It's the thing that can make or break a wedding and - after what you're wearing - the first thing that your guests will judge you on.
Everyone wants their dream venue - whether it be a church, a castle or down your local; thought, time and a whole load of money goes into securing the venue of your dreams.
But what if your chosen venue doesn't want you? Can you imagine a world, where heterosexual couples had to email an establishment to make sure that they accepted 'different sex marriages'?
Recently it was in the news that a gay couple were rejected by a hotel, the manager saying that "We can't allow people like you here. A marriage should be between a man and a woman.
Should they have called ahead to advise that they were gay? Absolutely not - but to avoid what could be the most awkward moment in our lives, it's something that the fiancée and I have incorporated into our wedding planning.
Thankfully, we've heard back from our venue with a heartfelt message saying that they, and I quote, 'accept EVERYONE...' and that they were sorry we even had to ask.
Even so, when arriving at the venue the fiancée - who had booked the viewing - was asked what the name of her groom was and asked if he'd be joining her - either they thought I was a bridesmaid or a desperate tagalong, but things were smoothed over easily with a quick explanation - but it still didn't avoid the awkwardness.
We now have our wedding venue booked (yay!), and we've moved onto looking at caterers - a service that you wouldn't think would be affected by traditional values...yet out of the seven suppliers that are available for our chosen venue, the two that we're keen on include phrases like "we really believe that the catering at your wedding should be as exceptional as the bride's dress, the groom's shoes..." on their website.
His & Hers, Bride & Groom - both dominating marketing copy for weddings. Is it time we moved to a new universal term like you & yours?
Over time, when gay marriages are accepted as everyday, questions on whether a service accepts same-sex marriages will hopefully never have to be asked - but throughout the wedding planning process we're seeing a lot more of these casual sirens of 'traditional' male/female weddings - and, to be frank, we're tired of asking if they'll have us.
Shouldn't we all feel wanted by companies when planning our wedding day?