Week 4 Exercise

A map was created to provide a visual aid for the Martin-Rodriguez wedding in deciding upon what wedding site to choose for the post-ceremony reception. The map presented illustrates potential wedding venues within a thirty and sixty mile radius of the bride’s home address. This buffer region was decided upon in correlation with the bride and groom’s parents to have a reception site within a 30-60 minute drive from the bride’s parents’ home (set at 425 West Magnolia Street, Stockton, CA 95203). Addresses of each location were acquired through each venue’s website or through event search engines. These addresses were converted to latitude and longitudinal degrees with Geocoder.us. Street map layers were included for an appended layer encompassing Alameda, Amador, Butte, Calaveras, Placer, Sacramento, San Joaquin, Stanislaus, and Tuolumne counties. By creating an address locator, the bride and groom could locate any potential site within the nine counties of interest.

There are many variables involved in selecting the wedding reception venue beyond location. Therefore, the attribute table for the potential venues include information on a site’s capacity, price, and whether it is indoor or outdoors. Some capacity’s and prices are not listed due to information available only upon request. However, it is extremely convenient to locate any address within driving distance of the bride’s home, and compare prices, capacities, and indoor availability all accessible in the attribute table. Unfortunately, one of the most important variables – aesthetics – is entirely subjective and cannot be described in the attribute table. Beyond aesthetics, all other critical determining factors are included in the map.

This map provides a very convenient and easy method of choosing a reception site when planning a wedding. The bride, groom, and family can spatially interpret all sites within close distance of home, and access or edit any critical information upon determining the desired site. This map exemplifies how ArcGIS can serve a very practical purpose in daily life, and has already been used extensively for the Martin-Rodriguez wedding. Ultimately, this map provided a thorough evaluation of over 50 wedding sites and helped in deciding upon the Old Sugar Mill in Sacramento County. This site was within the sixty-mile radius of the bride’s home, but the price, capacity, and aesthetics of the venue eclipsed all other potential sites. Thanks to ArcGIS, the decided site was unanimously agreed upon.