The Power of Choosing a Sentimental Location for Your Wedding

Hi everyone!

First off, I want to preface this post by saying you do not NEED to find a wedding venue that has sentiment to you. Your wedding day will be sentimental no matter what because it’s your special day! But, I have to say that finding a spot that is meaningful to both you and your fiancé can add SO much to your big day. If you already have good associations with a location, then having your wedding there will only enhance and strengthen those emotions, right? Plus, when you want to go back to your wedding location in the future (perhaps to celebrate an anniversary!?), you know it is a place you would enjoy visiting and recounting memories at.

For Adam and I, our criteria in choosing a wedding venue was this:

1.     A place that had meaning and sentiment to us

2.     In our price range

3.     Somewhere our guests would enjoy/are able to travel to

4.     Aesthetically pleasing

So, we decided on Paso Robles, CA. This town checked off all of our venue criteria, and we were convinced we discovered a hidden gem when we found our specific venue, Rava Wines.  

Paso Robles is a town that my family has had many gatherings at because my great grandparents used to live there, so I have great associations with it and this is why it is near and dear to my heart. Adam has come on many family trips with us to Paso himself and has come to love the town as well (he especially loves the wine tasting it provides!). This checked off our first criteria in choosing a venue. The next thing we considered was the cost of the venue. Of course, the cost. We narrowed it down to 4 wineries in Paso that were in our price range and we set off to go look at them (an excuse to travel to our favorite town? Count us in!).

*Side note- we had the BEST time touring through each of the 4 venues because they were all wineries. Hellloooo wine tasting!

The next thing we were thoughtful about was finding a spot that our guests would enjoy/could travel to. We wanted to choose a venue that we loved as a couple, but we also wanted to keep our guests in mind. This is why we decided on a winery location; we LOVE to go wine tasting, and our families are wine drinkers too. And, to top it off, Paso is the perfect location since it is halfway between where my family is (Orange County) and where Adam’s family is (the Bay area). It was perfect for us on many levels.

Last, but definitely not least, we wanted to find a venue that did not require lots of “DIY work” since I am not by any means a crafty person. This meant that we needed a venue that had built-in beauty to avoid having to add lots of fluff to the décor. Yet another reason why Rava Wines was the perfect location for us.

So, the next time Adam and I are in Paso we will not only feel the familial emotions the town brings, but also all the warm and fuzzies associated with our special day. This will forever be our special town!

I’m curious to know how many of you brides or bride-to-be’s decided on venues that had meaning to you? Let’s chat in the comments below!

xx, Lindsey