There are a lot of elements in a wedding that one can finalise closer to their D-Day, like flowers arrangements, a wedding cake or certain rituals; but a wedding venue is of priority to every couple… Afterall, it is the venue that decides where you will be hosting your family and friends to celebrate a milestone.
Choosing your wedding venue should be your first consideration, before all else. As soon as the wedding date or month is finalised, Indian couples then seek to book their venue at least five to six months ahead. However, having to pick the ‘right’ venue can be a process that takes days on end, is overwhelming and hard. With information and resources available at your fingertips, all thanks to digitisation, choosing the best venue has been made much easier by WeddingWire India with these simple steps.
Set Your Budget (and Ensure to Stay Within)
Having a budget in mind while planning for your wedding is crucial. This will eliminate non-feasible options, stay within what is possible and in turn, save a lot of time.
Knowing Your Vision
Planning and envisioning your wedding day is the first step to making the right choice. To begin, ask yourself:
- What kind of venue would you like to be wed at?
- Is there a specific wedding theme that you have in mind?
- Would you prefer an outdoor or indoor setting depending on when you want to get married?
- How many people would be at the wedding?
- Is the venue accessible for your guests and vendors?
- Is the venue you are choosing able to provide quick action in case of last minute troubles?
Once you have answers to these questions, you will then be able to shortlist venues according to the location, type of venue required, budget, capacity from WeddingWire India’s vast directory that will fit the bill. In addition to the intuitive interface, WeddingWire India also provides exclusive promotions and discounts for its members.
Check With Your Wedding Planner
To plan an event as complex as a wedding, it is always good to have a professional’s opinion. Wedding planners come to the rescue to provide you with advice that will help accomplish your vision, iron out details and elevate the wedding to create a unique experience for guests and to-be-weds. Your planner will ultimately know if the venue is worth your vision and their execution.
Understanding Your Guests
Knowing how many guests you would want at the wedding will save you from potential headaches down the road. Before moving forward with preparations, it is always a good measure to create an invite list using various online tools to know how many guests will be present at the venue, manage event details and if the majority of the guests are in proximity or will have to travel for the wedding. This will further help refine your venue selection.
Check Available Packages
If you do not have a wedding planner to hire multiple vendors or plan your special day, then it is ideal to consider Cairns Wedding Venues that offer additional packages like food, decor, accommodation, etc. This will not only save time and money, but also aid in better managing different elements on your wedding day.
Choose a Venue That Aligns With Your Vision
“This might seem obvious, but seek out venues that fit the aesthetic you have in mind, says Kait Costanti, co-owner and creative director of Bash in Bozeman, Montana. “If you’re planning a modern wedding, look at art galleries, well-designed restaurant spaces, or warehouses. On the flip side, a wedding incorporating more natural elements works well with outdoor venues such as parks, backyards, and ranches. Choosing a venue that fits in with (and enhances) your theme will enable your wedding to feel more connected to the space.”
Know Your Guest List
“Knowing how many guests you’re expecting to invite before you go looking at venues will help save you from headaches and heartaches down the road,” says Holly Patton Olsen, wedding planner and owner of Seattle’s Perfectly Posh Events. “If you choose a venue that is too small for your guest list and more guests RSVP ‘yes’ than you can fit in the space, you might be in a tough situation.” Couples often underestimate how many people they will invite (or how many their parents will want to add), so have that conversation early to know what you’re really working with.
“This will also help you break down your budget, as some costs are very dependent on the number of people you’re inviting,” Olsen says.
Think About What Is Included
“If you’re looking at some venues that are full-service, and some where you can bring in your own vendors and décor, be sure to price everything out,” says Olsen. “A venue with tables, chairs, and linens included might cost more upfront than a venue where you need to rent your own, but you should get an estimate from a rental company to see how they compare when you’ve added on the price of renting things for yourself.”
And remember that the included rental items are often more basic (white linens, standard flatware, banquet chairs, etc.), so you may still end up paying more to rent items that fit your vision better. “And if you’re working with a venue that has in-house catering with a food and beverage minimum, be sure to include the tax and gratuity in your calculations. For example, in Seattle sales tax is 10 percent, so I recommend that my clients add at least 30 percent onto the food and beverage minimum to account for tax and a 20 percent gratuity. That takes a $10,000 minimum up to $13,000.”
Stay True to Yourselves
“With the influx of Pinterest weddings, a lot of couples choose venues based off of the style of a wedding they fell in love with online,” says Costanti. “But it’s important to ask yourselves what feels authentic to you two as a couple, and to choose a space and a design that’s a representation of who you are.” And remember that, while a venue might have looked gorgeous with a different theme or design scheme, it may not be the perfect canvas for yours.
Read FAQs and the Terms and Conditions Carefully
Before zeroing down on your venue, we recommend going through each venue’s FAQs and asking as many questions as possible to help you make a confident choice. Ahead of finalising the venue, paying a deposit and signing a contract, it advisable to check images and videos of the setting, read consumer reviews and terms and conditions to gain a sense of personal guarantees, clauses for cancellations, deposits, etc.
Yes, before you start looking at spaces. “Planners are much more familiar with the capabilities of a space, the layout, and the time and items you’ll need to really transform it,” says Alliey Kline-Weichelt, lead planner and CEO of Sash & Bow in Green Bay, Wisconsin. If there’s a creative way to make it unique or a quirk about the space that could make your vision hard to accomplish, your planner will know.
