venue help...

[slg47]

so I am looking at venues this weekend and will hopefully choose one (and a date!)

any advice when picking venues?

so far the factors I am considering are

price
outside catering or not
what is included-chairs? linens? plates/silverware? etc.
proximity to downtown/hotels (almost all guests are out of town)
parking
flow of space from ceremony-cocktail hour-reception
placement of bathrooms/bar/other important things
how secluded is it

and of course, how it looks

so yeah, any advice on how you chose your venue would be most appreciated!

 

[sillyberry]

I picked my venue based on sheer romanticism. I really wanted to get married in the Hyde Park neighborhood of Chicago, as I have an attachment after living there for three years, and there aren't a whole lot of options. The Museum of Science and Industry was too big and expensive, the art spaces just weren't right, and I thought we were going to be SOL.

But there was one spot that I just loved against all odds.

Basically a stone building on a peninsula that juts into Lake Michigan. All that the location has is some benches. Everything else has to be brought in by vendors approved by the Park District (and they're kind of fascist). It is far away from the hotel, parking is not the easiest thing, we're kind of screwed if there is bad weather, random people can use the bathroom (since it is an official park district way station), there will probably be barbeques going on in the nearby fire pits, plus a whole other host of reasons why it is a terrible location.

But it is beautiful and romantic and lush and I absolutely cannot wait to be married there. I clearly have no business giving anyone advice about picking a venue.

 

[slg47]

sillyberry that's beautiful!

 

[Diamondhalo]

I think there are always going to be issues, so try not to worry. I would advise that you make sure you click with the staff at your venue.

Great staff can really make your day flow smoothly, be hassle free and relaxing (as it should!).

 

[getting excited]

Another thing to ask about is resctrictions on candles and decorations. I looked at a few where you could not bring in any candles! That was a deal breaker for me. Another deal breaker at a lot of venues was how late the reception could go. For some reason, a lot of venues in my area can only have receptions ending no later than 10:00 pm (some even 9:30pm). That seemed too early for us. We had orginally wanted our wedding to end at midnight, but made the compromise when we found a venue we loved that ended at 11:00 pm.

My other advice is to enjoy the time with your fiance. It may get stressful trying to find the "perfect" venue. And sometimes perfect doesn't exist. I had a lot of fun discussing all the pros and cons with my fiance and making the decision together. Have fun!

 

[CurlySue]

First and foremost, we knew we wanted a place where we could do the ceremony and the reception, so that helped us knock a few things off our list, since many venues could only accommodate one or the other. I personally knew that I did not want to have to make more decisions than necessary, so hotels became a very attractive option for me, because most of the ones we looked at provided the food and had bakeries selected in advance and provided chairs/linens/etc. On top of that, we knew it would be convenient for our guests, about 70% of whom are coming from out of town and would be able to stay at the hotel where the wedding is.

We looked at options in downtown Chicago and in the suburbs. While the Chicago options were a bit more expensive, we felt that a weekend in downtown Chicago would be much more fun for our guests than a weekend in the suburbs. So that helped us narrow things down even further.

Beyond that, our decision really came down to how we felt when we were in the space and how the staff treated us. The hotel we went with is smaller, cozier, and has a quirky decor, and that fits with who we are as a couple and how we wanted the wedding to feel. We also get one floor to ourselves and we are the only event held there that weekend. So it feels more private than some of the other hotels. And our event coordinator (who has been a GODSEND!) was incredibly professional, personable, and fit with both my and my fiance's personality.

So... short story long - that was our thought process. We didn't go into the process with that kind of focus, but as we continued talking about the venues, we figured out what fit best with what we envisioned.

