Road To Mrs.: Gabrielle Joffie Picks A Venue

By Gabrielle Joffie

From fellow brides-to-be to planners, everyone stresses the importance of securing a venue first before you decide to plan anything else, including your wedding date! From my previous Black Bride entries, I was pretty set on the date of February 29, 2020. It was leap day, and we thought it would be so amazing to “take a leap” of faith for our special day.

Since I had more than enough time to secure my venue, I decided to start my search in December 2018. We wanted and still plan to have a rustic glam theme and looked up venues accordingly. We discovered three great sites to visit, all a little bit different from the other.

The first venue was a vineyard. We were attracted to the beautiful trees and the abundance of delicious wine. We did the tour, and the representative was very honest about the fact that the venue would not be in full bloom at the end of February, in fact, the trees would be completely bare. With that in mind, we toured the inside of the venue to see if there would be a setting that we’d like. One thing that I did not ask myself ahead of time is whether I wanted a carpeted reception or hardwood flooring. The vision that we had in mind did not go with the carpet. So, the indoor ceremony space at the vineyard was not the right fit for us.

The second venue was a cottage style. After visiting the first venue and realizing that there would be multiple weddings going on at the same time, we were on the lookout for a more intimate setting. The cottage was lovely, but there still felt like something was missing. When it came to the entrance, we weren’t the biggest fans because the trees surround it looked a bit drab. And I was fearful that it was a little too far from Atlanta. We decided to move on and visit a third venue that had a similar aesthetic.

Voila! They always say the third time is the charm, and it very much held true in this instance. The third venue we visited had that rustic and intimate charm we wanted while still being close to Atlanta. When I entered the ballroom, I teared up and was able to envision our first dance. When people say that you will know when it feels right, they are correct. When we finished our tour, the representative looked up our date, and it was taken! However, since we fell in love with the venue, we were willing to budge on the date. We decided on March 1 instead of February 29.

I had to go back and change the date on our wedding website. We were set on that date for almost two years, and within a one-hour consultation, we changed our minds so quickly!