"Crashing" a Wedding

In my opinion, it's incredibly rude. You weren't invited. No brides or grooms get to see their wedding venue in action prior to booking, that's what tours and reviews are for. I'd have your friend take pictures and videos to send to you. If I saw someone at our wedding who we didn't know, we would have had them thrown out immediately.

That is a huge no no!!! Would you plan to eat and drink what the couple paid for without even being invited?? Tour the facility, google them for reviews and pictures. Ask your friend to take pictures and video but do NOT show up without an invitation.

Agree, super rude. If you said yourself you would never do that because it is rude, do not let other people talk you into it.

Have you looked up photos of this venue? Do they have a social media page? Mine isn't that old and they share tons of pictures of events. Have you looked at other bride's reviews online, if there are any?

Ask the venue if they host other events other than just weddings. Maybe they wouldn't mind inviting you to a private event they are hosting so you can kind of get the idea? Still a little awkward, but if you are just that intent on seeing how it operates..

Regardless, your friend's report back should be plenty. There is no need for you to intrude on someone else's wedding.

That's how I feel! That's why I was almost so confused when family members of mine looked at me like I had 5 heads when I told them we CANNOT just show up at someone's wedding. We have to make an appointment. They all said "lets just walk in." My fiance and I were like no you absolutely can't do that haha. Craziness.

At least you know! I'm sure you'll get a feel for things from your tour, reviews, pictures, and everything your friend tells you.

We did tour this venue (after making an appointment) and sat down with someone to get into the details about what it would cost, etc. and we LOVED this venue and felt we would get the most for our money compared to other venues. The decor of the place is not at all what I'm concerned about cause it is just gorgeous. I just read some reviews on yelp (which I try not to totally go by that) that kind of bothered me about the food and the service. So I am happy my best friend is going to a wedding there because I feel she would be totally honest with me about all of that. I was just SO confused when my family members said "let's just go and walk in while there is a wedding going on." LOL. My fiance and I were like you definitely can't just do that. Also, they do offer a tasting but of course it's after the deposit and it is non-refundable. But yes, I totally agree with all of you. It is rude and not OK.

I'm glad you and your fiance knew it would be incredibly rude to crash someone's wedding! Your family's response made me laugh though

Another question. Is it common for venues to NOT refund you your deposit if you do not like the food after the tasting and decide to have your wedding somewhere else? I am just happy that they are willing to invite me to a tasting to begin with because I have also heard of venue's not even allowing you to taste the food prior to the wedding.

They're nuts! lol

My venue is a winery and is open to the public during normal business hours during weddings (sometimes they close if it's a slow day or slow season for them). My event coordinator there told me a few wedding dates they had on the books and said if they're open, she will be glad to let me peek in the back and see what it looks like all set up. But I obviously can't go into the wedding or anything. It's obviously rude to show up to a dedicated wedding venue and walk into the reception but if your venue is a public area, I don't see anything wrong with riding by or stopping in (probably before the wedding starts) to see the set up/parking/etc.