Venue Shopping

Ask about: what all specifically is included, how many hours you'd have the venue for, what time you can get into the venue on the day of the wedding, costs for adding an extra hour, whether you can hire any vendor you want or if you have to use their preferred vendors, cancellation/postponement policies, deposit amount, final payment due date, max capacity, whether you can access the venue a day of ahead of time for the rehearsal, how far in advance you'd need to submit a final count and whether you can make any changes after that, what the parking situation is like, will your wedding be the only one hosted at the venue that day, are there any prohibited items (candles, sparklers, etc), and setup/tear down policies.

View Quoted Comment Holy cow! This is exactly what I needed. I literally didn't think of ANY of this stuff. I appreciate you!

A few odd things we saw on a city-owned site. There was a fee for the sheriff. The city wanted to be able use photos (their own photographer) without restrictions. Had to have a security guard or two. At least these were listed on the website, so they were somewhat apparent. But we would have to go add up those numbers to see what the real cost is.

If you want to save on money and the hassle of booking so many vendors, go for “all-inclusive” venues or ones that include a lot of things. Our venue came with the tables, chairs, linens, dance floor, some up-lighting, valet, security, drinks, and food if desired (the company’s main business was their long-time local restaurant). I feel like you already have to gather enough vendors for the day as it is, so I think I would have gone crazy if I had also had to find someone that provides tables and chairs, someone that could do the drinks, someone that could provide security, etc, etc, etc 😂😂😂😂

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The setup alone seems like it could get crazy. Some people doing decor. Others setting up tables and chairs. Another group doing the linens. Then a catering group doing the place settings. Plus the floral group placing flower arrangements while a decorating group adds other embellishments.

Are the security guards a necessity?

View Quoted Comment The security was required when we went with the venue, so could not get out of that. I think nowadays companies want to be careful in case guests get too drunk and rowdy.

View Quoted Comment This is a good tip. I'm already overwhelmed and haven't even finished the guest list 🤣


I give props to everyone planning a wedding like it ain't nothing.

I still am figuring stuff out. Partly it could help to know the way any venue damages or other problems would be handled. See if there are any cleanup fees that could be tagged on. One bride had rented fake bouquets and the cost was a bit expensive for one that got lost.

View Quoted Comment This is all such good information. Thank you so much!


Ps, never knew or considered renting bouquets!

One of the things that prevented us from going with out first pick for a venue was that it was a very old building without elevators or a handrail to get up the front steps. My mom is elderly and can’t get up stairs without at least a handrail and three flights of stairs up to the ball room just wouldn’t work for her. So if you have someone with a disability that might be coming ask about how handicap accessible it is.


The other thing that was super helpful for us was we booked our venue tours on fridays. Because all of the venues were actually set up for a wedding that night or if there wasn’t a wedding that night there was one on Saturday that they had at least the tables and chairs set up for. It was nice to get better picture in your head how the space worked.

View Quoted Comment Both very good things to consider! Thank you so much!!!