10 Must-Know Tips for Booking Your Dream Venue
In planning a wedding, the most important choice you’ll make is deciding the location where you’ll say your I do. The wedding venue sets the entire tone for the kind of wedding you want to have. That is why we compiled "10 Must Know Tips for Your Wedding Venues".
Before you decide on anything, we’re going to share with you some very helpful tips that help you make your wedding venue planning much easier. We’ll start with the basics—things so simple that sometimes they seem forgettable, yet are very important in choosing the perfect venue.
1. Plan Budgeting
The first step in trying to organize your dream wedding is setting a reasonable budget that will cover all areas of the organization. You do want to make sure to stay within the budget so that you don’t get stressed afterwards. Wedding venues are more than often the costliest expense of your wedding. Now, we know when thinking about your wedding day, you always imagine a grand hall or an exotic get-away paradise but let’s remember that venues come with a lot of other fees, and you want to be able to have a honeymoon afterwards. So let’s think reasonably; romantic and perfect can also be achieved with smaller venues.
2. Start & Book Early
Wedding venues more often than not need to be booked months or more than a year in advance, especially the more popular ones. So, the earlier you start planning, the easier it will be to find the perfect space for you and your partner. Let’s be honest, we all have something in mind when it comes to THE perfect wedding venue, so as soon as that proposal comes, start looking at venues. But, keep in mind that when choosing the venue, you need to have a lot of other things in mind, so let’s keep on reading those tips. We want everything to be well-thought-out and perfect.
3. Know the Guest Count
Deciding on how many guests you want to invite to your wedding is very stressful, we know. You start planning everything, and suddenly there’s a list of family, acquaintances, friends, old high school friends and even one or two coworkers. Before you go overboard, keep in mind that a lot of guests means a bigger wedding venue and therefore a LOT more expenses. Now, when you choose a venue, make sure that you know the exact number of guests, you don’t want to plan a small intimate wedding and then find out that you have more than 300 guests on your list. On the other side, you also don’t want a big venue and just a handful of guests, finding the right balance here is key.
4. Consider The Season
Outside wedding venues are always fun and a good idea until there’s a storm brewing that can put a dent into your celebrations. Make sure to check the weather when deciding on a venue. No matter if you dreamed of a Winter Wonderland wedding or a summery exotic one, Mother Nature can be very unpredictable at times, so it’s always good to have a plan B if the outdoors is really what you want. You might even get creative and include helpful gadgets as party favours in case the weather changes, as long as you’re prepared for whatever changes might happen.
5. Venue Theme
Whether you’re envisioning a tropical beach wedding or a royal castle gala, the theme of your wedding must be in sync with your wedding venue. Decor can play a major role in making every spot feel like a dream but that won’t do any good to your budgeting goals. So, when choosing your dream venue, keep an eye on details that will match your wedding theme. On another note, if your venue is already up to par with the theme, it will make it all the easier to save up a bit on decor pieces and it certainly will be less stressful when it comes to organizing. We all know how tedious decor can sometimes be.
6. Venue Restrictions
Before deciding and booking a venue, try to do some research beforehand. Especially if you have some special requests in mind like a live band, loud music or a firework display. Depending on the venue or location, a lot of these places might have a set of rules and restrictions in place to make sure that there are no incidents. So, keep that in mind so that you won’t have any issues in doing all the fun stuff you’ve planned for your wedding celebrations. I know, we’re all suckers for a beautiful firework display when the cake is being cut but sometimes you can never be too careful.
7. In-person Visits
Not all pictures are as they seem, especially on wedding venue locations. You don’t want to put all of that time and effort based on an idea of a place, rather make sure to pay an in-person visit to the venue location. Not only will you check for every detail that will make or break your big day, but also it’s very exciting to see with your own eyes and have a feel of the place where one of the most special days in life will be held. So, definitely pay a visit to that wedding location, pictures can be deceiving, or you’ll just fall in love with the venue furthermore.
8. Consider Logistics
Wedding venues are not always just about the main party and celebration. Depending on your wedding plans, you might have to plan also for out-of-town guest accommodation, parking and just the overall convenience for all the attendees to your wedding party,
Reach out to the venue representatives for all questions and requests, and ask for a lot of pictures and detailed descriptions of everything you might need to accommodate your guests. You might also consider the fact that some of these extra requests might have some fees, so always be sure to be updated on all of that.
9. Check Reviews
Before signing on a venue, make sure to do some little sleuthing around the internet. Check out reviews of the place, and ask other couples around if you wanna get the real scoop on all the important details that you might not get from the venue representatives themselves. It’s crucial to know about the service, customer service or vendor services. These will make it a much easier and simpler experience. Plus side if the place has glowing recommendations on food and open bars!
10. Flexibility
Several things might go wrong on the day of your wedding (hopefully not!). But in that case, it’s always best to be prepared for any occurrence that might just not be under your control. What you can do to prevent this? Well, first make sure to ask and be informed of the venue flexibility, whether it’s a date change, an incident with vendors or just a natural occurrence, you have to be certain that they are open to being flexible around different issues, at the end of the day you’ll just avoid spending thousands of dollars on small issues that might come along the way.
Planning a wedding can feel quite overwhelming and we’re very hopeful that we made it at least a tad bit easier for you to ensure that everything goes to plan. The key to a perfect search is research, time and organization. With these tips and trusting your gut, we’re sure that you will find the perfect venue for you.