Losing Our Venue

As a bride losing one of your booked vendors is a nightmare, especially when the wedding is only six months away. So here is the story of how we lost our venue and how we (and I) dealt with it. 

So being the type A bride that I am, I evaluated my perfectly curated Pinterest board and toured venues trying to choose the right one for our special day. Now for most people the date relies solely on the venue, but in my case the photographer was that one thing that our day needed which meant we were limited to what days we could choose. We toured venue after venue trying to find one that not only worked for us, but also that our photographer had open (which was challenging in itself). Finally I got a text from a family friend saying they knew of a venue being built that would be finished by December with plenty of time to be used for our June wedding, it seemed like a God thing. The sketches were beautiful and all her inspiration photos were amazing and totally fit in with my Pinterest board dream wedding. Since it was a brand new venue they had plenty of dates open so we settled on June first and booked the venue. 

Once I booked the venue and photographer I hoped the other vendors would start to fall into place. Come November, I was a little concerned that I hadn’t heard from our venue contact in awhile, but knew once the venue was complete that I would hear from her. So December 1, when I got a text from the person in charge of the venue I assumed she was telling me construction was complete, but when I opened the text my heart sunk. The text read,

I need to give you an update on the venue.  We are WAY behind schedule with the financing and permitting.  There is no way we will have everything up and to the standard with landscape etc in time for your wedding date next year.  I am so sorry!

It’s hard putting into words how I felt in that moment because honestly I just felt numb. I was sitting next to Jon in a coffee shop and I showed him the text because I couldn’t bring myself to say it out loud. Here we were six months before the wedding, set on a date with no venue. The drive back to my dorm room felt like the longest drive ever: I couldn’t feel, I couldn’t think, it was like I was frozen. Once I got into my room I broke down, I just started sobbing. Suddenly this perfect day I had envisioned no longer had a setting and I didn’t know what to do. Luckily Jon was quick to hold me, tell me it was all going to be okay, and tell me to get some rest and I’m so glad he did. He told me that God would provide and that at the end of the day as long as he and I said “I Do” then the other stuff didn’t matter. I was able to relax because he was right, I was marrying the love of my life. It didn’t matter if it was in the most perfect venue or just someone’s backyard as long as he and I were both there. 

Once I got my wits about me I started rapid-fire texting my mom (the same way every girl does when they’re stressed and confused... right?). She looked at a few places online and we emailed them letting them know our situation and I said a prayer and went to sleep.  The next morning I checked my phone to see that both of the potential venues that I emailed the night before had both responded saying they had our date available. I breathed a sigh of relief and thanked God for answered prayers. At this moment I was filled with hope that this little hiccup wouldn’t ruin our special day, It was just changing the plans. I had hope that everything would fall into place just fine it would just take time. I knew I could still have my dream wedding it was just going to take some work, and all good things do! 

I suffer from anxiety so this hiccup was quite challenging for me to come to terms with at first. My natural instinct was to panic and withdraw, but I was blessed to have friends and family to support me and help me see the light that would come after this rough patch. Once I took the time to breathe I knew that it was all going to be okay and I was able to smile even in this period of uncertainty. One of the two venues that emailed me back was Monji gardens and based just on the photos I saw I was in love. Suddenly my picture perfect wedding day was being visualized in my head again only in a different setting and it was beautiful. I was able to work through the stress and anxiety that was building up and trust that everything would work out. 

Moral of the story is that God works in mysterious ways so just trust Him. Even when it’s tough, even when you think there isn’t possibly a light at the end of this tunnel, God will provide just like He did with us and our venue. Surround yourself with people who love you and will help you see the important things and not dwell on the little issues. Sometimes it’s hard to see that most of the “big” issues in our life are actually pretty small if you take the time to step back and look at the big picture.