Things No One Tells You About Picking a Wedding Venue

Our Special Moments Event Planning team is sometimes hired to plan a wedding after a couple has booked a venue.

It’s certainly not the end of the world, but too often, we find that the couple didn’t do all of their research or didn’t read the fine print. 

Here are a few things to consider before signing on the dotted line.

 

Start With Your Guest List

We know that sounds like an odd place to start, but trust us on this one.

Each of you should put together a rough draft of the people you want to include in your wedding. Ask your parents to do the same.

If you and your fiance have been together for some time, you may have some crossover on your lists. The same goes for each of your parents.

Remember, this is only a rough list. You won’t be sending out Save The Dates or invitations for quite some time.

 

Why Guest List First?

The reasons for doing this one task so early in the process are twofold. 

Number one, the size of your guest list will affect many aspects of your wedding budget (spoiler alert: budget comes next).

Secondly, we’ve seen way too many couples book a wedding venue only to find that they are stuffed into it when they finish inviting family and friends.

 

Calculate Your Budget

Money is one of the few things people don’t like to talk about.

We see many more couples paying for all or a good portion of their wedding. However, many are receiving financial help from their parents. (on both sides of the aisle)

 

 

Once you have a comfortable number, divide it in half. Typically, 48-52% of the average wedding budget goes toward food and beverage, with the remaining 50% going toward the other parts of the wedding.

 

SIDE NOTE: We’ll go into more budgeting detail in a future blog post 

 

Take the food and beverage portion of the budget and divide it by the number of people on your estimated guest list.

When looking at wedding venue packages, this will tell you how much you can afford. 

 

The Ups and Downs

We know that number may come as a massive surprise to many people. We want to make sure that one uncomfortable fact is out of the way before couples dive into the pretty parts of picking a wedding venue.

There are typically two options at this point. 

The first is to go back to the well and decide if there is more money in the budget than initially discussed.

The second option is to make some cuts to that guest list. 

This is usually the best option, as many things in the other 50% of the wedding budget depend on the guest list size. This includes everything from the number of invitations and centerpieces to rentals like upgraded chairs, charger plates and linens, and even pieces of wedding cake.

 

Sorry, Not Sorry

This sounds harsh. But it’s best to see this piece of the puzzle before you fall in love with the venue of your dreams only to find out your guest list has outgrown the space or that you’ll have to cut things you wanted as part of your wedding day because you can no longer work them into the budget.

We promise the upcoming blogs on picking your dream venue, and budgeting will be way more positive and help you get excited about the pretty pieces of your wedding!