One of the most important things to pay attention with is the venue hunting. During our planning stage of venue hunting for our big day, we asked ourselves what are the considerations we have in mind and here are the things we considered.

1. Vicinity/ Accessibility: Within or near Manila. Considering that most of our guests will be coming from Manila and we don't want to cause them stress on going to far just to attend our special event, we decided to conduct our wedding just within Manila or near Manila (Although we know that they can make it even outside manila if they really want to be part of the special day). Plus the fact that if we choose far venues like Tagaytay (the place we love a lot), there would be additional cost to us like transportation, additional nights for accommodation and the effort of going back and forth for the preparation alone.

2. Affordability /  Cost: Whose couple doesn't want their wedding to be the best? I don't know but for us, of course we want the best wedding because we really waited for it for so long. However, most of the featured weddings on TV and on web seems to be so expensive. Of course, celebrity and high profile couples can afford it. Over rated fairy tale wedding venues like Fernbrook is really awesome yet pricey. So we played around different venues and options to make a venue look sophisticated yet affordable. How can we consider a venue expensive or not? Well, it will vary not only on couple capability and budget but how they look into it. A venue worth 100 thousand sounds expensive, some can really afford it and some really worked hard just to reach this aim. But no matter what, the thing is, the venue which the couple would choose is worth once in a lifetime.

3. Ambiance:  Since we will having a Christian ceremony, we don't have to look for a church. And so, what we want is either garden ceremony + an indoor reception set-up or an ALL-IN -ONE venue for ceremony and reception.

Originally we want a garden wedding but, that is a BIG RISK when it rain. We can push that through bu adding a budget for clear event tent plus consider several air cooler to avoid the guests from sweating. Another option is to look for a covered garden. Last option is to hold the ceremony in an indoor place, a pavilion, a clubhouse or hotel maybe. You'll see my full venue combination option here.

Wherever it will be, we prefer our wedding to be conducted in a fresh, light and romantic atmosphere where elegance is a must and facilities are complete.

4. Value: Another thing that came into our mind is the value of the place. Do we have a place we treasure the most as a couple? A common place of interest? Where  we met? A place where we usually date? A remarkable place we can consider the best place to marry?

5. The X factor: The best consideration of all for a lady!!! The X factor thing. Well, I really don't know how to explain but this is the best explanation i can give. X factor, the unknown factor. I know soon to be bride can relate to me more than the soon to be groom. Well, this is the feeling when you first stepped into that place and you said "Wow, I want here!". Or the moment you walk on the isle during your ocular and you feel teary. The feeling that brings you to the actual day of your wedding. That's it!

I know we may not get them all but at least we set expectations to guide us what we really want for a venue.

Happy Hunting! :) Congrats soon to be Mr. and Mrs!