5 Questions for Finding which Wedding Venue is Right for You
How’s it going everyone. Welcome back to episode three where we will be going over wedding venues and the questions you should be asking when reserving your date. We went over some details in the previous episode but we will be diving into more specific questions today.
Questions like, what exactly is included with the venue? What is the amount of guests I can invite to my wedding and what are the policies on their payment scheduling details.
If this is your first time here, my name is Armin Avila and I am a wedding photographer and videographer residing in the California Bay Area.
So let's just say they have your date available, you like the location and ambience that the venue portrays. It seems like the perfect venue and you just see yourself getting married there and inviting all of your friends and family to pass that time with you.
Now before saying yes, there should be some questions that you need to be asking them regarding the services they offer.
- Question 1:
If you happen to have a large family, you should always make sure that they will have accommodation for all of them. Nowadays with the pandemic, venues are allowing less people indoors than outdoors. This will come into play in case you have a large family and they can only accommodate them outdoors. Always make sure to ask them their indoor and outdoor guest capacity so that they can give you an idea on how many guests you are able to invite or you can decide to book a different venue because of their restrictions.
- Question 2:
Also, you should always ask if they offer any additional services. This can include anything from music, either live music or a DJ, catering, an open bar, a wedding booth, or anything else that will improve your guests experience. Many venues will let you know this in advance but this just helps you gather information on what individual vendors you will need to get in contact with that are not offered by the venue itself. Most venues will include the essentials and of course they will let you know the services that can be applied depending on your budget.
- Questions 3:
Another important detail you should consider is asking them if they have an onsite getting ready location. Some venues offer in house locations where you are able to get your make up done, put on your wedding dress, or suit for the groom and just hang out with your wedding party, in a separate location from the groomsmen of course. Some venues don’t offer any on site locations and you will have to decide where you will need to be getting ready. Some brides decide to do it at a hotel near the venue itself and others might just use their own home to do so. In whichever way you decide to do it, just make sure you know this ahead of time. This helps for a more seamless planning process and will improve time managing when it comes to your timeline.
- Question 4:
Fourth question you should be asking and this is more specifically aimed at venues that have an outdoor ceremony as their main selling point. What is the back up plan in case it starts raining? Weather is something to take into consideration especially since it can’t be predicted months in advance when you have already set the exact date for your wedding. Now here in California where I live you might not even have to worry about this. We get like 3 days where there’s rain and two of those it rains like 30 minutes for the whole day and then its sunshine for the rest of the year. Either way you want to make sure there is plan in case things change. Most wedding venues will have backup solutions when it comes to weather conditions. Some offer indoor solutions and others have a setup process in place where they are able to protect their outdoor wedding ceremony from any weather related conditions. You want to make sure your wedding goes smoothly rain or shine and making sure there is a backup plan is reassuring that the venue will accommodate you and your wedding guests with any type of situation.
- Question 5:
Lastly, ask them about the payment scheduling and process. Make sure you ask what every single service ends up costing and that there are no hidden fees. Every venue will ask for a deposit when reserving your date. Now the amount will differ from venue to venue but you need to make sure to have this amount as soon as you can to assure your date is saved and reserved. Most venues offer financing options and you are able to give recurring payments depending on the venues policies.
With all that said, after asking these 5 questions you will be able to gain more information and decide if this is the venue for you. Like I always say in my videos, these are only recommendations from what I have seen and the questions I have been asked but hopefully I was able to help out with any questions you might have regarding wedding venues and the planning process as a whole.
I hope to see you guys on the next episode where we will be talking about the benefits of having a local wedding vs. a destination wedding.
Thanks again for joining me today and i'll see you on the next one, goodbye.
