Venue Walk-through

I think the point of a walk through for a florist or photographer is to get an accurate visual of the venue so they know how to lay things out or what type of shots are going to work well. Your tasting with the venue/caterer is separate.

A walk-through is usually just that – you walking through the venue with your coordinator, florist, etc. It is just so you can get a feel of the space and plan your decor, placement of table/chairs, etc. It is mainly for generating ideas. I’ve never heard of a photographer doing a walk-through, but if yours is wanting to do it, that’s great!

Echoing those above, a walkthrough is just a visual for vendors to get an idea and take notes/pictures so they can be better prepared to work in the space. If you are hiring lighting/draping they may also want a walkthrough. Typically photographers don't come, but it is neat that yours want to. If you have a planner/coordinator they should come as well because they may have questions about the loading area/staging area and other vendor related questions for the vendors that won't do a walkthrough. This is also a great time for you to visualize how you want tables/chairs/dancefloor to be set up.

Be sure to take lots of pictures, I found that I didn't really take enough pictures of the venue empty so when vendors were asking I didn't have the best to provide.

Your florist is most likely suggesting this so that they can give you further suggestions and guidance around your centerpieces and other decor that they will provide. Having a feel for the space (not only the size of the room, but the lighting, the ceiling height etc) can help a florist visualize what they are designing for. They may suggest height based on the room etc.

I did this with my florist. She took notes about where she could place things, how she could fill the room etc. She's designing off of that (with my consultation). I would reach out to your venue regarding timing of everything else (tasting, linen choices etc).

The walkthrough really will be just that: walking through the venue to get a handle on the layout. We did our walkthrough the week of our wedding. We offered to all of our vendors to come with us, but they insisted they'd be fine on their own upon arrival. Because it was the week of our wedding, we DID have to bring the final head count, seating chart, etc., but I doubt you'd have to bring too much this early on. I would check with the venue just to be on the safe side.

The walk-through is you just seeing the space you're going to be in and visually seeing everything laid out: the dancefloor, the bar, where the tables are going to be, where the wedding party will be placed. I like walk-throughs to help get a visual of the space and then it helps to see everything. You won't have food tasting. They will schedule you for that at a later time.