Choosing your wedding venue is one of the most important decisions you will make when planning your wedding. It sets the scene (literally) for the rest of your wedding and impacts a lot of your other supplier choices. Careful consideration at this stage will pay dividends later on in your wedding planning journey.
Visit First as an Ordinary Guest
This won’t be possible for every venue, but it is worth considering for venues which are open to the public in addition to weddings. For example, visiting a venue for afternoon tea will give you the chance to sample the food and observe the level of customer service you receive. A little bit like an undercover boss. Front of house staff can make a big difference to you and your guests’ experience at your wedding, so it can be very insightful to test the waters as an ‘ordinary guest’ before you become a ready-to-be-wooed potential wedding client.
Ask about their wet weather options
Lots of venues have beautiful outdoor spaces and you can quickly fall in love with the idea of an outdoor ceremony or drinks reception. However, let’s put our boring practical hats on for a minute. Make sure you ask about their wet weather options and make sure that you are happy with the alternative options – as you may need to use them.There’s nothing worse than planning a beautiful outdoor ceremony, only to end up crammed into a small meeting room. Obviously for some venues, such as marquee and tipi fields, the options will be more limited but that’s part of the fun!
Thank you to the wonderful Tanya Flannagan Photography for the images on this page
Ask about their suppliers
Don’t forget to confirm with the venue what is included in their hire package. Is it dry hire? Do they have in-house catering? Do they charge corkage? Do you have to choose suppliers off their recommended supplier list? Asking these questions will help you kickstart the rest of your wedding planning as you will know which suppliers you need to source and what will be included with your venue. Understanding exactly what is included from the start can help to avoid misunderstandings later down the line and avoid last minute additional costs.
Write down your top three must haves
If you are choosing between venues this will help you to make your choice. Write down your three non-negotiables for your venue, this could be anything from outside space, to catering, to the atmosphere. Refer to this list when reflecting on your visits as it will help you to identify requirements that are missing and help to streamline your comparison to the areas that are the most important to you.
A final word on choosing your wedding venue. I can waffle on all day about what to look for in a venue and you can do tonnes of research and planning before your showaround. However, at the end of the day (like with fiancees) when you know you know. You’ll step foot into your wedding venue and just feel the vibes – it’s a magical feeling!