With such a large and varied selection of wedding venues out there for you to choose from, it can get a bit overwhelming when deciding which venue is the right one for you. There is a lot more than just aesthetics that go into making the “perfect venue” (although it is a huge bonus).
It is very likely that you will end up visiting a few wedding venues before picking your dream location, so it is important that you collect all the information you need to ensure the venue can deliver what you and your partner are wanting on your special day.
To help you with this task, here are 50 important questions to ask your wedding venue before you book.
The Basics:
These questions are often flagged early on by wedding venues themselves prior to visiting the venue, however it is important to be aware of them in order to ensure the venue fits your basic requirements.
1. What is the venue's availability?
An obvious one, you want to make sure that your ideal date (or a suitable alternative) is available before selecting your venue.
2. How many guests can the venue accommodate?
You will have a vague idea of how many guests will be attending your ceremony and reception. It is important to check that the venue can cater for your guest list. It is key to note that some venues may have different guest restrictions from ceremony to reception.
3. Does the venue have a wedding coordinator?
A wedding coordinator is a person responsible for making sure the wedding day is executed perfectly. Their roles include overseeing wedding suppliers, managing the timeline, and overcoming any last-minute challenges that arise during the festivities. Most wedding venues have an in-house coordinator, however, dry hire venues may not but may have recommendations for on the day wedding coordinators that you can hire externally.
4. Does the venue have a civil ceremony licence?
If you desire to have your civil wedding and reception hosted in one location, it is important for your venue to have a civil ceremony licence in order for you to be legally married there. If they are not licensed, you can always get legally married beforehand and have a celebrant-led ceremony on the day.
5. Is the venue available for exclusive hire?
Some wedding venues host multiple weddings in one day. Others are open to the public all year round. If you are set on having your special day out of the eye of the public, then check whether the wedding venue has exclusive hire available.
6. Does the venue have an alcohol licence?
This is a permit that the government issues to allow the venue to sell alcohol to your guests. If you are having a dry wedding, this may be less of a worry to you. If the venue doesn't have a licence, then you may be able to get a temporary one for the day itself.
7. Who will be your point of contact leading up to the wedding?
Planning a wedding can be stressful, so having a good support system that understands your wedding needs is crucial. It is good to know who you will be contacting about all the finite details prior to your wedding in order to build a good rapport and feel safe in the knowledge that they will understand your requirements and deliver on their promises.
8. Does the venue have public liability insurance?
Every wedding venue should have some form of public liability insurance and should be willing and ready to show you the documentation to prove this. If you are planning on getting married in a venue that doesn’t often host weddings, it is important that you check this as you do not want to be held responsible for any injury that may occur on the day.
Venue Pricing and Forgotten Costs:
This is a very important topic to address with your venue. Wedding venues and catering should take up roughly 45% of your total wedding budget (however this may be more or less depending on your wedding priorities). Therefore, it is important that the venue discloses all potential costs that you may be facing by using them as your wedding destination. After all, no one likes overstepping their budget!
10. How much will the venue cost for our wedding?
Some venues are available for dry hire and that means you will only pay a fee to use the space and need to source other suppliers yourselves. These venues will be able to give you one flat rate for the entire wedding day. They may also be able to supply furniture like chairs, tables and cutlery, but this will vary from venue to venue.
Other venues offer packages and these are usually at a price per head for catering on top of the hire fee. However, some venues offer all-inclusive wedding packages that include venue hire, catering, decor, DJ and even a wedding cake which include the hire fee in the per head price. For both of these examples, you will need to have an ideal guest list prepared so you know an approximate number of people that need to be catered for. The venue can give you a good approximate cost when they have this information.
11. What is the venue's payment and cancellation policy?
Knowing how the payments will be expected to be made as well as what the cancellation policy is will help you to understand what you are walking into when you agree to book and sign the contracts.
12. What payment plans are available to me?
Some venues can be flexible with spreading the cost of your wedding with many having a set plan in place that works for the majority of their couples. A deposit usually secures your date and allows the planning to begin. However your payments are spread following this will be down to their discretion but you can always expect that the final balance will need to be paid before the wedding takes place.
13. Is VAT included in the price?
Find out whether the venue's pricing includes VAT or whether this is added on when you are given your quote.
14. What are the venue's bar prices? Is it cashless?
You'll want to know what your guests will be paying when they order drinks on your wedding day. You'll also want to advise them on your wedding website or invitation if the venue is cashless.
15. Is there a corkage fee?
Some venues may charge corkage if you plan on bringing your own wine or spirits in for the wedding. This is usually a flat fee per bottle.
16. Is there a cake cutting fee?
Some venues will charge you extra to cut and serve the wedding cake. Check with your venue beforehand to see if this is something they do.
Top tip: Ask your venue for a full quote including any extra charges that you may require. It is very helpful to have the full price list in one place so you can make sense of the costing and whether the venue is feasible for your budget.
