Venue hunting questions

I read through this and took notes when I went to my venue. Happy hunting :-)

https://www.herecomestheguide.com/wedding-party-ideas/detail/questions-to-ask-a-wedding-venue-pdf/

Make sure you ask for any "hidden" costs and ask for exactly what's included. Like A lot of venues in my area make you get the food through them and alcohol through them and mandatory 20% gratuity to all staff working the wedding so that gets expensive quickly. Also always ask what their cake cutting fee is. Ask them if they include chairs, silverware, tables, tablecloths, napkins, etc. Because that can add up quickly also. Ask if they have a bridal suite (if you're having ceremony there also) to get ready the day of. Make sure they can accommodate the number of guests you plan to bring. Ask how many hours the contract is for a lot of places only give you 4 hours others give you more time so you want to make sure you know what that is before signing any contract. And if you want to do your reception at a Country Club make sure to ask if golfers will be playing in the background Or any other kind of distractions the club may have. A lot of places don't let you hire your own vendors so make sure to ask if they have a list of preferred vendors or if you can use anybody. There is a lot that goes into planning the ceremony and reception venue that was the hardest thing for me by far. Good luck!

It was important to us to make sure we had a venue with only one event a day!

We weren't set on a date going into it, affordability was more important- we were thinking an off season wedding to save money. If you aren't set on a date, it may be helpful to your budget to see if different days/months cost less!

Also important to see what is included in the venue- will you pay extra for chair covers- or seats?! (Our venue supplies 50 chairs for the ceremony, $5 a chair after that... Yuck)

I also received a suggested vendor list, which was very helpful because our venue is about an hour from our house, much easier to find local vendors with their help

Will the service fee be distributed as tips or do you need to tip on top of that? How many hours is the event for? When can your vendors come to set it up? What time does it need to be torn down by? Is there a Venue DOC? How many hours before the event can you have access to the bridal suite. I was surprised ours was for just two hours and now we're getting ready at the hotel. Is there parking, valet, and if so is there a fee. Is there coat check? How much? What is there alcohol policy? If they don't serve it do you need a licensed bar tender? Is there a venue rental fee? How much of a deposit do they need and by when? What's the cancellation policy? Is the food/alcohol rate different depending on the number of guests? Is there s minimum?

Thank you!! These are all very helpful!

If you are doing a non traditional venue, ask if you need a generator. We had to rent one and it jacked up the rental costs.

Here are a few more lists of questions!

https://www.weddingwire.com/wedding-ideas/recently-engaged/12-questions-to-ask-a-wedding-venue

https://www.weddingwire.com/wedding-ideas/etiquette-advice/8-things-every-couple-forgets-to-ask-wedding-venues

Make sure to ask about weather. Depending what region of the country you're in you could get hurricanes and/or snow storms so ask if they have backup plans for that sort of thing. Ask about bringing in outside vendors if you have specific vendors you'd like to work with and how to go about getting permission for them.

Some questions I asked when touring the venue:

- How many ppl can they accommodate?

- Can we bring in candles for decoration?

- do we have to clean up ourselves?

- will there be a bridal room?

- how early can we come in to set up or take photos?

Get everything in writing.

Parking!

Ask if they do substitutions for the menu or if you yet what they are showing you bottom line. Also if you plan on doing anything potentially hazardous (ex. Candles on staircase / dancing on the clouds) just make sure they allow it ahead of time and get it in writing.

For me, it was important to party 'til midnight - ask what time the music needs to stop. I was surprised that many of the venues we visited required the music to be shut off at 10pm...

Ask if the prices they are giving include the taxes. If not, you have to figure out how much extra you will be paying.