Choose the right venue for your wedding.
You found the perfect lifelong partner, You now need to plan
your wedding, and the first step is to find the perfect venue.
There are many places to choose from, I would suggest choosing
wisely. This is the place you will be celebrating one of the biggest
days of your life with family & friends. The day you will never
forget.
I would like to give you some great ideas to find the right place
for you. Since there are literally hundreds of places to choose from
give yourself time to visit several locations. Ideally a year or longer
should give you enough time. Some of the more popular locations
get booked up early. It’s better to get the place you want, and not
the ones that are left over.
Out of all the many places to choose from, venues are broken down
into several categories. hotel / resort, golf club / country club,
privately owned reception center / hall, or community center / lodge.
First ask yourself if you would want to have your ceremony &
reception at the same location. This makes the wedding flow
much easier for you and your guests. Most places can accommodate
for both.
If a majority of your guests are coming from out of state, and your
planning on inviting over 200 guests you may consider a resort so
your guests can stay on location. Resorts also have rooms big enough
to accommodate for large parties, and the experience to handle them
With a hotel / resort you will not have to book a caterer, however you
may have to share the resort with other brides having their wedding on
the same day.
For outdoor weddings you need to consider noise restrictions. Some
locations will require you to end the reception earlier then you may
want because of city sound ordinances and may enforce volume levels
throughout the evening.
While most indoor venues will let you party all night at high volume
levels.
Size is important; don’t pack your guests in a small room, your guests will
feel cramped & uncomfortable. You need to have space for you, your guests
& servers to get round tables, buffet line, and dance floor etc. If the room is
too large your guests might not feel that they are a part of your wedding and
it will loose it’s intimacy.
Be sure check out the different floor plans, I’ve seen some of craziest floor
plans at venues, Example; It’s normal to have cocktails in one area and dinner
in another, but if your guests have to move again to dance in a different room
they may get annoyed. People like to settle in one room after cocktail hour.
People do not like to move from room to room.
Trust your intuition, if it doesn’t feel right move on to the next venue. Be
considerate of your guests, and get all the facts. Choose the venue that fits
your style you deserve it, It’s your wedding day.
Other restrictions;
Capacity range
Price range
Garden area / water i.e lakeside, water fall, fountains, available
Must use in-house caterer
Must use in-house bar / liquor
Indoor / Outdoor ceremony capability
Bridal suite / kid’s room
On-site coordinator
# of weddings per day
Linen included
Outside vendors ok
Valet parking
Mark Sanchez
Celebrating 20 years as a Wedding DJ/MC