Venue Accessibility:
A wedding venue needs to be easily accessible to you and all your guests. It is important to be aware of what the venue can accommodate, and what it can’t. Having this awareness will allow you to be prepared for all eventualities and plan how to navigate these accessibility issues.
16. What parking facilities are available?
Understanding where your guests will park, if their vehicles will be safe and whether there will be enough spaces will be important to your guest's experience on the day.
17. Can guests park their cars overnight at the venue?
Whether this option is available to your guests or anyone who isn't staying within the venue's onsite accommodation is good to know, but generally is not a deal breaker for most couples.
18. Do you have a list of local taxi companies we can supply to our wedding guests?
Unless you are getting married in a city centre, your guests may need to pre-book their taxis for the end of the night.
19. Does the venue provide a shuttle service?
Knowing if your venue offers a shuttle service to a local town or a few local hotels is good for helping guests to understand what options are available to them for transport home or to their accommodation. If for example the venue does offer a shuttle, you may want to advise your guests of the location so they can book somewhere to stay and avoid needing to book a taxi or driving.
20. Does the venue provide accommodation for the wedding couple?
This is important to know as if there is no onsite honeymoon suite, you and your partner may need to organise a getaway car to take you to your accommodation at the end of the night.
21. Is there overnight accommodation for wedding guests onsite?
If you are investigating a hotel wedding venue the answer here will be obvious, however, knowing how many people they can accommodate will be useful as you may want to pre-book rooms for more important people on the guest list such as parents, grandparents and your wedding party.
Top tip: It is also worth asking whether this can be secured in bulk as many venues and hotels will offer discounted rates for bulk bookings.
22. Where is the nearest accommodation to the venue?
Your venue should be able to give you a list of local hotels and B&Bs that your guests can enquire with for the night of your wedding.
23. Is there disabled access?
It is so important that all your guests feel included and that they can celebrate your day with ease.
Top tip: Using our venue finder’s filter, you can easily find the venues that have good disabled access for those with a disability.
Wedding Decor and Suppliers:
Every couple’s vision board is covered with aesthetic wedding venues. It is important that your wedding venue looks like it has stepped out of your vision board and into real life. Therefore, it is imperative that you check that your venue can cater to your style.
24. What are the table layout options that your venue offers?
Devising a table plan is a tricky business. If your plan works out better on round tables as opposed to tressel tables then you shouldn’t have to sacrifice your dream layout if the venue cannot cater to these requirements. There are many different table layout options to choose from, so make sure to speak to your wedding venue coordinator to see what layouts they can accommodate.
25. Does the venue have any decor restrictions?
Asking the venue early on if they have any decor restrictions is important as you don’t want to make a large purchase on decor that the venue doesn’t allow for. Often venue’s have strict rules on naked flames or things hanging from the wall. Therefore, if you have your heart set on a candlelit ceremony or hanging fairylights, speak to wedding venues to see if they will cater to this request.
26. Does the venue provide complimentary decor?
Some venues will provide certain decor pieces such as linens for the tables and chairs. Dry hire venues will likely expect you to hire your own or be able to supply this at an additional cost.
Speak to the venues to see what they offer and if there are any additional costs to using their decor pieces. Some venues may charge you to turn on certain lights, such as decorative fairy lights, so speak to your venue host beforehand.
27. If I am choosing my own suppliers, do you need any documentation from them?
Before you confirm your suppliers, your venue may have some rules in place that you need to adhere to. For example, all electrical equipment the supplier uses at the venue may need to be PAT tested or they may need to see proof of that supplier's public liability insurance before they can allow them to work at the venue. This is most common in venues that are open to the general public (i.e. museums, galleries and town halls).
28. Who are the venue's recommended suppliers?
Wedding venues often have years of experience when it comes to working with wedding suppliers. They have tried and tested multiple suppliers and will have found a number of favourite companies to work with. Speak to your venue host and quiz them on their favourite suppliers. Having suppliers who know the venue often makes things run smoother on the day.
Top tip: You can easily see a wedding venues recommended suppliers at the bottom of their page on Guides for Brides and contact them easily!
Catering:
Catering can be a tricky area to navigate, with so many mouths to feed! It is important that the caterers can cater to all dietary requirements and preferences. No one wants a hungry tummy at a wedding!
29. Does the wedding venue provide a catering service?
If the venue does not have an onsite caterer, it is important to know this as you will be responsible for booking a catering company. If they have onsite kitchen facilities, take a look and see if it is a suitable space for caterers to work in. If they don't have kitchen space, you will need to find a caterer that can bring their own.
30. How much does the venue's recommended caterer cost?
Often venues work with specific caterers. Be sure to understand the pricing for hiring these caterers before booking the venue.
31. Does the venue offer evening food?
If your wedding breakfast is in the early afternoon, guests may start to become hungry by the evening. Ask your venue whether they provide an evening meal or snack for your guests and if this is an extra cost. If they do not, it may be important to ask whether they will allow you to bring your own food to cater to guests needs.
