Venue Searching - Not E. related

geekybridetobe · December 2010

Hello all,
First off all, I lurk a lot. This board seems to get the fastest, most direct answers, so I hope you don't mind that I posted this here since it is not etiqutte related. Sorry for this being kinda long.

Me and my Fi have a tentative date for June 2012, but we want to start looking at venues to get ideas and possibly get our first choice of venues. Also, we are looking for a place to hold both the ceremony and reception.

What are some questions we should ask while looking? I don't want to forget something, and have that come back at me later.

What I can think of right now (please let me know if I should wait, or if there are anymore)
1. How many people does it hold/how many chairs do you have?
2. Can we bring in outside food, drinks, chairs, tables, ect.
3. Pricing (per day, hour, room ect)
4. Are there separate rooms to rent out, (one for ceremony, one for reception)

Thanks in advance for any and all help.

Edit: Horrible spelling

emilyinchile · December 2010

Time you get the venue to start setting up/time you have to have everything totally cleaned up? - if the venue doesn't do those things.

What time does the party have to end?

mica178 · December 2010

Ask about the parking situation/policy at the venue. Also ask what A/V stuff they provide (speakers, microphone, hook up for projector, etc.). Find out what the local noise ordinance is.

[Deleted User] · December 2010

Ask about minimums as they seem very popular at a lot of places these days.

mica178 · December 2010

Find out if tip is automatically put into the invoice/ find out what the "service charge" covers (some places still expect you to tip on top of the service charge).

Snippylynn · December 2010

Oh man. I would wait. Seriously. Wait. The number of stories I've heard about things happening before the wedding and not being able to pay for stuff or things changing. Wait. Please.

emilyinchile · December 2010

I don't think a year and a half is crazy far out.

geekybridetobe · December 2010

Thanks for all the suggestions. I usually tend to overthink everything, and forget simple things, such as parking and what time we would need to be out of there by.

As for the it is too far out, while I agree to a point, we live in an area that places book up to 2 years (or more) in advance and usually fill up fast. Being on a tight budget, we want to find a place that we like, within our budget, before it fills up (and those are the places that usually fill up the fastest). Thank you for the concern though.

With that said though, I will make sure to look in to their cancelling policy, because you never know what could happen with life in general - be it money or personal.

TriSaratops10 · December 2010

-- Who holds the liquour license or can you bring in your own vendor
-- Do they require wedding insurance at a certain amount
-- Age limits on guests (mine didn't allow kids under 12 unless in the WP)
-- Do they provide security or require that you hire out your own security
-- Parking

TurtlesAllTheWayDown · December 2010

In Response to <a href="http://forums.theknot.com/Sites/theknot/Pages/Main.aspx/wedding-boards_etiquette_venue-searching-not-e-related?plckFindPostKey=Cat:Wedding%20BoardsForum:9Discussion:8411842f-2b0c-4adc-8480-ba48bc8c75e9Post:ff71285f-762a-4528-900d-33f88ea97403">Re: Venue Searching - Not E. related</a>:
[QUOTE]Find out if tip is automatically put into the invoice/ find out what the "service charge" covers (some places still expect you to tip on top of the service charge).
Posted by mica178[/QUOTE]

<div>This, definitely. I told my venue, "okay, what can you do for me? We want x, y and z." I made it clear I wanted their estimate to include tax and gratuity. They crunched some numbers, threw a few things in and we ended up right around the price we wanted. It helped that the executive chef was also a partner/manager, so he had the authority to do that. </div><div>
</div><div>Also, if you want to bring in a cake, ask about cake cutting fees. Ask about vendor meals and if there's a separate area for that. </div><div>
</div><div>Ask about children's meals if applicable. I also asked how long we had access to the venue, so I knew when my vendors could get there to set up. (We could come in all day, actually, we were the only wedding.) Can you drop off decorations before hand and is there a secure place to keep them?</div><div>
</div><div>I was interested in the type of beer/wine/alcohol we would have. It ended up being about 12 kinds of beer (bottles and draft) and we tried the wine so it was fine. We had well drinks/house liquor available too.</div><div>
</div><div>Time limits - how long is the wedding, when will it start/end, will the bar close early, etc.</div><div>
</div><div>Meal tastings - when can you taste the food, do you need a head count if you want more than one meal choice, are you doing a buffet, do they include vegetarian options automatically. </div>