Securing your wedding venue location is essential to do early on, especially if you are planning to get married during the busy season (spring/summer). We strategically planned our wedding for the end of September, right before the weather gets rainy in Portland and it was perfect! But since September is still pretty busy for Portland wedding venues, we made sure to secure our location immediately. Make sure you tour several locations to get a feel of how your wedding will look and take note of the amenities they include, and the amount of time you’re allowed to be on site. You should also ensure your wedding is the only event happening that day as well!
The Portland Wedding Venues We Love
Here are some of my pros and cons for our top four wedding venue choices!
The Abernathy Center
Pros:
1. Huge parking lot for guests, with a golf cart to transport your great grandma to the ceremony area 🙂
2. Two private, beautiful, lush green outdoor ceremony areas to choose from, plus indoor areas
3. Great bride/groom quarters
Cons:
1. Have to use in-house catering
2. Add-on charges if you use their decorations, and limited on what decorations you can bring yourself (lighting)
The Reserve
Pros:
1. Amazing outdoor, covered reception area!
2. Wedding coordination included
3. Plenty of parking
4. Bride’s and groom’s quarters
Cons:
1. Kind of expensive (most expensive venue on this list)
2. Have to use in-house catering
3. You can tell you are on a golf course and would be able to see people golfing (if this doesn’t bother you, great! I just thought it was less intimate)
Gray Gables Estate
Pros:
1. Beautiful, lush green gardens
2. Gorgeous outdoor ceremony space
3. Historic mansion with kitchen and bride’s quarters
4. Bar/bartender provider by venue (so no headache of adding that to your wedding insurance)
Cons:
1. Outdoor reception space is very small, would have to use indoor space for larger parties
2. Indoor reception space is very dark and the only tablecloths provided are black (kind of strange for a wedding venue I thought)
The Victorian Belle (our wedding venue)
Pros:
1. Beautiful grounds
2. Several outdoor options for wedding ceremony and reception depending on size of party
3. One outdoor covered gazebo that can fit 200 for a ceremony (we used this for our dancing/reception)
4. Wedding coordination included
5. Vintage charm 🙂
Cons:
1. Expensive (second highest price on this list)
2. New owners were a little bit scattered during the process
Looking for your wedding photographer as well? Check out this post!
xo,
B
[…] leave me a comment and let me know! Also, if you’re looking for a wedding venue, check out this review of four beautiful wedding venues in Portland, […]