My FH and I are torn between 2 venues.
We have booked a venue for March 4, 2022. We aren't happy with how things went down with them when we were trying to move our date from 10/1/2021. Also with how things are going right now, if one of us loses our jobs then we can't afford the venue. So we are re-evaluating the wedding right now as a just in case.
The first venue (the one that's booked) has everything on site, food/open bar etc. They are $115/person with a minimum of 110 people, and we have about 125 on the guest list. We are looking at a Friday wedding in March 2022. They also charge $150/hr for any extra time in the bridal suite to get ready + any food upgrades we may want. It is a rustic/modern yet homey feeling which is what we are looking for. They include the table centerpieces, the wedding cake, an arch, 2 or 3 hours in the bridal suite, and premium 5 hour open bar. If we cancel, we lose our deposit.
The second venue is brand new. The farmhouse and cottage on the property is used as an Airbnb and they just rebuilt the barn on site and it is now an event barn. We viewed it last week and it is still under construction but very close to being done, it is beautiful. It's a more rustic/modern feel which is our style too. With them, we would have to find catering, bartenders, buy alcohol, find a bakery for the cake... pretty much everything. The downfall is with this venue, they only do single day weddings Monday-Wednesday ($2k). They save their weekends for the 2 day ($8k) and 4 day ($10k) packages. If we stayed overnight it allows up to a total of 15 guests to stay with us, but we're not sure if anyone would especially if COVID is still how it is now. Also, the event barn does not have AC or heat which is why they only do events in there from April 1st - October 31st. If we went with this venue instead, we would have to change our date again and probably to beginning of May 2022. I found a catering company under the venue's preferred vendors that would do buffet from at most $36/person.
Should we keep the venue we have now or should we play it safe and switch?