Booking Your Wedding Venue
When you first start planning your wedding it feels like all you do is attend meetings. With so many venues and suppliers it’s not surprising that you soon start to feel a little overloaded by it all.
It doesn’t have to be this way if you have a clear vision in your head of what you would like and more importantly you stick to it. Also make sure you have all the relevant questions to hands as with so much going on it’s easy to walk away wishing you’d asked things at the time.
Here is a an essential guide to the questions you need to be asking about each element of the day and your venue before putting pen to paper and confirming your booking, no matter how excited and caught up in the moment you are. If you fail to make sure everything is as you want it there could well be some disappointment when it comes to you ‘big day’.
Before you get started
Even before you start thinking about decorating the venue and letting your mind run away with you ensure the fundamentals are in place. Ensure that the venue can cover the basics when it comes to your wedding requirements.
Ask yourself
- Is the venue available on our chosen date?
- Can the venue accommodate our guest numbers for the day and the evening?
- Is there room availability for us both to get ready at the venue should we wish?
- How much parking is there for all our guests?
- Does your chosen venue have parking attendants or will you need to employ your ushers to deal with this?
- Is overnight parking available?
- Who will be there on the day to ensure everything runs smoothly and to plan?
- Will we have exclusive use of the venue?
Overnight Accommodation
- Is there accommodation on site?
- Can guests book and pay for their accommodation direct with the venue?
- What is the earliest our guests can check in?
- What time is check out?
Ceremony and Reception all in one place
- What is the earliest time we can hold the wedding ceremony?
- Which rooms are licensed for wedding ceremonies?
The Wedding Breakfast
- How many options can we offer our guests for each course?
- Is there a complimentary menu tasting included within the fee?
- Is there a corkage fee?
- Is crockery and linens provided?
- What size tables do you have?
- What are the options for table lay out?
- What chairs will be used?
- Will we need to organise chair covers if required?
- Can we use external caterers?
- Are microphones provided for the speeches?
The After Party
- Will we need to vacate the reception room for the evening set up? If so is there another room available or a lounge that can be used by our guests?
- What evening menu options are there?
- What time can the band/DJ arrive to set up?
- Is there a sound limiter our band need to be aware of?
- Can an iPod be plugged into the venues sound system?
- What are the bar prices/packages?
- Will guests be able to pay by card or is it cash only?
- What time will the party have to finish?
Paying for your Big Day
- How much will the initial deposit be?
- Is VAT included in the prices we’ve been quoted?
- Are they any other additional charges that haven’t been included in the price such as staff/cleaning/room hire?
- When will our final payment need to be made by?
Good to Know Extras
- Do we have to use your recommended suppliers?
- Will the venue deal with clearing everything away after the wedding?
- Is there somewhere where our wedding gifts can be stored securely?
- Do you have public liability insurance?
For more tips on choosing your wedding venue take a look at our other blog posts https://www.chezbec.com/blog/
For all your bridal hair accessories and jewellery visit our shop https://www.chezbec.com
