Hi, welcome. It’s Andri from Always Andri Wedding Design and I’m back for the next instalment of my A to Z of Wedding Planning. This week we’re on ‘V’ and I’m going to be talking to you about V for wedding venues! One of the most important things for your wedding, because you really want somewhere to celebrate it.
No time to watch the video? Read the transcript below:
I’m just going to run through a few quick tips, you can read a more detailed blog post that I’ve written about wedding venue tips here.
WHAT KIND OF WEDDING DO YOU WANT?
So, first off one of the most important things is, what kind of wedding are you hoping to have? What sort of style, vibe are you going for? Is it something that you want very traditional, very elegant and formal? Or are you thinking you want something a bit more relaxed, laid back. The vibe and style you’re going for, really effects the kind of venue that you want to be looking for. Once you know what you want, that makes your decision so much easier. I would start off by narrowing down what that vibe is. A good way to look at is to think of lots of words that might describe your perfect day and narrow it down to two or three of the best ones, and then they can be your guide when you’re thinking about choosing your wedding venue.
WHAT ARE YOUR PRIORITIES FOR YOUR WEDDING VENUE?
The next thing you need to think about are what are your priorities for your wedding venue? What’s the really important thing? Location is the obvious one, but other things you really need to think about is your capacity. How many people do you want to invite for your wedding day and evening? Do you need on-site accommodations? Do you want exclusive use? There’s lots of those little things, practical things that you need to think about that you might want for your wedding day. So really break it down, look at what your practical options are and what you’re going to need.
WEDDING VENUE VISITS
I always like to set-up a spreadsheet, what are the really important things. And then as you start looking through venues and start with a long list as it were, and really do they fit those criteria, the things that you really want. And if they don’t, don’t bother even going to visit those. Once you start looking around, you find some venues to form your long list and from
Really look at the details and ask lots and lots of questions of your venue. Try and establish how they run their venues, how they run their wedding days. Are they flexible or do they insist on doing it a certain way? Really for you to decide, is that going to fit the kind of wedding that you want. You might find what you think is the perfect venue, but then they’re very strict about the way they want to move you- the way they hold the wedding, as it were. In which case, it might not be such a great venue.
If it means that on paper it looks like the perfect venue, but when you get there you can’t have the layout, or you can’t use the space in they way you want to use it, then it’s not such a good thing. Really ask lots of questions and talk to them about their flexibility and the kind of thing they want from their venues.
IMPORTANCE OF THE CONTRACT – WHAT DOES THE VENUE ALLOW?
And if you do think you found the right venue, make sure you get a contract. Really read it carefully, venues have a tendency to sneak in a few do’s and don’ts into their contracts about what they do and they don’t want to have there. Really keep an eye out. Things like, are you allowed to confetti, lit candles, that sort of thing. Really important to look at for venues as well is the access times. The start to finish times. When can your supplies get in, when you can start setting up and what time does all the guests have to be out, and what time do your supplies need to be out and do you have any kind of access either side, as well. These can be really important factors depending on the kind of wedding that you’re wanting to host.
Also, suppliers. Again, just double-check what kind of supplies they insist you use, their supplier list or can you be more flexible and bring in your own supplies.
That’s a very quick rundown of a few key things to think about when you’re looking for your venue. As I said, there’s a more detailed blog post here, so feel free to go and have a look at that. Of course, I’m always here for questions, so feel free to pop-in any questions in the comment box below, I’m happy to answer them for you. If you think my tips are useful, please do share my videos. I love to be able to help people, this is quite a busy time of year of people thinking getting married, and as they’re going into the new year, people start looking for their venues, and I’d love to be able to help them if I can.
Photographs by Cecelina Photography
