How Much Time When Scouting Reception Locations

NJSL

Hi!  My fiance and I are planning getting married in Pittsburgh, PA next August (haven't set an exact date yet, waiting for my mom to check when teachers report back to school).  We are heading down in April for a hockey game and are extending our stay to go visit some reception locations. We're coming into town Wednesday night and will need to leave early Sunday afternoon, with the game being Thursday night.  With only a few days, I want to schedule time to look at as many places as we can, but how long should I plan on being at each location?  I'm hoping to have the list narrowed down to only a few locations by the time we go.  But we have so much to do that I want to get as much done in each trip as possible.  Any help anyone could give would be greatly appreciated.

tu9387

Each venue I checked out only took about 40 minutes or so.  I had spent a lot of time looking at them online, and reading their menus and pricing, etc. so by the time I got there, it was really just to physically see if the location was as incredible as the pictures.  Good luck!

danieliza1127

Probably an hour or less, but just ask when you schedule the appointment.  The person that you talk to should have a good idea of how long they usually take.

Annie_Warbucks

Agreed. Definitely less than an hour. I would say if you are not wowed by a place just take a quick tour and leave. No need to sit down and go over all the details. 

NJSL

Thank you all very much, I appreciate all the advice

megk8oz

Going to ditto the PPs, it should be less than an hour per place.

I think our longest appointment was 45 minutes ... and we had a venue that it was over in less than 30 (This was at a venue where everything was extremely basic, so it didn't take that long to go through the place and go over their package).

JulesMarie25

If you can plan in advance well enough you should be able to hit several locations that you are interested in all ready. My FI and I hit 9 venues in about 7 hours, including drive time all in one day. We did one right after another.

Since you are coming from out of town, I would suggest that you ask for pricing and menus ahead of time. That way if a place is too far out of your budget you know not to waste time going.

tenofcups4me

I'd leave about an hour per venue. You probably will end up with some downtime in between, but that should be sufficient time to cover everything you want and need. (And don't forget to factor in driving time between locations!). You can also do a lot of pre-screening by internet and phone ahead of time.

The first time I got married, I asked a lot of questions on the phone that led to me deciding not to bother to even visit some places. My wedding was in the summer so if a place didn't have AC, they were out. Some other deal-breakers for me: If they didn't have a way to accommodate a ceremony and reception; if my guests would have had to be in more than one room for the reception; if they didn't have any Saturday nights available in the month I was looking at; if their minimum was higher than my guest list; if there was a rental fee.