The coordinator was so nice to take some time between 2 weddings on the same day (it was the middle of wedding season) to show everyone around. Everyone agreed that the venue was perfect for our day, so we signed on the dotted line and turned in our deposit.

Source

I can’t wait to say my vows to Mr. E at this venue!

How many venue visits did you conduct before finding the one?

Bridal Open House

I just can't get enough of our venue! The Tribute holds 2 bridal open houses a year where brides and their families can see the venue set up for a wedding, taste some food and meet with some preferred vendors.

Mama Elephant came along for the ride since she missed out on the last one (that Mr. E was so great to come with me) and we really had a good time! As we drove up, we decided to head to the back where the gazebo is to test out the length of our DIY tissue paper pomanders. I think they look great and will add some color to the ceremony area. (Please note that this open house was in February, the grass will be a lot greener in April)

We headed inside to check in and begin scouting some areas for the escort cards, gifts, guest book, and musicians for the cocktail hour.

Imagine this table with our wonderful travel themed escort cards (post to come)

A great place for the musicians for the cocktail hour

We headed into the ballroom, which is plan B if the weather isn't on our side. If there's rain, we'll get married in front of this romantic fireplace.

All of the tables were set up with different linens and centerpieces showcasing some of the items that are included in our package and others that would be upgrades. Our planner is a preferred vendor at the Tribute, so we got a chance to talk with her about ideas for centerpieces (since she will be doing all our of florals). We really loved these two set ups, and the good news is that Kathie informed us that they would be easy and cost effective.

Probably change the green hydrangeas for blue and possibly white, and the branches to bamboo sticks. I have over 12 pounds of blue and green stones, may need to pick up more when Michael's has another sale.

 

Love this submerged low centerpiece!!! We would probably change some of the white flowers for green versions.

After looking at some of the tablescapes, we headed for the food. Everything tasted great, and Mama Elephant and I picked our top three favorites to put in the race for our butler passed apps. We're leaning towards the golden coconut shrimp with plum sauce, chicken teriyaki skewers, and spinach spanakopitas. I also made a stop to the carving station and mashed potato bar.

Carving station goodness

After some eats we headed upstairs to snap some pictures of the bridal suite and the room that the guys will get ready in.

Can't wait to get some great pictures on those stairs!

 

The room that the girls will get ready in, and where Mr. E and I will spend the night after the wedding.

 

Mama Elephant in the guys' getting ready room

There's still one, possibly two more open houses before our big day. I might take dad to one just to taste some of the great food!

Did your venue hold any events prior to your wedding that allowed you to envision your big day?

Another Reason

Another good reason to hire a wedding planner?

Source

This past week we were notified that the event coordinator at our venue has resigned. I have heard of other instances when event coordinators have left a venue after a bride has booked her wedding, but I didn't think that it was going to happen to us. I'm sure that whoever replaces Erin will be great, but I will admit that I'm super happy that we have Kathie on our side. I know that she will have our vision nailed down, and will be able to instruct the newcomer to make sure that our wedding will be exactly what we're working so hard for.



Did your venue get a new coordinator between the time that you booked and your wedding? If so, how did things turn out?

On the hunt for the perfect venue

After setting the date and getting a general idea of what we wanted in our day, we began the Internet search. I feel for the brides of yesteryear who had to comparison shop without the wonderful web! Mama Elephant (my partner in crime when it comes to the wedding planning) and I decided to begin with the venue. The venue is the biggest cost with the reception food and alcohol and for me would be a one stop shop. Even though Mama E originally wanted me to get married in the church that my family has been members of since we moved to Texas, she saw the benefits of holding the ceremony and reception in the same facility.

After looking and emailing several venues for pricing information, we narrowed the list down to 4 sites to actually visit. We were eager to set up appointments to walk through the venues, but remembered that we had our big family reunion trip coming up so all visits would actually have to wait a couple of weeks. After an amazing trip to Disneyworld and a relaxing 7 day Caribbean cruise, we were ready to hit the pavement.

Yay DisneyWorld

Getting ready for Muster Drill

First up was the Westin Stonebriar, the only hotel on our list. Mama Elephant and I met with the event coordinator and walked through the area while seeing where the ceremony, cocktail hour and reception would be held. There were pros and cons that we mentally noted, such as the nice terrace area for cocktails but the lack of windows in the ballroom, and agreed to come back with Mr. E when it was set up for a wedding to get a better idea of the space. When we returned with Mr. E we were able to visualize it with wedding décor, and knew that it was not the place for us.

The Westin (Source)

Next up was the Las Colinas Country Club, which was my favorite on paper! I loved the separate room for the ceremony and the elevated entrance for the reception ballroom. Setting up a meeting with the coordinator was easier said then done. After the quick response for pricing information it took 3 emails over a 3 week period and a call to get a response on setting up a date. While that wasn’t fun, it also wasn’t a deal breaker. The club was older than I expected, but I thought that could just add character to our wedding. Mama Elephant and I did our usual pros and cons list on the ride home and I was really feeling this place! With 2 places left to visit, I thought I had already found my dream venue… boy was I wrong.

Las Colinas Country Club (Source)

Our next stop was to the Hackberry Creek Country Club, and while the place was nice and the coordinator was as sweet as can be, I just wasn’t excited about it (maybe that had something to do with my fondness for Las Colinas).

Hackberry Creek (Source)

The fourth and final stop on our venue search was The Tribute Golf Club. Mama E and I headed out on a drizzly Saturday, down a long and winding road (ok maybe not that winding but it was a long road), to meet with the event coordinator, Erin. We had scheduled the meeting the day of a wedding to see the beginning set up process. We got a tour of the guest rooms that would be reserved for the wedding party to get ready, the bar, the ballroom and a quick from a distance view of the outside gazebo. I loved all of it! Unfortunately due to the weather the evening’s outdoor wedding was being moved inside to take place in front of the gorgeous black fireplace, which will be a great plan B if the weathermen aren't on our side for our wedding day.

I couldn’t help but smile when we walked out of this place, The Place. I knew it was the one! I could picture our wedding day there and knew by the numbers that it was in our budget. If I could have put down the deposit that day I probably would have, but clear thinking Mama E knew that we needed to sleep on it, weigh out the pros and cons of each place and of course have Mr. E see it before we made any final decision.

Fast forward a couple weeks and the whole gang (and I do mean whole gang: Mama Elephant, Dad Elephant, Elephant Bro, Mr. E, me, Mr. E’s parents and my cousins Geri and Zo) went to see the Tribute. Erin was great to take some time between 2 weddings on the same day (it was the middle of wedding season) to show us all around with the exception of the ballroom which was currently in use. Everyone agreed that the venue was perfect for our day, so we signed on the dotted line and turned in our deposit.

That’s one big check off the wedding list and I can’t wait to say my vows to Mr. E at this venue!

The Tribute (Source)

How many venue visits did you conduct before finding the one?