3 Important Questions You Need To Ask Your Wedding Venue
3 Important Questions You Need To Ask Your Wedding Venue
Whether you’re just starting out looking for the perfect venue, or you have your perfect venue booked. Here are my top 3 questions you need to ask.
What’s Included?
What Time is Last Orders?
Is There A Wedding The Day Before And/Or The Day After?
What’s Included?
This is without doubt probably the single most important question that you can and should ask your wedding venue and to be honest, read the small print and assume nothing.
There are a lot of venues that will sell you on an all inclusive package, exclusive use, all rooms, etc and to be honest years of experience has taught me that to be true. However, I’d be a fool if I failed to mention the times that wasn’t quite the deal after all. Because let’s be honest, this isn’t the kind of thing you want to find out on your wedding day.
Here’s a few points that I’ve experienced first hand over the years:
Heating - This venue that hosted over 100+ guests, had a single log burner to keep the place warm. That’s fair enough, for the most part, that would probably work. Except the catch here was that there was only one basket of logs and that was the quota. Now, for those of you who don’t have a log burner or are curious to know just how far one basket will go, I’ll summarise by saying… It’s simply not enough.
Hire of the beer - One groom purchased what he thought was a barrel of a specific beer that he wanted, unfortunately that was all he purchased and on top of that the couple and all the guests had to pay for the beer. It was a bit of a nasty surprise to say the least, but fortunately the groom understood.
Size matters - I’m sure you’ve heard it all before, but not this one… Large size petals (50p size) come with an extra charge if you want your guests to throw it over you. Anything small and you’re ok, but if it’s a 50p size it incurs an additional cleaning up charge (£50 to be precise).
Exclusive Use - That wasn’t quite exclusive after all. When you’re told it’s exclusive use, you’d expect that was exactly what it is, except one couple who found out there was an Afternoon Tea party going on a few rooms away from the Ceremony. Now whilst this didn’t cause any issues and they were gone by the time the ceremony was finished, if something is sold as being exclusive use and isn’t actually exclusive, it can be quite the shock and not one you want to find out on your wedding day.
What Time Is Last Orders?
You don’t want to be caught out by this one, not only because there’s nothing worse than your party coming to a standstill when you thought it was just getting into full swing, but also because you need to let your guests know what time to start thinking about pre-booking transport home (if required). It seems like such a trivial question and in today’s society of the 24/7 culture, you really wouldn’t think you need to ask it, but I do know a couple who were caught off guard by this…. After they had already booked. It turns out, their last orders were called at 10:30pm and whilst they had an absolutely amazing day, this was one thing they do wish they had asked up front.
Is There A Wedding The Day Before And/Or The Day After?
This is going to dictate what time you can arrive the morning of (or stay the night before) and what time you need to be gone the following day. The last thing you’re going to want is to feel like you’re being rushed. If it’s not possible to stay the night of your wedding or it’s too early of a start, have a look for nearby (and practical) options. If you choose to stay somewhere else on the night of your wedding, have a friend or family member book you in and take over your overnight bag so that when you’ve finished partying, you have nothing to worry about other than getting in that taxi.
If there is a wedding the day before, be considerate when you arrive. Imagine how you would feel if people were arriving on your wedding day for the following day. It’s an exciting time, but keep a low profile.
Other Questions..
You may well have other questions of your own, or might to have thought of any and are now wondering if there is anything else you should be asking.
So here’s my suggestion for you. Assume nothing. There is no such thing as stupid question. Or, as I like to put it, the only stupid question is the one you didn’t ask.
Start by making a list of what’s important to you about your day. Even if you start the list of working around the financial side. Are the chairs included? The napkins? The table cloths? What decorations are included? Evening entertainement? Are umbrella’s included if required? A cake stand? A cake knife? Overnight accommodation? Any spa treatments? Is breakfast included?
Anything that could cost you extra financially, could lead to unwanted stress.
Be careful of “No hidden charges” - What exactly does that mean? Sometimes that could just be as straightforward as you’ve got nothing extra to pay other than the quoted figure. But what EXACTLY is included in that quoted figure?
I’m not saying you need to prepare yourself with 101 questions, but if it’s important to you…. ask.