Location Location Location!

I believe one of the most (if not the most) important things about planning a wedding is picking a location. Of course, picking a date is important too since you can't book a venue if you don't know when it'll be. In my case, we've chosen to respect my mom's wishes of checking the magic book of auspicious dates. In the meantime, venue research goes as follows...

Ceremony Venues

Here's an abridged list of venues we (or I guess more accurately, I) have considered...

Cecil Green

Located at UBC, Cecil Green (CG) is a pretty venue. My co-worker had his wedding there. However, with a rental price tag of $2600 for a summer weekend, couple that with the reception venue rental, it's a bit much for my budget :( CG can also host wedding receptions. However, according to their website, you have to use UBC catering. For more info, click Rental Fees on the Cecil Green website.

Celebration Pavilion

The Celebration Pavilion is located at the Queen Elizabeth Park. Its rental price is quite reasonable at $950 for 90 minutes. I went there for a wedding last year. Assuming it doesn't rain, it's a pretty good venue. I'll keep this in my top three option list.

Minoru Chapel

This chapel is located in Richmond, next to Minoru Park. It's close to our planned reception site, the UBC Boathouse. Rental cost ranges from $1200 + GST to $1450 + GST, depending on what kind of musician you pick. The booking lasts for 90 minutes with 30 minutes between bookings.

There's also the Catholic church option. However, so far it looks like my years of being a bad Catholic is catching up to me :\ Anyway, from my research, here are the requirements to get married in a Catholic church:

• at least the bride or the groom needs to be Catholic
• you need to be a parishioner of that church, otherwise you need to obtain a permission letter from your parish priest
• there's some paperwork involved - birth certificate, etc
• the couple needs to take the marriage preparation course; currently $100 per couple
• $200 "rental" fee
• the priest needs to meet with the groom and bride and their parents
• the ceremony is only 30mins if the bride or groom is not Catholic

Reception Venues

Truly we only have one reception venue in mind...

Yes, the UBC Boathouse! It's pretty :) Friday/Sunday rental is cheaper at $2700 for eight hours, Saturday rental is $3300. As backup venue, we're considering some golf & country clubs. No front runner yet.

Ok, that is all. I should go home... it's almost 7.30pm!

PS - The entry isn't really lining up correctly >_<