Choosing your wedding venue can be wonderful, if stressful, process. If you’ve never been involved in wedding planning before, it can be difficult to understand how important this choice might be. If you’re looking at a venue, it’s vital that you pay attention to the following tips.
Know Your Priorities
It’s important to remember that choosing your wedding venue is just one of the many things you’ll have to do when you choose your wedding. While this choice might be very meaningful to you, it’s important you determine exactly where it ranks on your list of priorities. What you’ll spend and how hard you will fight to get a potential venue will largely rely on how important it is to get a particular space. If you don’t care much about where you get married, you’ll find the process much easier.
It is, however, important to note that prioritizing where you get married can mean many things. You need to know if it’s important that you get married in a specific church, for example, or if you need to get married in a specific type of church. Even knowing the difference between needing a specific place and a specific category can help you to determine your budget and how hard you’re willing to fight for a booking. Take some time to understand exactly how much weight you need to place on the choice of a venue before you start creating your budget.
Understand the Cost Factors
The wedding industry is just that – an industry. As such, you’re going to be dealing with many factors that are going to impact your venue. Many of these factors will have price tags attached, so it’s important that you understand exactly what you’re looking at before you go in.
One of the most important cost factors is always the date. Weddings have popular and unpopular seasons and most venues are definitely priced according to supply and demand. If you want a particular winter in the mid-summer, for example, you should be prepared to pay more and to have less time. If you need the venue in the middle of the winter, though, you may be able to get a deal.
At the same time, venues have their own rules about catering, DJs, and other wedding staples. Some might require you to use in-house services, which will cost extras. Others might waive certain fees or provide free services if you are willing to work with preferred vendors. Know the business behind your venue before you get ready to make any commitments – doing so will absolutely help you to understand how the choice will impact your wedding.
Interview in Person
Finally, make sure to go to view any venue that you’d like to see in person before you sign a contract. While you can view many different venues online, the truth is that you need to step foot in a space before you can make a real decision. Walking inside a venue will give you a better idea of the seating arrangements, any special issues that might impact your wedding, and even whether the venue actually suits your style. This is a decision that is honestly too important to leave to viewing a few static pictures online.
Viewing the venue in person also allows you the chance to retain some power in the negotiating process. Unless the venue is booked solid for the next few years, the venue is going to work to ensure that they get your business. If you can bring up your concerns about the space, there’s a good chance that the company that owns the venue will help you to find solutions to your problems. This is the perfect time to ask questions and to get a feel for whether the price charged is really worth it for the venue in question.
Always look at your choice of a venue as just one part of a larger whole. Understand whether the particular venue is worth fighting for, how the venue’s policies will impact your wedding (and budget), and the importance of viewing the venue yourself. If you can do that, you’ll be sure to find the perfect venue for your wedding.
