Discover Your Venue

Where do you look for a casual wedding location? Simple, all around you!

Photo by Moodeous Photography

My favorite story of how a wedding location was discovered is in — what happens to also be my favorite TV show — Sex and the City. Miranda discovers the spot for her garden wedding while walking home with her fiance Steve, arms loaded with plastic grocery bags.

I don’t want to make a big entrance. I don’t want everyone staring at me. I just want it to feel like us, not like one of those millions of cookie cutter weddings I’ve had to suffer through. How do we do that?

As they talk about where to have their non-corny wedding, one of the bags breaks and Steve steps on a clump of freshly chewed gum.

This is so us. We are pathetic. You see? We’re bag people not boat people. We should just get married right here in this mess!

Then she looks up to see a simple garden that’s the perfect spot for what Carrie has coined a wedding for a “friend who hates weddings.” Not surprisingly, according to this 2004 article from The Villager, Miranda’s impromptu wedding boosted the number of wedding’s hosted at the beautiful and affordable Jefferson Market Garden in New York City.

Where do you spend your time?

Photo by Adam Welch Photography

You, too, can plan your wedding in a more simple and informal setting. Think about where you and your groom like to spend your time. Do you have a favorite restaurant or city building? Did you have a romantic evening on a boardwalk, beach, quaint walking trail or city park? Perhaps your backyard is big enough to contain a small number of your closest friends and family.

Casual doesn’t have to mean small.

If you’re going casual, you don’t have to limit the number of guests. Choose to have your event in a big white tent  or on the grounds of a large estate. You can choose to throw your wedding in a banquet hall at your favorite sports complex or local college. You can even throw a wedding in the great hall of a museum or library, but choose to keep the decor and attire simple and chic rather than austere.

Religious Requirements

If you’re like me and are required by your religion to marry in a place of worship, choose a simple church or one with special significance to you and your family, and keep the reception casual.

Whatever you decide, choose a place that has special significance to both you and your groom.