Questions to Ask Wedding Venue

8 Top Questions to Ask Wedding Venue Candidates Before You Choose

You’re deep into the wedding planning process. You’ve set a date for the wedding day. You have a theme or wedding colors. The guest list is all coming together. Now you’re trying to decide on a wedding venue.

Whether you’re just starting to tour wedding venues (site visits are a must!) and compare and contrast your options, or you’ve narrowed down your wedding venue candidates to maybe two or three venues, don’t sign the venue’s contract until you’ve asked a few questions.

These are the eight questions to ask when viewing a wedding venue to ensure your special day is just as stunning as you imagined.

1. How Many Guests Can the Venue Accommodate, and How Well Can They Accommodate Them?

Among the top questions to ask wedding venues, accommodation is the first you’ll ask if an answer is not on the venue’s website. It will quickly determine whether or not a venue is a good fit for your event. If the venue can’t fit all your guests, it’s a no-go.

However, beyond worrying about whether or not the venue can accommodate your guest count, you also need to consider accessibility accommodations. Will elderly guests or disabled guests be able to reach both the ceremony and reception space easily? Or will they be impeded by a lot of stairs or other obstacles?

What do the bathroom facilities look like? How many bathrooms are there? Will your guests spend most of the wedding reception in a bathroom line? If it’s an outdoor wedding, are you limited to portable toilets?

2. Does the Wedding Venue Have Preferred Vendors?

This wedding venue question is another one that may help you quickly decide if a potential venue is a good fit or not.

Most venues have a list of approved vendors that you must use for your wedding. Sometimes, these vendors may be limited to the caterer, but the venue may enforce stricter vendor parameters at other times.

So, be sure to ask a wedding venue:

• If you can pick your own catereror if you have to use an in-house caterer and, if so, if there’s a food and beverage minimum spend
• If you can bring your own liquoror other own alcohol, or if you have to use their cash bar (depending on the answer, you may need to look into a liquor license)

These are the two most common preferred vendor requirements.

3. What Does Your Initial Venue Fee Include, and What Comes with an Extra Service Fee?

Ask wedding venues for a precise list of everything that comes with your ceremony and reception venue, and what might cost extra. You may just be surprised at what you’ll need to pay for, and the cost of your wedding will quickly add up. For example:

• Will the venue provide a sound system, or must you bring your own sound equipment?
• Are there cleaning fees? Does the venue expect you to clean the space yourself?
• Are there certain service charges,like a cake-cutting fee?
• Will the venue provide specific services and extras, such as a cake standfor the wedding cake, a table for the wedding gifts, or a shuttle service?

After you know these details, you can determine whether or not you want to cover service charges that may apply to a specific venue.

4. How Many Events Will Be Happening at the Same Time?

Suppose you’re having your wedding at a large venue, such as a hotel with multiple event spaces. In that case, you may find that other couples are having their weddings in the same place on the same wedding date. Will you have to share any of the same space?

For example, if your cocktail hour runs over and another bridal party needs the space, this will cause an issue. Or suppose you want to arrive early and begin getting ready in the bridal suite. In that case, you discover you’re not allowed into the space until the other bridal party’s time is up. Therefore, it’s crucial to understand and ask if your venue is accommodating multiple events to avoid potential issues.

5. What Happens in the Event of Inclement Weather?

This is one of the most important questions to ask your wedding venue if you’re having an outdoor wedding. However, don’t exclude it from your list of questions to ask when looking at a wedding venue, even if your perfect wedding venue is indoors. Tornados, hurricanes, and snow storms can derail even an indoor wedding.

Ask about the venues’ weather-related cancellation policy and if there’s an on-site space to host the event if your outdoor wedding is rained out.

6. What is the Payment Schedule?

Firstly, you must get a complete cost overview when considering what questions to ask at a wedding venue. Then, you need to know if you can pay the cost in installments or if you need to pay all at once. When is your final payment due if you’re paying on a schedule? Some venues will ask for the final payment on the wedding day.

7. Who is Your Point Person?

Since most weddings are planned by the engaged couple rather than an official planner, some wedding venues offer an in-house wedding coordinator to help out. If this person isn’t already the one answering your venue questions for wedding planning, ask if you can meet that person. You don’t want to sign on for a venue and then realize you have a significant personality clash with the individual who’s primarily helping ensure your big day runs smoothly.

8. What’s the Venue's Policy Regarding Wedding Insurance?

Lastly, if you weren’t aware, many venues require the hosting parties (you and your fiancé, your parents, etc.) to purchase insurance.

This insurance protects the venue if a guest gets injured during the wedding or if the venue sustains damage. For example, suppose someone slips and falls at the reception or someone drunkenly puts a fist through the reception bathroom wall. In that case, the venue needs to know it won’t be sued for damages and that the costs to fix any damages are covered.

This insurance is called special event liability insurance, and most venues require $1 million per occurrence and $2 million aggregate general liability limits. The venue may also ask to be on the insurance policy.

All of these details will likely be in the venue’s contract. Asking to see the venue’s agreement with crucial questions to ask a wedding venue is the best practice before booking your wedding venue.

As you consider insurance for your wedding, you may also want to confirm whether your vendors have public liability insurance.

Questions to Ask Venue for Wedding FAQs

What are the top questions to ask for wedding reception planning?

Whether speaking with a venue or other vendors, always ask about the provider’s total costs and see a contract sample.

What questions for reception venue planning are key?

When deciding on a venue specifically, always ask about the venue’s size and accommodations, costs, preferred vendors, payment schedule, extra fees, and cancellation policies.

Should you pick a wedding date or venue first?

It depends on which matters most to you. If you’re keen on getting a specific venue, you may be flexible with your date, so you can take whatever the venue can give you. Suppose you have a precise wedding date in mind. In that case, you may want to decide on the date and then be flexible and choose from whatever venues are available.

How much should you spend on a wedding venue?

According to The Knot, most couples spend about 40% of their wedding budget on a venue.

Does the engaged couple pay for their wedding venue?

Whoever is paying for the wedding will pay for the wedding venue. It’s becoming increasingly common for the engaged couple to pay for the entirety of their wedding.

Get the Insurance Your Wedding Needs

These wedding venue questions are just the start of your venue selection process. Before making your final decision, we know you’ll have many questions to ask about a wedding venue. We hope this article helps you along the way. We cannot stress enough the importance of these questions to ask when looking for wedding venue options are as you plan your special day.

While these wedding venue questions are just the start of the questions to ask about a wedding venue before making your final decision, they are some of the most important questions to ask when looking for wedding venue options.

If, in the process, you learn that you do need insurance for your wedding, BriteCo can help. Learn more about wedding insurance and get a quick, free quote now.

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When to Get Wedding Insurance
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Understanding Wedding Cancellation Insurance
What to Know About Wedding Event Insurance
A Quick Guide to Micro-Wedding Venues
How Long are Weddings?
Do I Need Wedding Event Insurance?
How to Choose a Wedding Venue Perfect for Your Big Day

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