Your wedding venue says as much about you as your choice of flowers and your style of wedding dress. The venue is a tangible aspect of your special day, which will be forever embedded in your personal history, whether you choose to go back on each anniversary for a celebratory glass of champagne, drive past at any opportunity to reminisce, or drop in for a special dinner whenever you can.
So yes, you should be guided in part by your personal feelings and connections to a wedding venue, and for extra help in choosing the right venue, look at:
1. Wedding Venue Locations
If you and your fiancé are also searching for your first marital home, or you’ve already moved in together, you know the importance of location, and it’s important here too. Consider how the location of your wedding venue will affect:
- Your transport from your home in the morning, and the travelling times between the ceremony and the reception.
- How you’ll make it from the reception to your first night honeymoon accommodation.
- How far your guests will have to travel from their homes to your wedding.
- Your interstate or overseas guests and their hire car or taxi arrangements.
Then begin looking at the atmosphere created by the location of your wedding venue, is it close to road noise which will disturb your wedding wonderland oasis? Or is it close to a residential area which can mean you’re forced to turn off your music and quieten down your guests as early as 10 pm?
However, the most important factor in the location of your wedding is whether you love where it is, and how it feels to be there. Your wedding venue is somewhere you will come back to in your mind and in person as often as you can, so make sure it’s literally picture perfect.
Luckily now is the perfect time to head out and see wedding venues for yourself, when the weather is indicative of the most popular wedding times of the year.
2. Capacity of Wedding Venues
While you’re visiting potential wedding venues, look carefully at their capacity quotations for each space. Ask for their capacity before you tell them the size of your guest list, so the venue isn’t tempted to squeeze you in where you won’t fit just to secure
your wedding.
Also find out about any conditions on those capacities: does it involve moving tables around after dinner has been eaten to make room for a dance floor; does every guest at every table have a line of sight to the bridal table; are some of the tables squeezed into an outdoor annex to extend the size of a dining room; does it require putting 12 people on a 10 person table top?
3. Cost of a Wedding Venue
When shopping just based on price, we all know we get what we pay for. However, when it comes to choosing your wedding venue, the cost is a weighty consideration. As soon as you start comparing wedding venues you’ll find each has their own pricing and inclusions structure, which can make it hard to compare apples with apples.
Therefore, make sure you find out all of the costs involved in a wedding, including:
- Menu price per guest.
- Beverage package price per guest.
- Room hire cost.
- Styling costs and hire equipment.
- Deposit amount required.
For example, an all inclusive package with food, beverage, chair covers and centrepieces may seem much more expensive, however, if you like the options your venue has to offer for each of these, you can save by working with their preferred suppliers.
Until next time,
Love,
Cindy
Cindy Westphalen owns and operates Cindy’s Classic Gourmet based in South Australia.