Finding the perfect wedding venue is not easy. After all, there are plenty of options to choose from. When it comes to finding your dream venue, there’s a lot to consider. So let’s dive in and ask the immortal question: what’s in a wedding venue?
Speak to a Wedding Planner
When you are looking for a great wedding venue, it might be a good idea to speak to a wedding planner before you even start looking at places. Wedding planners have a wealth of experience, after all, they know how to navigate venues and will be much more familiar with the things you need to incorporate to transform it to suit your tastes. Because if you find a venue that has a unique quirk about it, this may prove to be an obstacle to achieving your vision. The wedding planner will give you a good insight; they will understand, not just what a space is capable of, but how long it will take to transform. We need to trust a planner implicitly for these reasons.
Get to Grips With the Guest List
The guest list is always worth knowing before you start looking at venues. When you know how many guests you are expecting to invite, it’s going to give you a far better idea of the type of venue you want. Because if you choose a venue that is too small for the guest list, it’s going to be uncomfortable for most people. Couples tend to underestimate how many people to invite or how many people their parents want to bring. Having that conversation early in the process means you can get to grips with what you are working with, and you can then break down the budget accordingly. When you’re planning a wedding, a lot of the costs could be dependent on the number of people you’re inviting, so get the number right and everything else will follow.
Find a Venue That Fits Your Vision
As obvious as it sounds, you need to find venues with the aesthetic you’ve got in your mind. Because if you’re looking for a modern wedding, you can look beyond country homes; you can find restaurants, art galleries, or even warehouse spaces. Or if you’re looking for something more modest, you can always choose parks or the backyard of your own home! Choosing a venue that will fit in, and enhance, what you’ve got in your mind will help you and the guests feel more connected to the space and the occasion.
Think About the Guests’ Experience
As much as it is about you, you want your guests to feel like they are sharing the amazing day. There’s nothing worse than having guests feel like they’ve got to keep their mouths shut or are badmouthing the venue behind your back! If you are inviting a lot of people from out of town, you may want to look for a venue that’s connected to a hotel as this is going to make things comfortable for them, but you’ve also got to remember the numbers! The maximum capacity of a room doesn’t necessarily make it comfortable.
Have Implicit Knowledge of Your Budget!
The budget will comprise a number of different components. It’s not just about how much the space costs to rent; you’ve got to think about the decor and the floral designs. You need to know how much your budget is, but also how much it will cost to bring everything to life. Because if you underestimate this, you could end up having to scale back the designs or look for something more affordable. The best way to do this is to break down your budget by category. Once you’ve selected the venue, it can be harder to backpedal if it’s costing more than you should have set aside.
Don’t Forget To Stay True to Yourselves!
We can all run the risk of finding a venue that is amazing based on how it looks online. It’s important to think about what is authentic to both of you. You can then choose a space that represents who you are. The space is the foundation because when you start to put the pieces together by hiring great entertainment and adding those little touches, the venue becomes the canvas you can paint on. This is why it’s got to be the perfect venue for you, not what the Pinterest pictures portray!
What’s in a wedding venue? Plenty! And if you’re looking for the ideal one, some of these things should be at the forefront of your mind.
Latest posts by Shafonne Myers {Editor-in-Chief} (see all)
