Seeing a venue

I was pretty clueless about this too, and I looked this up on pinterest and found lots of great questions! I would definitely ask if theyre in your budget or if they have multiple options to make them more budget friendly for you. We live in the midwest and weather is very unpredictable especially in the spring, so i would ask if they have both indoor and outdoor options available for your ceremony. If the bar is important to you, i would ask if that is included in the package or price per plate, or if there is any up-charge.

Personally for me, I wanted a venue that had most things included. So i made sure dinner, drinks, cake, most decor, and a few other things were included in the total. I would also make sure to ask if there is a minimum number of guests or a dollar minimum that must be met - otherwise you may face “penalties” depending on the venue. The list really can go on and on, but pinterest has so many different lists that i would write down as many questions as possible. I would rather be prepared and have fewer questions later on than find out something that could be a big issue since it was never clarified.

All that being said, i SO enjoyed looking for a venue and touring them, so have fun and good luck!

I asked things like stated above and like if I could set up the day before or just the morning of, if we had to have everything out by the end of the night, what we could bring in for like snacks and cake, also what I could use for decor like could I use real candles. Ummm if linens are included, what time the reception could go to, if they offer a shuttle service or recommend any, what are gratuities and taxes, do they have a preferred caterer list or can you use whoever, if it's a big deal to you are chair covers included or how much are they to rent. So many questions! Lol

All great suggestions. There's also multiple threads on this topic you can check out for more. One thing I was told by someone and didn't think of was to look st the bathrooms. Not a question to ask, but something to consider. You doing want a 200 person wedding and only 2 stalls in the women's bathroom. Also, can you get into a stall with your wedding dress? One venue I looked at had the tiniest bathroom stalls you had to shimmy in cuz the door hit the toilet. I couldn't imagine anyone comfortably navigating that in a dress, especially a wedding gown.

PP is right, DEFINITELY CHECK OUT THE BATHROOM SITUATION!!!! lol We got lucky, there are 2 HUGE bathrooms for guests (1 for each ballroom) plus the bridal suite has a big ol' stall-less bathroom so I will for sure fit, along with anyone else who might need to help me haha. We visited one place that had only 1 bathroom for 5 ballrooms and it was all the way at the end of a hall. I know some of our more elderly guests would not have been happy with that kind of long walk. And having to share a bathroom with potentially 600 other people... it would have been like trying to go to the bathroom at a sports stadium!

I would ask if there are any other events that could potentially be going on at the same time (ie: 2 weddings) and how they would handle keeping them separate.

Ask about and check out the bridal suite. Some places basically give you closet to get ready in. A lot of places only give you access a couple hours before the wedding too, so if you are planning on having everyone get ready there in the morning it might be an issue.

Ask about preferred vendors and ask if you have to use their vendors. Some places won't let you use just anyone.

Ask about hotels in the area that they would recommend for OOT guests. I would also do some checking outside of their list though. The hotel we ended up with was BEAUTIFUL and just completely remodeled in the last year. It wasn't on their list because of it but if we didn't do our own digging we would have ended up missing out.

Ask about gratuity, especially if it's an all inclusive type place. Our's specifically asked us not to tip and to report anyone who requested one because of how their pay structure is set up.

If they take care of the food, ask if you can do a tasting and if there is any cost. Some places we looked at didn't offer a tasting at all, but held an annual event where you could come and try a small selection of their foods.... ummmm what?!?!?

Ask about cake cutting fees and ask if they will box some cake up for guests to take with when they leave.

I am sure there is more I had on my list but we did this more than a year ago so its hard to remember

I would make a list of the things you want your ideal venue to have. We did this and had only a few on our list. We wanted to have both ceremony and reception at the same place, an outdoor ceremony space with another space in the event of inclement weather that was separate from the ballroom, open bar option, having a bridal suite to get ready in, and most importantly being within our budget. We found a perfect venue that was a country club so we are doing everything at the same location.

Things we took into consideration when visiting venues: if having the ceremony there, is there a separate fee for that? Is there a minimum number of guests required? Are taxes and gratuity included in the pp price? How much of a deposit do we need? I would recommend having a rough estimate of the amount of guests that would be there as well. Good luck in your search!

HI Casey,

Congratulations! The first thing is make sure you go with a date in mind and if you are willing to adjust it due to availability. For the venue questions.....You can download this free guide that has all pertinent points for you to keep in mind or ask @ your venue.

https://www.countryclubreceptions.com/wedding-planning-resources

Good luck and enjoy the process! Congratulations once again.

Hi Casey! How did the venue viewing go? Did you book it?