Ultimate Wedding Venue Checklist
So you’re engaged to be married and have begun the mission of planning your wedding day celebrations! Congratulations! You are about to undertake an incredible journey, the efforts of which will only be brought to fruition on your wedding day! As part of our weekly Wedding Planning Series, we’re sharing a checklist of what to look for, what to budget for and what to ask when searching for your wedding venue.
Undoubtedly, the first and most important thing to do is to secure a wedding venue. When selecting a wedding venue, there are countless things to consider to ensure that you are choosing the best venue for you and the type of wedding that you’d like to host. It is important to align the vision and plan that you have for your wedding day with your wedding venue in order to determine how your chosen venue can suit your needs.
Although you should use your vision as your guide, remember that with most aspects of selecting your wedding venue, you will need to consider whether your wedding venue suits your budget and your invited guests. It is essential that you always try to consider your guests when making the decisions for your wedding venue. The aim is to try to make it as easy, relaxing and enjoyable as possible for guests to get there, spend time celebrating your happiness to their heart’s content and then depart after the celebrations have come to a close!
Wedding Venue Checklist:
Before Visiting Wedding Venues
Before visiting your list of wedding venues, there are a few things that you need to consider so that you know exactly what you’re looking for.
- Firstly, you need to draw up your wedding guest list to determine the number of guests that you intend to invite to your wedding.
- Once that’s sorted, you should select a few wedding dates as options for your wedding day. Also, be sure to envision the type of wedding that you’d like to have – the size, the theme, or whether you want everything indoors or outdoors, or a combination of both.
- Not forgetting, you need to realistically consider your budget for your wedding.
- It would be wise to create a list of the most important aspects that are non-negotiable and prioritise them according to importance, whether it be the wedding date, theme, or location of your wedding venue.
- Download this wedding venue checklist printable PDF
Venue Availability
- Consider a few wedding dates that you have in mind, in order to find out whether the venue is available for these dates.
- If you intend to have a wedding with the bridal party and guests staying overnight then be sure to consider the availability of the both the venue and suitable accommodation, either at the location of the venue or nearby.
Venue Size and Capacity
- As your wedding venue needs to be able to accommodate all of your guests comfortably, you should refer to your guest list when considering the size of the venue.
- In addition to the availability of the venue (and accommodation if necessary), you will also need to consider whether the venue’s capacity and pricing will suit your guest list and your budget.
- The same goes if you need to book accommodation – consider whether the accommodation pricing and the number of rooms available will suit your guest list and both your guest’s and your budget.
Venue Booking, Payment & Insurance
Before selecting your venue, you need to be sure of the fine print, especially in terms of payment!
- Remember to always confirm dates, times and details in a written contract.
- When enquiring about the cost of a service, always enquire what is included and what is excluded.
- Anything can happen on your wedding day and for a little peace of mind, it helps to know that you are insured should anything go wrong. If the venue does not have insurance, then you will need to cover the cost of insuring the venue for the duration that you will be using it.
Venue Location & Distance
Whether you plan to have a destination wedding, a wedding a short way out of town, or within close travelling distance to most of your guests, it is so important to consider the location of your wedding venue in terms of how easily it can be found by your guests and the distance your guests will have to travel to reach your venue. Consider the following to ensure that your guest’s experience travelling to your wedding venue is top-notch:
- Traffic and the day and time that your guests will be travelling to and from your wedding.
- Posting signs along the way to your wedding venue is a great way to direct your guests as they near your venue.
- Include some form of on-board entertainment if you’re providing transport for your guests to the venue, especially is the venue is quite some distance away. Fun wedding games, music, movies or even a humorous tour guide can really make the difference in turning a deary long drive into a fun journey!
Venue Style
Selecting the site of a venue based on its style and whether it offers the option of either an indoor, outdoor or a mix of both venues for your wedding ceremony and reception requires consideration of a number of things:
Wedding Theme
- Your wedding venue needs to match the look and feel that you are going for. Having a wedding theme is very useful in order to ensure that all the elements of your wedding, resonates with your theme – whether it be modern, vintage, country, rustic, or inspired by the location where it is to be held, such as a wedding on a beach, wine farm or in the city. Your wedding venue can therefore, either reflect the look and feel of your wedding theme or you should be able to use it as a base to creating the theme that you want.
- Although it is best to work with the existing décor, if you love the venue, but don’t fancy the existing décor, then by using the right draping and decor (remember to factor in the additional cost), you will still be able to use the venue to create your dream wedding.
Indoor vs. Outdoor Venue Options
- If you choose to book an outdoor venue, always ensure that you reserve a back-up indoor venue that you are happy with, in case the weather turns sour.
Venue Décor, Sound & Lighting
On-site or Outsource
- Considerations over the venue decor, sound and lighting can extend from your wedding ceremony, reception and until the end of the wedding celebrations. You will need to find out whether the venue offers décor, sound and lighting on-site and the costs involved (if applicable) and if you have the option of outsourcing your own décor.
Venue Accommodation
- If you’ve decided to have a weekend of wedding celebrations or you’d like to offer your guests the option of staying over at the location of the venue or nearby, then apart from the accommodation offered at your wedding venue (if there is), you will need to ensure that there are preferably two accommodation options nearby to your venue.
- If you need to book accommodation, consider whether the accommodation pricing and the number of rooms available will suit your guest list and both your guest’s and your budget.
- To make it extra memorable, find out whether there are special honeymoon suites available for you and your partner.
On-site Venue Facilities & Services
- It’s a great help if you can find a wedding venue that has several facilities and services that can support your event to make it extra special. From whether there are suitable cloakrooms & dressing rooms for you and your guests, what available venue staff are on offer, what the parking facilities are, to where the delivery, event set-up and breakdown areas are, the list is endless!
Sustainability and Ethical Wedding Venue Questions
- Does the venue use sustainable practices to reduce its environmental impact by recycling or composting, etc?
- Does the venue use renewable energy?
- Does the venue support any charities or NPOs?
- Does the venue use locally grown food and products?
(Download the below wedding venue checklist for more sustainabilty-focused and ethical wedding venue questions.)
To take the sweat out of remembering the overwhelming list of key questions to ask, check out this Wedding Venue Checklist printable PDF. Download it and take it along with you on your hunt for your dream wedding venue!
CLICK TO DOWNLOAD THIS WEDDING CHECKLIST HERE
NEXT UP:
- How to Plan a Wedding in 100 Steps: Detailed Checklist {Start here}
- How to start your wedding budget breakdown {Wedding Planning Series Part 1}
- How select guests and plan your wedding guest list {Wedding Planning Series Part 2}
- How to Plan Your Engagement Party {Wedding Planning Series Part 3}
- What Does a Wedding Planner Do? Do I Need One? {Wedding Planning Series Part 4}
- 150 Question Wedding Venue Checklist {Wedding Planning Series Part 5}
- Selecting a Wedding Officiant {Wedding Planning Series Part 6}
- How to Choose A Wedding Photographer {Wedding Planning Series Part 7}
- When to order and send wedding stationery (timeline) {Wedding Planning Series Part 8}
- How to select your bridesmaids {Wedding Planning Series Part 9}
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This seems like a great guide for choosing a venue. We are going for a private estate/Blank slate venue and could use something to help us compare our options. Is there a date your checklist will be available?