About two weeks ago, we hosted an intimate discussion with tips and information on what to look for in a wedding venue. In case you missed it, or didn’t sign up on time, a few general guidelines are summarized below along with a few pictures of our past events!

Size:

This may seem obvious on the surface, but this can easily create issues if you book a venue before really considering the size of your wedding. We’ve seen this issue come up with clients who booked a venue before coming to us as well. While it is easy to toss out a number, and say that you’ll cap your wedding at 100 guests, once you begin writing down names of your friends/family as well as those of your fiancee, your parents and your fiancees parents, that number can grow very quickly. On the flip side, getting a venue for 500 and seating only 300 can make your wedding look empty. It’s important to sit with family and look realistically at numbers before looking into a venue, and then plan accordingly. In addition to this,  you want to be sure that you’re considering the size of the room when setup ballroom style – meaning after both chairs and tables are set for dinner. A room setup auditorium/classroom style can fit significantly more people, so you want to be sure that when the venue tell you it can fit 300 people, that’s 30-35 tables with 8-10 seats around each.

Location:

People who truly love you will attend your wedding regardless of where it is, but they likely will also complain afterwards if say your reception is an hour away from your ceremony venue. You always want to keep in mind that out of town guests especially will have a hard time getting around if the venues are far from one another, and too much distance can cause the majority of your guests to arrive late and/or disgruntled. A 5-20 minute distance from your ceremony site is ideal.

Chairs:

This may seem like a cosmetic thing to consider, but it is very important to consider the type of chairs at the venue vs your final dream look for the day. Many of our partial planning clients fall into the trap of booking a less expensive venue with terrible chairs, not realizing that it costs a lot to rent/cover chairs. On average, it costs $2.50 to add a chair cover and sash, or $3-$10 per chair ($3 for white padded chairs, $7-10 chivari chairs). Even for a small wedding of 100 guests, this can add anywhere from $250-$1000 + tax, delivery and extra labor to setup the furniture, and this only goes up if your guest count goes up.

Food and Beverage Options:

This is one of the most important things to consider when looking into a venue. Will they allow you to bring in your own catering? If so, is there an extra fee? Does the in-house caterer have options which work for you? Will the chef work with you on the food – ie, make options more/less spicy, change sauces etc. If possible, schedule a tasting before signing with the venue, and if possible do so on the day of an existing event so that you can see what the food tastes like when mass prepared. If it isn’t possible to do a tasting before booking, be sure to ask questions to gauge the venue and chef’s willingness to work with you on some of the options before you sign!

Style:

While it is absolutely possible to create almost any look and feel in any space, significant add ons can come at a high price tag. Transforming a modern loft into a regal, traditional venue will require a lot of work and cash. Renting chandeliers, draping and more are possible, but it may be more cost effective, depending on your vision to select a venue which has a couple of these elements already.

Are you planning a wedding in the metro NY or DC area? We’ve got relationships with many great venues along the east coast, and would love to help you find the venue of your dreams, and plan your wedding! Be sure to  contact us via the form below to find out more about our site selection and wedding planning services, and to schedule a complimentary consultation today!

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