Important Wedding Venue Search Tips and Questions
Selecting a venue for your wedding is exciting because it is the physical space that your dream is going to come to life in. Stepping into a venue is the beginning of your wedding vision becoming real. This process however can be very overwhelming and stressful. This stress should not overtake the excitement and this blog is going to help you do that. These important wedding venue search tips and questions will help erase this stress but still make sure everything is in order to have a successful wedding day.
5 Tips to Remember During Your Search and Tour
1. Create a Checklist Before Visiting Potential Venues
Before you get to a site tour, it is crucial that you make a checklist to ensure all your questions are answered. This is incredibly important especially if you are doing the planning yourself without the help of a professional planner. Do some research before you go on what to ask then add those questions, and others you may think of, to a list to bring with you. This will help you to not forget what answers you need when you are on site to make sure your event is successful and minimize stress.
2. Research What Permits You and Your Vendors Will Need
It is important to make sure that your wedding is covered legally in addition to planned beautifully. Venues and vendors who do this all the time will know what permits they need or that you may need to get. It does not hurt, however, to research this ahead of time or reach out to your local county office. Being over prepared is always better to ensure your day does not encounter any obstacles.
3. Look for Venues Having Open Houses
If you have a list of potential venues to check out that fit your needs, follow them on social media or sign up for their newsletter and keep an eye open for any open houses. These open houses are a great way to get in and see the venue. At them, the venues may have vendor partners present that you can talk to and that they have worked with. They will likely have different set ups staged so that you can see what a ceremony spot or a reception area may look like in the venue. For people who make decisions best visually, open houses are great opportunities to take the stress out of planning.
4. Keep Your Guests/Vendors Needs in Mind
When you visit a venue be sure to keep your guests’ and vendors’ needs in mind. Do you need the venue to be ADA compliant? If you already have vendors booked at the time of your venue site visit, make sure that the venue has what they need. This is especially important for catering. Caterers in the area have likely worked at the venue you are visiting before but they should still be kept in mind. The more thought and attention you invest in the planning process, the smoother your big day will go.
5. Don’t Be Afraid To Ask the Venue How to Improve Your Event
You will walk through what you are envisioning for your event with whoever you talk to on your site visit. After you do so, don’t be afraid to ask them if they have any suggestions on how to improve your event. They have seen it all and know what will make an event run smoother and avoid any costly mishaps.
5 Questions to Ask the Venue
There are so many questions to ask but these five must not be forgotten because of how important they are.
1. How late/early can your event run? How many hours do you have access?
This question is incredibly important and may affect the timeline of your day. The venue or city may have noise restrictions and the venue will have certain hours that you have the venue for under your rental agreement. This is important to know because then you know when you or your vendors can get in to decorate and by what time you need take down everything. You want to avoid being charged for extra time if you can help it.
2. What decor or outside vendor restrictions do they have?
This is another question that could impact your event. The venue may have strict rules when it comes to vendors and this is when you don’t forget to consider your catering vendor. If you have not booked vendors, the venue will have a list of people they trust which is a great way to help avoid any headaches in vendor and venue relations.
Each venue will have their own policies on what is allowed with decor you bring in. Be sure to ask what decor the venue has so you don’t end up bringing double of something. This is important to know in case you need to change any decor ideas you have and will help you think through details further. Be sure, also, to communicate these policies to all relevant parties especially your florist and wedding planner if you have one.
3. What services does the venue offer?
What services a venue offers is going to vary venue to venue. With this, do not assume that something is included in your rental. To help with budget, ask the venue if they have on site catering, tables or chairs, or a coordinator to help you. Also don’t forget to ask about what parking is like, if they have a tent, what their backup plan is if the the day does not go according to the original plan, if they have enough restrooms for your guest count and the list continues on.
It is incredibly important to ask if the venue has liability insurance. If they don’t, do not forget to purchase some for your event. This is important in case something happens on your day to you or the venue and a necessity for every event.
4. What are the venue’s policies on alcohol?
If you plan on having alcohol at your wedding, it is crucial to see what the venue’s alcohol policies are. Bringing your own can help save money but you need to make sure that they allow this. If you have a vendor or one in mind to supply alcohol, double check with the venue that they have the right permits as well as what permits your alcohol vendor needs to have. The venue will also know if a police officer needs to be present for your event with regards to this.
5. Can the venue accommodate a live band or DJ?
This question goes with the first one listed. Noise restrictions may impact the music plans that you had so be sure to talk to your venue about this. First off, if having a live band or DJ is important to you, be sure that you select venues that have the space for them. If they have the space, make note of what it is like to inform your music vendor on what it is like so to help them know what they need to bring. The venue may also let you know, based on which kind of music vendor you are bringing in, what that vendor needs to bring with them.
These five questions are apart of a much longer list from The Knot that you need to check out. See the full list here!
If you are planning a wedding in the Nashville, Tennessee area be sure to check out these venues!
With planning a wedding there will be stress but there are ways to minimize it. Venue search and selection is a cause of stress because there is so much to remember but these tips and questions will help relieve that. In the planning process, do not forget to enjoy these steps and preserve the excitement for your big day. The more thought that goes into everything leading up to your wedding will you to relax and live in the moment of your unforgettable day.
Contact us with any questions you have!
Share your best venue search tips!
Don’t forget to subscribe to our emails and get all the details first.
