VENUE TOURS ADVICE

Tour the kitchen. Tour the kitchen, Tour the kitchen. If you see stuff that looks like black rice, move on...immediately.

If you're having any part of your wedding outdoors, make sure there is an awesome rainy day backup plan that you love so you're not disappointed. ETA- I selected my venue for many reasons, but this was up there. They have a beautiful garden that we plan to use, but the ceremony house (which is still separate from the reception house). It's equally as beautiful and the change can be made easily at the last minute.

Ask them what their plan b is and if they require you to use certain vendors

Ask how early you can have it all set up. My venue is letting me set up the day before and pick up the day after

Congrats!

These were my main questions:

1. Can alcohol be served?

2. How many people can the venue accommodate?

3. Are you able to get in early (the day before) to decorate?

4. How much is the deposit? Is there a payment plan? Is there a refund policy?

5. Are there any addt'l fees for the space(not including food)?

6. How long can the space be used the day of the wedding? Is there a maximum/minimum rental time? Is there a charge if you go over the contracted time?

7. Do they have in-house catering or is there a preferred list?

8. Can you do a food tasting before selecting your menu choices?

9. Can you bring in your own cake?

10.If it is an outdoor venue, what is the plan in case of inclement weather?

Hope this helps!

thank you all so much! You all are a great help. Will be posting pictures of venues I am touring with pros and cons

Is it all inclusive, ask to read a contract don't sign before reading read the small print

Make sure to check out the Bridal room and bathrooms! Lighting package included in the venue cost? Good to know because if there is that will be less of a charge for DJ options. Plan B if there is inclement weather? Vegan or gluten free options? 1 wedding on site at a time? Hope this helps!

A big thing for me was how many weddings they do in a day and how many bathrooms they have. I knew I didn't want a venue that had a million rooms with a million weddings going on at the same time. A few years ago I went to 2 weeks at the same venue, they had something like 4 or 5 weddinga going on and only 1 bathroom for guests.

Additional little things that I took note of were the bathroom, coat racks, parking lot (enough space and there's an over hang so if it's raining people can be dropped off) and the bridal suite. We also checked out the rest of the venue which is a country club and liked that there is a separate bar so if for some reason the alcohol at our open bar isn't enough..people can buy what they want (open bar won't do shots). Also we asked about pictures at the venue and using the golf carts. Oh and I asked about multiple weddings at the venues that were halls. I hate the idea of sharing space personally.

We were able to get proposal contracts and see the total cost with tax and gratuity from each venue within 2 days of visiting.

A few reasons we turned down other venues other than of course pricing, was we either didn't like the indoor or outdoor space, no elevator, one venue was nice but had a chair lift on the railing for the stairs that was a bit odd to us, another venue didn't have flexibility in the timing of the cermony so for a different start time would put us in another room with a higher guarantee of people we had to meet, also didn't like the bathrooms in one venue. Also if you will be getting dressed at the venue make sure there is enough space for everyone.

Here are the things to definitely ask:

- what vendors are included, if any, in the venue rental?

- what is the fee if we run over on time?

- will there be parking lot security?

- what are the closest hotels?

- what dates are available and what discounts can I get for booking a certain day/time of year?

- who are your preferred vendors?

- when is your open house?

- where can the bridal party get ready? Can we tour it?

- when can we arrive the day of the wedding?

- what's the weather back up plan, if it's outside?

- is it in the contract that we can have the rehearsal here and schedule it now?

Seriously, ask so many random questions that apply to your needs and take notes. Take pictures!

So my FH and I made a list of questions when we booked our venue. I'll attach screen shots!

The rest of the questions

@Alforev Thank you for the list ! I really am going to read off some of those.