The tough questions to ask your wedding venue

Finding the perfect venue for your wedding can be a journey. But no matter whether you fall in love at first sight, or a venue grows on you over time, you will reach a point where you will have to start to ask the tough questions. Here are some questions to ask your wedding venue:

We’re not talking about sussing out the capacity of the venue, the seating arrangements or the decor options – those are stock-standard questions. We’re talking about the what if questions and the ones that could save your butt (and your money) if anything goes wrong.

These are the most awkward questions to ask, but the ones you absolutely need to. If you are not backwards about coming forwards, you can launch straight into these when you sit down the venue manager or co-coordinator, or you can pose them over email.

Remember, it is always wise to get answers to these questions in writing for future reference if needed, so if you do go down the verbal track initially, ask them to also send you an email with everything in it.

The dollars

• What is included in the quoted price? (Always check for possible discounts for switching days or times too…)
• How much is the deposit and how much is refundable if we change our minds?
• What corkage or cake cutting fees do you have?
• Is there a bar minimum that must be met?
• Do you charge overtime fees for staff or for the venue hire if we run over time? Please can you provide us with a comprehensive fees chart.

The what-ifs

• What is the cancellation policy? How close to the booked wedding date can we cancel?
• Does the venue have liability insurance?
• Do you require us to purchase wedding liability insurance to use your venue?
• What happens if you go out of business before our wedding day?
• Do we need any permits for alcohol or anything else to use your venue?

Bringing in outside help

• Can we use another caterer if we don’t want to use the in-house option?
• Do you have a list of preferred caterers that we have to stick to?
• If we bring in our own caterer, can they use your kitchen without paying extra?
• Can we provide our own alcohol?
• When can we come in to set up and decorate? How much help can you give us with this before we have to pay anything?
• Can we move furniture and other items around when decorating?
• How early can our suppliers make deliveries?
• How long do we have to clean up after the reception?

There are, of course, many, many more questions you will ask about your venue that will cover more detailed aspects of your wedding day, but make sure you cover the tough questions too.

This will give you peace of mind that if something does happen, you will know the best course of action that you can take and how your venue can help you to work through any issues.