 

[TooPatient]

so I am looking at venues this weekend and will hopefully choose one (and a date!)

any advice when picking venues?

so far the factors I am considering are

price
outside catering or not
what is included-chairs? linens? plates/silverware? etc.
proximity to downtown/hotels (almost all guests are out of town)
parking
flow of space from ceremony-cocktail hour-reception
placement of bathrooms/bar/other important things
how secluded is it

and of course, how it looks

so yeah, any advice on how you chose your venue would be most appreciated!

fees for using outside caterers (per/person, "cake cutting" etc)
fees for cake/cupcakes (some charge even if they don't have to cut)
waiters included in price? (if you are using them)
bartender?
outside alcohol? (bottle opening fees, per glass fees, etc)
gratuity included in pricing? (some charge 10%+ "service fee" and then add gratuity on top of that)
can they change rooms on you without warning (I saw this at one place)
charges for spills/broken-glasses (can't remember who ran into issues with this)
require a day of coordinator?
any locations off limit to photographers?
clean up requirements (I saw one recently that requires bride/groom to arrange cleaning)
indoor option if weather is bad? (if you're considering outdoor)
live bands allowed?
dj allowed?
How late is music allowed to go?
conflicting events? (like nearby concert venue that may blast loud music)
Any construction plans? (a BIW had a scare when her venue started major construction just before her wedding)
bride/groom prep rooms?
candles okay?

 

[rosetta]

all good advice above!

for me, the most important thing was to be able to hire the venue overnight, complete with rooms to sleep in, and a venue with exclusive use.

this cost £££ but i hated the thought of asking guests to leave at a certain time, if the party was still going (around here, most venues have a midnight end time)

i will be staying at my venue until breakfast the next morning with about 20 of my friends and family.

wonderful!

dont know if someone's said this already, but ask about fireworks, noise restrictions (whether they allow amplified music or not) driveway torches, photo booths (all things i'm having but i found were not allowed in a lot of places)

 

[rosetta]

other things I considered:


will the flowers be in bloom during the time of year you get married?

are there are photo restrictions due to copyright (i visited lots of stately homes with priceless paintings, that you could not have in your photos due to copyright issues!)

what are the bathrooms like? can you put your own nice towels, soaps, flowers etc in them? who is responsible for keeping them clean?

parking, parking, parking! are there valets? it is very annoying as a guest to arrive in your finery, to find there is nowhere to park.

how do they dispose of the flowers? i wanted my flowers to be donated to local hospitals and nursing homes after the event.

if you are having your ceremony in another venue, how will all your guests get to the reception? remember to factor in all the time this will take!

what happens in the event of breakage, damage or drunk guests?

what time will all your vendors have to be cleaned up and cleared out by? make sure they can all do this in time!

gratuities for serving/bar staff? what kind of percentage is the norm in your area?

if you are having small kids, will there be a creche facility? i strongly recommend some sort of nanny/sitter if you are having kids present during your ceremony.

i'll think of some more later.....

 

[zoebartlett]

I chose my venue by deciding what type of location I wanted it to be in. My husband's family and friends all live relatively close to us, but I had a lot of extended family and friends coming in from all over the country. Because of that, I wanted our wedding to be somewhat of a DW. We live about 1.5 hr. or so away from the coast and from the mountains. Yes, our guests could have spent the weekend in or near my hometown, but with so much more to do in these regions so close to us, we decided to choose one of those. The water means a lot to me, as does the area where we got engaged in (a lighthouse on the coast), therefore, we decided to have our wedding near there.

If there a specific place near you that means a lot to you and your FI?

Once we decided on the area, we needed the venue itself. We wanted some place that did both the ceremony and the reception, but we didn't want it to be a function hall type of place. We wanted it to be big enough to hold an indoor event if the weather didn't hold up. We chose a restaurant that holds weddings all the time. The grounds were gorgeous, the food is amazing, and we were thrilled that we chose the venue we did. We're lucky in that we now get to celebrate our anniversaries at our venue since it's a restaurant.

Just some things to think about...

 

[zoebartlett]

Oh, one more thing. We wanted the venue to be in an area where there was lots of stuff for guests to do. That was a must for us.