Venue

Yes and no. For our large wedding that has been postponed: Yes, it was actually the first venue we ever looked at. For our small elopement out of town: No, we had 2 months to plan a wedding and needed a venue quick. I looked at the venue 1 week after signing and putting down a $500 deposit.

Here’s something kinda funny, I didn’t do any dress shopping in person and bought my wedding dress somewhat “sight unseen” online from a bridal salon in another state, simply based on pictures and a video they sent (and the dress is perfect)!!! But, unlike most brides, the dress wasn’t the main thing for me..... The venue (along with decor) was actually the most important aspect for me. That’s because the venue is the foundation for the wedding and sets the tone/atmosphere for the wedding day experience. The overall look and experience is what most guests remember.


We’re having a destination wedding and selected a unique and unconventional venue. But in pics, I could never have grasped the full extent of the venue, its different spaces, the layout and other details if we hadn’t seen it in person. At the same time, there were some venues that looked great in photos, but once we were physically inside, it was a definite no! So, to me, seeing a venue in person is extremely important!

No. That is not something I would even consider. That is too big of an investment and it a very important aspect of your wedding.

I would at least try to do a virtual tour. They can explain the space one way on the website but then it can be totally different when you see it. Also you probably will want to meet the event coordinator. Youre giving them a lot of money so I’d want to know exactly what i was paying for

View Quoted Comment Would they allow you to tour on weekends? Or at a later time? The venue we picked actually closed at 5. And my fiancé and I work full time. They let us come tour after hours.

I would not recommend signing a contract without seeing it only because pictures can be deceiving. One venue my fiancé and I LOVED online was nothing like we expected in person. We were actually underwhelmed. And I’m glad we decided to go look in person. I just would hate if this happens to you. Or maybe at least ask to do a zoom or FaceTime tour virtually if there are health and safety concerns.

We signed blindly for ours! We are having a destination wedding and can’t fly out to check out venues. We relied solely on pictures (venue, visitors, Instagram, etc.) and online reviews.

Yes, we did because they were booking fast and were almost out of fall 2020 dates (that doesn't matter now since we moved to spring 2021 lol). We had visited all the other barn venues in our area and none of them were the one until we found Winding Crrek. The owners were out of town for like 2 weeks when we contacted them, but we just did a very detailed facetime session and then went to visit it when they got back. I know this can be risky, but we had no regrets. Our venue is so beautiful and the owners are literally the nicest and most accommodating people ever!

We definitely had to view our venue choices to pick the best one. One tip I can give is maybe see if the venue offers FaceTime/Virtual tours.

I would not sign a contract fro a venue without seeing it in person. If you have anew baby and can't make it our have them give you a live video tour.

Noooo!!! I wouldn’t advise to do this 😭 if you can’t attend maybe have a close family or friend see it record and take lots and lots of pictures and video chat you as a tour guide !! My friend did that for her friend who is pregnant and it was soo cute and kind. Reason why I’m so adamant that you don’t do this is that my FH&I got
Engaged in 2018. I had my heart set on a venue and loved the photographs and videos and setting. Fast forward 2 years I finally got to see it in person with my mother& ML, sister & SL. Long story short the drive up the mountains was ridiculously confusing and I got lost finding my own venue. Imagine the day of for guests and it’ll be their first time ?😅 let alone a lot of my senior guest or those with heart conditions wouldn’t be able to come because of the elevation. After this it was worse. What seemed to be a long aisle was in fact extremely short like 20 steps. The pictures gave an illusion of an elongated aisle. Make matters worse what used to be the parking lot turned into a junkyard. They started building a house right in front if the venue. Which wouldn’t be finished next year during my wedding time and it looked just absolutely out of place with the venue. Don’t get me started with the reception which had nothing but red wood sticks which would get stuck on my dress and create tears let alone my guests as well. We wouldn’t be able to wear heals or even wedges because our feet would get stuck and wobble ( I had boot heels and was struggling during the tour). The price was insanely cheap and BYO everything. We were broken and devastated because we had built our budget around it and had so many ideas to get it started. But the pictures and videos were nothing compared to how the venue was up to date. They truly let the venue go down and it was not worth even the amount they were charging for. Jump start a month later we fell in love with a venue I took a tour in and it became the one. My FH is deployed and will be back this month so he only got to see the venue in videos and photos and FaceTime but it was so worth it. Excited for him to see it now. Some venues even offer zoom tours ! See if your venue offers that and speak to the coordinator who is assisting you in the process☺️ I hope this helps! And that you may find the venue of your dreams for the both of you! Congratulations on your engagement and baby girl 💖🥰🤗 I can only imagine how you must feel and understand you not wanting to take her out for all of your safety. Best wishes ✨🎉

My fiance and I almost signed up to a venue w/o visiting. Thankfully we did not do that. The place looked stunning in photos (castle looking like building), but it wreaked in person, and it was falling apart! Apparently the venue had water damage, and did not get it fix in time for our visit. It was really too bad.

View Quoted Comment No way. I would not personally not sign for something without seeing it first. The first venue we loved, the second two had only two bathroom stalls, and both had dividing walls so we would have had to share with another wedding. Didn’t find any of that out until after. It’s also good so that you can get an idea of the person you’ll be working with interview/ask them questions in addition to getting an idea of the space and layouts. Also, in every venue I’ve experienced chiavari are always extra. I think it’s like $500 extra for ours but it was one thing I made sure we budgeted for