Booking the venue for a "Destination Wedding"

funjennifer

Hi - My name is Jen and I am new to TK.  I have read the rules for this board so I hope I am following them with this question.  I got engaged 3 weeks ago and we have decided on a wedding in VA Beach.  We live in Northern VA so it's at least 3.5 hours away (without traffic). We are looking at a date in September 2018.  I have reached out to several venues and they have sent their availability, however, I am really concerned about booking a venue without seeing it first.  I assume this must be the case for many DWs so I was hoping for some advice.  Any recommended questions I should ask, that I may not have already?  Or requests that are "a must" in this situation?  Or even just advice to "get over it, no one likes a control freak" or "don't ever book a venue without seeing it first".  We could make a trip to VA Beach right after Christmas (around 12/26 or so) but I'm afraid that will be too late.  Has anyone else run into this challenge? 
TIA for any thoughts!!!

justsie

funjennifer said:

Hi - My name is Jen and I am new to TK.  I have read the rules for this board so I hope I am following them with this question.  I got engaged 3 weeks ago and we have decided on a wedding in VA Beach.  We live in Northern VA so it's at least 3.5 hours away (without traffic). We are looking at a date in September 2018.  I have reached out to several venues and they have sent their availability, however, I am really concerned about booking a venue without seeing it first.  I assume this must be the case for many DWs so I was hoping for some advice.  Any recommended questions I should ask, that I may not have already?  Or requests that are "a must" in this situation?  Or even just advice to "get over it, no one likes a control freak" or "don't ever book a venue without seeing it first".  We could make a trip to VA Beach right after Christmas (around 12/26 or so) but I'm afraid that will be too late.  Has anyone else run into this challenge? 
TIA for any thoughts!!!

Welcome to TK! I think if it were me, I would not want to book a venue without seeing it (or having someone I trust see it) but I know there are other people out there that would be totally fine doing this. If you feel like not seeing it beforehand would be too stressful, then wait until you can make it up there and be more flexible with your date options. 

As far as questions I would ask how many the venue can "comfortably" hold (not there max as this can sometimes be too cramped), what the cost comes with (Day of coordinator, food, cake, alcohol) etc. 

STARMOON44

Wait two weeks and go see places in person. 

lyndausvi

STARMOON44 said:

Wait two weeks and go see places in person. 

This.

Although in our case after a ton of research we had my parents take a look at the place.  They were also paying for most of the wedding, so we wanted their opinion anyway.    

A few months after we booked we were able to fly up to the location.  It was everything we expected.    

missJeanLouise

I found a list of questions for venues on HereComesTheGuide ( https://www.herecomestheguide.com/wedding-party-ideas/detail/questions-to-ask-your-wedding-venue ). I used that for my base and the personalized it for our needs. It really helped me compare venues by asking each one the same questions and writing the answers down. 

DISCLAIMER: I have not reread this list in over 2 years. Other Knotties might want to review.

southernbelle0915

If you can go in two weeks and then book, do that. People are busy with holidays, venues are closed anyway and I would be very surprised if every single place you like books up in the next two weeks.

judywedding2019

You can ask your planner (or a local friend or family member) to visit VA beach for you and do a virtual walk-through via Skype or Facetime.

Or use Google maps to peep aerial photos of the venue or resort before you book. "Study what is neighboring your dream location so you won't be surprised later."

short+sassy

I'm with the other PPs.  If you were talking about a longer amount of time before you all could see the locations, my answer might be different.

But since you all can go right after Christmas, just wait and check out the venues you're interested in, in person.

I don't necessarily think it is that big of a deal to book something site unseen.  Unless a person tends to be on the pickier side.  But, at the same time, it is more optimal to see it first.  Especially since it could be done by driving down and in a 1-2 day visit.