Joriana’s Wedding, My Wedding Venue

If you’re just coming in now, take a look at the first post — My Wedding, Part 1.

The second vendor I chose was my venue, The Artisphere in Arlington, Virginia.

This is another area where my Mom, Mindy Belcher, was a life saver.  As a wedding photographer, I have photographed at almost every venue in Northern Virginia over the years.  There were some that I loved, and some that I hated.  However, whenever I thought of those venues, I thought of the different couples that we had photographed there.  Those venues belonged to them.  They didn’t feel like me.  So now, I’m at square one, and at a great disadvantage (which yes, I do realize I put myself there!)  Then my mom did an internet search, and lo and behold, The Artisphere appeared.

For me, one of the important aspects of a venue was parking — it had to have easy, convenient parking for all our guests. It also had to have uplighting — it transforms a venue.  And since we recommend uplighting to all of our wedding couples, I wanted to be able to show the difference it made in my own wedding images.  And last, but not least, it had to be a different kind of space.  I wasn’t particularly interested in a historic venue or a mansion in the country — I wanted my venue to have a modern feel.  Sharon Raphael was great to work with and we had the place booked within a week.

I never realized how important my wedding venue was until after the fact, but it’s something that I’m definitely glad I didn’t settle on.  Your wedding venue will probably be one of the more expensive things you will divvy up your wedding budget for.  Remember that your wedding venue can be easily transformed by uplighting and decor.  If you’re not interested in uplighting, I would invest more in my venue.  This should be a place that you’re excited to have your wedding and reception, or both, at!

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