*Important* Venue Questions

Here are some questions you could ask:

-What is all included? (Chairs, tables, etc)

-Do you have a ceremony space? If so, is there an extra cost?

-What is the cost for the reception space?

-Can I choose my own vendors? Or do I need to use a vendor on your preferred list?

-What is the deposit amount?

-What are the cancellation/postponement/COVID policies?

-How long would we be able to use the space for?

-Do you require either us and/or our vendors to be insured?

-If we wanted extra time on the day of our wedding, what is the additional cost?

-How many people can this venue hold? Does that number include vendors?

-What decor items are allowed? What decor items are not permitted?

-Do you have a bridal suite or somewhere to get ready on site?

-Do you setup/tear down the tables and chairs for us, or are we responsible for that?

Also, here is an article from The Knot with additional questions to ask: https://www.theknot.com/content/wedding-venue-site-tour-questions-to-ask

I don't know the time of year/type of venue you're looking at, but one of our main questions for our venues were if they had heat/AC. We were looking at barn venues for October, which can go either way here and we didn't want people uncomfortable.

Also, some caterers required full kitchens to use with running water, not just a space to set up, so that's another question to ask.

Make sure you see where you guys will get ready. Ask if they have vendors you have to use or if you can use all your own. For instance our place doesn’t include food so we had to pick a vendor from their list for catering but could pick all of our other vendors. If it’s outdoors ask about covering for inclement weather.
Honestly Lisa nailed it with her suggestions

One question that was critical for us was - can our dogs come? They will be a part of our ceremony, but we found not all venues were dog friendly.

A big thing we overlooked was where we were permitted to use their furniture. For example, they had hundreds of chairs available to us, but they could only be used indoors or on the patio, so we had to rent chairs to be married in the gardens.

Also ask about how early you can get into the venue. Your vendors will need this (especially caterers, florists, and DJs who have things to set up!) I've found the average is 2 hours (with the caveat being if there's nothing else going on at the venue that day we might be able to get in early).

Also if it's not super obvious due from sight, ask about parking! You're going to have a bunch of people coming with all different vehicles, make sure they have somewhere to park (and find out if it costs extra because they charge you for valet etc).

Taylor is right - make sure you ask what they do if it rains and any part of your day is outside; and also (depending on location and time of year) if they provide things like outdoor heaters or if they are an extra cost.

If they are an all inclusive (ie they provide the catering) ask about the minimums. Most places have a food and beverage minimum regardless of your guest count (and if they don't provide it but make you chose from their vendor list for that, same question applies; two caterers may have very different minimums!). Also if you are going with a vendor as a caterer (rather than your venue) make sure you ask if the bar is included - some caterers don't and you'll need to hire an independent bar company.