32. Does the venue cater to different dietary requirements?
If the venue has caterers, it is important to let them know about any potential dietary requirements as soon as possible so they can be prepared. Ask the venue host how they often deal with special dietary requirements. For example, if you or your guests require kosher or halal food, it is imperative that you understand how the caterers deal with this requirement.
33. Does the venue offer a food tasting beforehand?
If the venue has caterers, this is an important question to ask. It is very common for couples to try out the wedding breakfast beforehand in order to choose what to serve on the day. Find out if this is an added cost beforehand in order to budget accordingly.
For caterers and catering hire recommendations, check out our list.
Wedding Day Logistics:
In order for your wedding day to run smoothly, you will need to understand how the venue tends to organise and cater to weddings. It is very important, especially if you have any unique requests, to understand how the venue typically runs and ask whether they can cater to your requirements before confirming your booking.
34. Do they have a wet weather contingency plan for outdoor spaces?
Let’s be realistic, this is the UK and even in the height of summer we can have torrential rain. So, if you want to have an outdoor ceremony or host the entire wedding in the great outdoors you will want to know that if the worst happens and the weather doesn’t want to play ball that there is a lovely alternative setting in place.
35. From what time can you access the venue?
This is an important question to ask. If you are planning to do some onsite DIY-ing on the day, or you plan on getting ready there, it is important that the venue offers you enough time to get these things done.
36. Does the venue offer you areas to get ready in the morning?
If they do, make sure you know the cost of hiring the space or whether it is included in the hire price.
37. What time can the wedding suppliers begin setting up?
Knowing when people like your florist or hair and make-up artist can access the venue is important to putting together your wedding day timeline.
38. Is there a cloakroom for guests' belongings?
If there is a space available, you can let guests know. It is also worth checking if there is an additional cost or deposit they need to pay when they use the cloakroom.
39. How many toilets are available to you and your guests?
It is recommended that there are at least 4 toilets for every 100 guests. No one wants to be queuing for the toilet when they would rather be out on the dance floor!
40. How flexible is the venue with timings throughout the day?
There are various reasons why this is good to ask. If you are dreaming about having a sunset wedding ceremony for example, the timings of the day will be totally different for you compared to couples happy to marry at 1pm. The other reason is that food may be prepared in bulk, so if you are running late in the morning of the wedding it is good to know how this would impact the rest of the day.
41. What is the changeover plan for the ceremony to the reception room?
If you are having both your ceremony and reception in one venue it is important to understand how the logistics work. Some venues may have separate rooms for the ceremony and reception, while other venues, such as barns, often have both ceremony and reception in the same room. Talk to your venue host to work out how they navigate this part of the wedding day to ensure it is in line with your vision.
42. What space is available for the DJ/band?
Knowing how much space you have to use is important to your supplier decision. You may be looking to have a 10-piece show band during the wedding reception, in which case you will need the space to be large enough.
43. Is amplified music allowed outside?
Some venues have restrictions on the use of microphones outside. This question is most relevant for couples wanting to have an outdoor wedding or enjoy their ceremony outside.
44. Are there any noise restrictions?
In listed landmarks or historic houses you may find there is a sound restriction in place to protect anything of historical significance. So, if your dream is to have a live band for the evening entertainment then they need to be aware of that restriction.
45. Is it possible to plug a phone into their sound system?
If your budget doesn’t stretch to hiring a DJ or a band, make sure your venue caters to other musical requirements. Often venues have a set wedding playlist, however ask your wedding host if you can create your own for them to set up to their sound systems.
46. What time will the music have to stop?
Some venues have a set finish time while others will be able to offer a late licence to continue the celebrations.
47. Does the venue provide microphones for speeches?
It's important to know whether you'll have this available on the day or whether you'll need to hire from an external company.
48. How long does the bar stay open?
Knowing when final orders will be taken is helpful for helping plan your wedding exit.
49. Who is responsible for taking down decorations and clean-up and when does the venue need to be cleared by?
Some venues will tidy everything up for you and put all your decor and flowers somewhere for you to collect the next day. Others will expect you to do this yourselves and before a certain time either that night or the next morning and you could incur charges if you don't complete this in time.
Some venues may also have an additional cleaning charge so they can hire someone to turn the room around for their next wedding in good time. You need to be aware of this if that applies.
50. Does the venue allow for fireworks/sparklers/confetti?
Everyone wants their wedding to be memorable. Often this is done through an extravagant gesture, such as fireworks. If you love the sound of this idea, you’ll want to make sure your venue is able to cater for it before you agree to your booking.
And there you have it! We hope that this article has been helpful and that you can go to your venue showrounds safe in the knowledge that you’ll be armed with all the important questions you need answering before you book!
Still looking for your venue? Use our venue search tool to find your ideal wedding location.