Now that you have determined your wedding budget, your ideal wedding location, your ideal wedding date, and how to curate your wedding guest list, it is now time to talk about booking your venue.
Below are seven tips for helping you secure your wedding venue
What To Look For In A Wedding Venue
Tthere are many different types of venues that you can choose from. Depending on what region you are in there are wineries, resorts, country clubs, hotels, industrial-chic lofts, restaurants, historical sites, ski resorts, venues on the beach, Barn venues and more! I think you get the picture. There are many options to choose from. And the fun part is, you get to choose the style that best fits you!
We would be remiss if we didn’t point out that not all venues offer the same thing. There are many venues that offer rental of the space only. While other venues offer tables, chairs, linens, and the venue itself. Other venues come with the above plus in-house catering. These are considered all-inclusive venues. Venues which only include the venue rental itself require more work and coordination of your rental items.
We’re highlighting this because it is important to know what is included with each venue’s fee. If the venue is much higher than 11% of your budget but does include rental tables, linens, and catering that may be a perfect fit for you. If the venue is much lower than your 11% budget but doesn't include tables, chairs, etc, you will want to do some research to figure out what the total cost would be to have your wedding at that venue.
How to Find Your Ideal Wedding Venue
The best places to search for wedding venues in your chosen location are mostly online. Searching on websites like The Knot , Wedding Wire, and Style Me Pretty are very helpful tools. You can also find wedding venues by by typing in the region / wedding venues in a Google search. For example, if looking in the Tahoe area you would type in Tahoe wedding venue for a hundred guests or a hundred fifty guests. This will help you search and narrow down your venue. Other helpful tools are Pinterest and Instagram. because you Lastly, don't shy away from Facebook. There are many region-specific wedding planning groups and you never know if you have some Facebook friends that would be able to recommend a venue that you will fit your needs.
Since you already know your ideal guest count, narrow your venue search down by how many guests they can accommodate.
How to Stay Organized with Your Venue Search
When you are working with a full-service planner, they will likely be handling the venue searches for you. However, if you are doing this on your own we recommend creating a Google spreadsheet and keeping track of the venues that you are interested in. It is helpful if you make columns with their email addresses, phone numbers, contact person, maximum guest capacity, notes on what they include, and dates they available for a tour.
Touring the Venues
If you are able to, it is ideal to set a weekend or a couple of days during the week to dedicate to touring your selected venues. If you don't know what style of venue you're looking for, gather a variety of venues that fits your guest capacity and seems to be in your budget. Again, you are looking to spend roughly 11% on your wedding venue.
When you are booking your tours, the general rule of thumb is schedule an hour for a tour and allow plenty of drive time in-between visits. Do yourself a favor and Google directions from one venue to the next and then add an additional 15 minutes or so in case there is traffic or you need to use the restroom. Also, allow time for lunch. In general, we recommend visiting three or four venues tours per day. Also, we recommend comparing no more than 5 venues for your event.
What to Look For on a Venue Tour
When you are physically touring the venue, it is a good idea to be on the lookout for a few different items. If you have a planner, be sure to bring them with you to help.
Below is a list of items to take note of:
How is the flow of the venue? Where will guests be entering from, where are the restrooms, where will the ceremony be, how is the flow from cocktail hour into the reception.
How is parking? Are you allowed to leave your vehicles overnight? This is usually okay for at most venues but always ask never assume. If you're allowed to leave your vehicle overnight usually they require you to remove the vehicle by 10 a.m. the next day.
Getting Ready Areas: Are there Bridal Suites and groom Suites for you to get ready in? What is the rental.?
What is the rental period? Do you have the venue for 6 hours 8 hours 10 hours? And does that rental. Include vendor set up and tear down time or is that outside of your rental.?
Does the venue come with free Wi-Fi?
Rental Items: If they provide linens you want to be looking at the quality of their linens. What colors do they provide? What types of tables they have? What do their chairs look like?
Venue Aesthetic: What color are the walls? Will they go with the decor that you are already drawn to? Does the venue come with lighting or would you need to bring additional lighting? Does the venue seem to be your style even?
Guest Accommodations: How many restrooms are provided? Is the venue handicap accessible?
Venue Upkeep: Take note of the cleanliness of the venue. inside the bathrooms. Do the carpets seem clean? are there any stains on the floor? How does the venue smell? I know this seems weird but there are some venues that have a certain smell to them question whether they're old or there was some sort of accident and they were not quite been able to get that smell out. Does the venue need to be repainted anywhere? How is the landscaping?
Considering all of these things will help you got a good feel for the day, and know what your guests will be interacting with as far as the space that your wedding will take place in.
How to Book Your Venue
If you like the venue while you are on the tour, ask what dates they have available and see if you can place a soft hold. Usually, a soft hold is good for a couple of days or up to a week. If the venue happens to hold another tour and another couple is interested in your date you should expect to have first right of refusal and you are normally given 24 to 48 hours to decide whether you want to book that date or not with that venue. Otherwise, they will give the venue to the other couple for that date.
If you are ready to book, reach out to the venue coordinator and ask to create a contract. They normally will require your mailing address full name and a credit card on file. Expect to pay a small percentage of the overall fee as the retainer fee. Many venues are moving to online contracts and payments but some still do everything via paper. This just depends on your venue. With a signed contract and your retainer fee in place, your venue and date will be secured. Now you can move on to securing your other VIP vendors.
A Few Other Considerations for Venues
In light of COVID-19 we highly recommend that you ask each venue (really any vendor) what their postponement policy is. If they do not have a policy that is mutually favorable for you and the venue but it's only one-sided, we recommend not going with that venue.
If your venue comes with a wedding coordinator, know that they are really there as venue coordinators. Their responsibility is to represent the venue well, not primarily the couple.
There is a lot of confusion out there that a venue coordinator is a wedding coordinator and will provide the services for you the wedding planner would. Having been a venue coordinator before, I can speak that venue coordinator, while absolutely wanting to serve you well on your wedding day, their main priority is that of the venue. They will not be responsible for setting up your decor, contacting all of your vendors beforehand, and do not help with any of the beforehand planning. They are truly there to make sure the venue is set up correctly with any items that they provide. If there are any mishaps that happen with the venue during your wedding they will take care of that and will help run your wedding according to timeline. Most venue coordinators are there for the first part of your wedding and then will hand it off to another staff member to close your wedding down at the end of the night. There are many couples that do just fine with a venue coordinator only but if you are looking for more support, don’t look for that in a venue coordinator.
I hope these tips have been helpful for searching for and securing your wedding venue. As always if you have any questions or comments don't hesitate to leave them below.