Milkshake Hearts

Chapter 76: Venue

They choose to slow down their house searching at least a little after the stress of their recent failed attempt to actually get something. They take Ian's suggestion, setting up email alerts on a few different property websites for what they're after, but they turn their active attention instead back to planning the wedding that is now just 7 months away.

"I don't know if that's a long time for wedding planning or not," Shayne comments, "I have never planned a wedding before..."

"Same. I feel like maybe we were wrong before and we do actually need a wedding planner a little," Courtney suggests, and he agrees, so they call up their friend-of-a-friend to request her actual wedding planning assistance.

She tells them they have plenty of time, but if they want to keep the planning stress free then it wouldn't hurt to start looking at venues and vendors pretty soon to get their chosen booking times. They go for venues first, meeting with their planner – Jessie – on a Thursday evening to look over a few potential options she has pulled up based on their vague ideas. They select their favourite four, Jessie telling them she'll get back to them but she's pretty sure they can look at all of them in person in the next week.

They were tossing up between two general vibes for the venue, and the two they view that Saturday fit into their first idea: a nice garden-filled estate or winery with plenty of outdoor space, but somewhere inside for weather preparedness too. The first they visit is an old estate home out near Thousand Oaks, a grey stone mansion-esque house providing cosy indoor spaces, and surrounded by expansive gardens.

"So this is making it all feel very real," Shayne murmurs, hand linked with Courtney's as they wander through the outdoor spaces just behind Jessie and someone associated with the venue.

"So real. And exciting. And I don't mind being given free champagne at 11am on a Saturday," Courtney replies, glancing over to watch Shayne laugh lightly at her before they turn their attention back to the two women in front of them and join in discussions and enquiries about how the spaces can be used and set up.

They follow much the same process at the second venue, a small boutique winery on the outskirts of the city heading up towards the hills. It isn't far from where they'd had their accidental first date – something that Courtney points out, first – but much like their first venue, it immediately raises some concerns.

"The first one worries me, there really isn't a large enough space inside for the reception and ceremony if the weather isn't perfect. Not sure how kid-friendly it is, either, lots of fragile things," Courtney muses, when they're in the car with Jessie on the way back.

"Yeah, yeah, I get that, I hadn't actually looked at that particular one before and I was surprised the indoor spaces were so small compared to outside. What about the winery?"

"It's nice, but I don't know. Didn't really... click. I think maybe it was a bit too open and outdoorsy?" Shayne queries, unsure.

"Yeah, something like that. Maybe we don't really want fully outdoor stuff, but somehow indoor-outdoor combinations?" Courtney backs him up.

"Well, the one we're looking at tomorrow is very much indoors," Jessie nods.

She's right – their third venue walkthrough is a repurposed industrial building not far from Downtown LA, but it's internally fitted out to become an industrial-chic event space with brushed white walls and exposed beam ceilings. It has all the spaces they need, but...

"It's fantastic – it could be great – but I feel like it'd take a lot more to make it into what we want. It's a pretty blank canvas," Courtney muses, as they wander through what would be the reception area, in its bare state simply a large, empty room.