8 Tips for Picking the Right Wedding Venue

There are many important details you’ll need to get right for your wedding, but some are more important than others. The wedding venue, for example, will have a huge impact on the overall look and feel of your big day, making it a crucial decision. But that doesn’t mean that you need to feel overwhelmed by the decision-making process. In this post, we’ll look at nine handy tips that’ll push you in the right direction of the correct decision. 

Start the Process Early

There are some details you can leave until a few months before your wedding day. Choosing the venue is not one of them. While you could technically find somewhere to get married with just a few months’ notice, it’s unlikely that it’ll be the right choice. The best venues get booked up extremely early, sometimes years in advance. For this reason, beginning the process of viewing venues should be essentially the first task on the list. It’ll increase the chances of landing the right place for your chosen date. 

Think Logistics

There’s no shortage of outstanding venues to select from around the world. But in practice, most of those venues won’t be available to you. When it comes to choosing where you’ll get married, you’ll need to think about logistics just as much as you’ll need to think about the aesthetics of the place. Your dream wedding venue may be on a tropical island on the other side of the world, but that doesn’t mean that you should book the venue. Even if you’d be happy to travel there for your big day, you’ll need to spare a thought for your guests! While you don’t need to book a venue that’s located next to a train station, it’s best to give some consideration to how your friends and family will reach the venue. 

The Venue’s Experience

When you book a venue, you’re getting more than just access to the space. Or, at least, you should be. There are some places that look like ideal places to host a wedding, but which, in reality, are not, all because there’s no track record of weddings at the venue. You’ll find that your wedding runs much more smoothly if you book a venue that has experience. The Sand Castle Venue, for example, has more than thirty years of experience in hosting weddings, so you can have faith that you’re in safe hands. You don’t necessarily need to choose a venue that has many decades worth of experience, but if they have zero experience, then it’ll be best to look elsewhere. 

How Many Guests Are You Inviting? 

It’s best to have a sense of how many people you’ll be inviting to your wedding before you begin your search. After all, you’ll be looking at different spaces depending on whether you’re inviting twenty-five people versus two-hundred people. Plus, in most cases, venues will ask for a deposit that’s proportional to the number of guests you’ll be inviting, so if you’re looking to get a venue locked in, then you’ll need to have a number available, even if it’s just an estimate.

Also, remember that your venue should do more than technically accommodate your number of guests — you’ll want the space to comfortably host your number of guests. That is to say, they’ll have space to walk around and, of course, dance around. 

Budget Considerations

It’s probable that your wedding venue will account for a large chunk of your wedding budget. That’s all good and well if you have an unlimited budget, but if you’re like most couples, then that won’t be the case. Of course, it’s worth pushing the boat out slightly if you see a venue that you love, but it’s also important to think about the bigger picture of your decision. For example, does the price you’re quoted include everything, or will there be additional costs (such as service costs) that could prove to be an unpleasant surprise? Also, think about things like getting to and from the venue — will you need to hire a coach to take your guests to the venue? Those things will eat into your budget too. 

The Vibe of the Wedding 

There’s more than one way to host a wedding. Some people like to go down the ultra-traditional road, while others like to have a free-spirited wedding. It’s best to think about the type of wedding you’re looking for before you begin searching, because, of course, some venues will cater well to a modern and stylish event, but not so well for a boho wedding. 

How Much Work Is Required?

There are some venues where you’ll need to do basically all the work to get the space ready for your wedding. The room may be beautiful, but there’ll be little — or nothing — there for you to work with. On the other end of the scale, you’ll have spaces that are essentially already prepared for your wedding day. All you need to do is turn up. When you’re selecting your wedding venue, think about how much work you’ll need to do, and decide whether you’re OK doing it. Some people are OK with lugging portable toilets and sound systems to a venue, but some people find that to be a step too far. 

Go With Your Heart 

Finally, perhaps the best advice we can give to people looking for the perfect wedding venue is to go with their heart. You’ll probably have a sense of the correct space for you once you see it. On the other hand, you might see a venue that sounds perfect on paper, but which, for whatever reason, just doesn’t make your heart sing. You’ll probably know when you’ve found the right place, so don’t ignore that little voice that tells you that this is the space.

Conclusion

As we said at the beginning of the article, your wedding venue decision is important, so it’s essential to take the time to get it right. Take our tips above, and you’ll be on the right path.