I want to tell you all about our amazing venue. When we first set out on the hunt, we knew we wanted something different and special. Not your typical ballroom — that wasn’t for us! We were hoping to find a place that was naturally beautiful, offered a lot of ambiance. We wanted a place that was so pretty, we wouldn’t have to add too many extras. And the vibe we were looking for was decidedly old-world-flair.

I thought this might be difficult, since much of South Florida is newly developed and barefoot-on-the-beach-style so I enlisted the help of The Knot Florida editor to help me narrow down the overwhelming number of venues on my list (perks of the job!).

There was definitely a lot to see, but since we were only in town for a short number of days, we had to pack in and see as much as possible. A jam-packed schedule has been a recurring theme on all of our planning trips down to Florida this year. It’s alway so busy I have to force myself to schedule in eating breaks!

Anyway! Our venue shopping trip centered around the Coral Gables area, where there are a lot of beautiful old-world Spanish sites. On our trip, Oren and I visited more than 10 South Florida reception venues before we found the one.

When we saw The Cocoplum, we knew we had found exactly what we were looking for. In fact, we canceled a few of the remaining appointments that we had. It was just that perfect. It’s not just aesthetically perfect, I love the story of the space too. It was originally The Cocoplum Women’s Club and this year it celebrated its centennial. One of the coolest parts is that the space where everyone will eat dinner and dance was once a schoolhouse!

Now that we have our venue booked, we’re going full speed ahead working out the menu and bar details. We’re about four months away from the big day, and so many details left to do!