Our Venue: The Shane Center

So My Venue: It's off of Miami Beach, within walking distance to the beach and the venue itself is off of the intracostal with a view of the really nice estate homes...the reason I chose it was based on what I saw it could become It's a really good shell and the pssibilities are endless... so here's what I saw!


Light Up Bar



For the Sweethearts Table

Cala Lily Handmade Chandelier

Cake under construction, every other tier was clear

So that's it! I mean there's more..a terrace, a view, an outside area but this is what sealed the deal...I love it...even almost got me to change my colors! Almost but not quite lol

Wedding planning is serious business!

So I've been away for a while but with great reason...I found and booked a venue for my reception!! After 3 months of viewing over 20 places we picked one. The picture to the left is how I've stayed sane lol.

We literally got up at 6:30 after getting home at 3am (a girls gotta have a little fun) and didnt make it home until 7pm. Only real friends can stand eachother for so many hours straight. So after seeing 10 venues in 1 day, fighting in the grass and catching a cold in the process I finally found the place we're celebrating our marriage...YAY!

Now mind you this is just a review of what we liked, what we didnt
like is way too long to link so I'll just list those

So, to review we saw:

ChomberHall: cheapest package is $90 per person with a minimum of 75 people, and they DO NOT deal with wedding planners. We loved, loved, loved the venue but the owner, not so much. We decided against it solely based on the fact that she was just too strict for the price. They're also all inclusive and the prices range from $90-$148 per person.

Coco Plum:I fell in love with this place at first sight. It's awesome! Again, all inclusive...$100 per person 100 people minimum. They allow outside vendors (except for catering) and that only brings it down to $93 per person. And the Manager, Rosievenue. About $86 per person., is awesome! Such a beautiful space but Mr. D didnt love it as much as I did, so on to the next.

Deauville Beach Resort: It's across the street from a Walgreens...otherwise beautiful! They just did $11 million dollars worth of renovations and it shows. Only problem is that it's huge and my wedding would look so empty in their venue.

And the yuck pile:

Doubletree Hotel Biscayne Bay (area is ugly and their ball room in on the 2nd floor w/ no windows)

Marriott Biscayne Bay (reminds me of the subways in NYC...nope, tacky as hell!)

Miami Rowing Club (the area looks like a junkyard, the venue itself like a beachhouse not worth the drive)

Rusty Pelican (very "old" looking...too much wood and stones for my taste, and they have multiple events at once)

Kovens Center (on the FIU Miami Beach campus, large...that's about it...oh and they only allow their caterer and event designer)

The Loft & The Club of Knights both owned by Fetes & Events (I'm a sucker for details...the owner was thrown across a couch, never introduced herself and her venues look better in pictures. Club of Knights is heinous on the outside, alright on the inside..reminds me of a family owned restaurant, and The Loft....again details... all their draping is unfinished and it's just really not impressive.)

So mind you these are MY OPINIONS...you are still encouraged to find out for yourself... I just know driving to a million places that arent worth my time isnt fun, so I hope if you're going through the same thing this'll save you some time and gas :)

So what did I finally pick?? I picked Shane Center thank you for asking. So totally different from what I've been looking at. Reason I picked it is the potential. I can afford the top 2, meaning Coco and Chomber, problem is the buget would be tight and leave no room for transportation, tuxes, shoes, grooming, hotels, bridal party gifts, etc. Shane allows room for a lot more, is of the intercoastal and is TAX DEDUCTIBLE! lol so hey, i'm down for that!

Mr. D's reception venue pick

Ok so finally, after a month I update! As mentioned before my #1 choice is the Cocoplum Woman's Center and Mr. D's was the Bank of America Tower at International Place...picture below...well after much google-ing we've come up with a new option, Comber Hall, also in Coral Gables. Absolutely stunning! Huge rooms, high ceilings, grand entrance, all inclusive like Cocoplum, not open air but has a balcony all around...beautiful! Dont know how much is costs though, price will determine. I'm super excited. Mr. D loves it enough for me to stop looking, but I dont think so! Until money is put down I'm on the look out of bigger, better and cheaper lol always cheaper!
CHOMBER HALL








Old Option for Mr. D:Bank of America Tower





As you can see from the pictures, it's nice...but all of that construction in the background is not. Our budget is small, almost no existant, but whatever our pennies go towards needs to be awesome as awesome on a penny budget can be!

My Venue Pick

So we visited about 7 possible wedding venues this past weekend and whoa is this ALOT of information to get at once! But luckily we narrowed those 7 down to 2. The place I picked is the Coral Gables Women's Club. Built is 1916 is that that old feel I'm going for complete with the original Cuban tile from that decade. The site includes, photographer (he's ok....) DJ (I'll let you know), Catering (again, I'll get back to you), cake and flowers all for $100/pp at a minimum of 100ppl and a venue rental fee of about $2240. I was really hoping to try and keep it under $10k but this place is gorgeous! (http://www.cocoplumparty.com/) Originally my hope was to the the wedding in the Dominican Republic in the colonial areas, complete with 18th century cathedrals and cannons, but my future FIL wont get on a plane...so the next best thing was finding a place that'll give me that old world feel...I think this is pretty close. It gives you exclusive access to the building, has parking and 3 separate areas all included in that price. You can have a ceremony in one area, cocktail hour in an open air courtyard and a reception in the ballroom. I'm in love... but Mr. D has something else in mind...

Cocoplum: