Finding *the* Venue- Part II

If you remember from part I of the venue search, we had looked at an old house and a gem hidden in the hill country. Then, I stumbled upon this:

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Mercury Hall. You may recognize it from this fabulous wedding:

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which was featured here and made possible by this wonderful photog.

Mercury Hall was an old church that was moved to its current location and restored to its original state. Wood floors, stained glass window and antique chandelier light fixtures accent the interior of the hall; while large oak trees and a spacious lawn decorate the outside of the hall. This was the perfect combination of indoor/outdoor atmosphere to satisfy my hearts desires! (For a while, I dreamed of white Christmas lights twinkling in the trees while guests mingled with cocktails on the lawn.) In addition, the hall provides chairs and tables that can be rented at a reasonable price. But this is not our venue. Why? Well, it would have be necessary to use the outdoor and indoor spaces for our guests. That would involve backup plans in case of rain or cold weather- which would have meant tent and possibly heater rentals = expenses we did not have in our budget :( (and planning for this is a must in Texas where weather is completely unpredictable.

So what is our venue you ask? Well, it's the next best thing of course :) A new hall had just opened around the time we started our venue search. (In fact I think I came across it on page 10 of a google search one day). Enter *the* venue: Waterford House:

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The instant I walked in, I knew. It's South Austin! It has a reception area with enough room to seat all our guests and leave room for a dance floor! The floors are stained concrete (and not ugly carpet)! Banquet chairs, tables, and white linens are included in the rental! There is a walkway around the outside of the hall that overlooks a green belt! I'm in love and I can't wait to attend our wedding reception. Was there love at first site with your venue?

Finding *the* Venue- Part I

One of the first items on our wedding checklist was finding a venue. Even though we had about 15 months until the wedding, I was concerned about limited availability the longer we waited. My search began on the web (actually this is how most of my planning began) where looked for venues in Austin and its surrounding areas. We really wanted to find a place that had indoor & outdoor gathering areas. One of the first venues I fell in love with was the Allen House:

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Yes, I'm a sucker for old houses. The Allen House is nestled in heart downtown Austin and, although I loved the atmosphere, it would not have been large enough to accommodate our guests. So, alas, we continued our search.

After much thought and consideration, we decided to look further south Austin (our usual stomping grounds). I came across Tuscan Hall, located in the hill country about 20 mins. southwest of Austin:

photo by me

photo by me

Added bonus: the Chapel Dulcinea, a free wedding chapel located within walking distance from Tuscan Hall that overlooks the hill country *swoon* (Although I should note that since it is free, it is usually booked a year+ in advance- they were booked for our wedding date in October '09 when we visited in August '08)

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The hall accommodates about 200 people, if the indoor and outdoor space is used. However, we were a little uncomfortable about the location. This would have been perfect for a morning or afternoon wedding, but we didn't want our guests traveling late at night down winding, unlit country roads to get home. And so, the search continued.... How many reception/wedding sites did you look at until you found *the* one?