4 Tips for Selecting Your Wedding Reception Venue
While the nuptials themselves are supposed to be the most important part of a wedding, more often than not these days – because of the sheer cost, the reputation and the memories – other elements, such as the venue, the dress and the flowers tend to take over.
But if what is most important to you is the person you’re marrying, saying those words on the big day, and being rested enough and calm enough to mean them, you will want to get the organisation out of the way quickly. Then in the last few months, you can just go to your dress fittings, and take it easy.
Of particular difficulty, can be the selection of the venue. To make it easier, here are some factors to consider – and how to address them.
- Size
More often than not the venue you select for your reception will partly be determined by the number of people you need to seat and feed. So think about things in chronological order. First determine exactly how many people you are likely to have at the reception, and limit your venue options based on this. Realistically, you aren’t going to increase or cut numbers to get a particular venue, so cut the other options out and give yourself less to think about. Next, think about what your reception entails and in that case, what your venue needs to provide. Any that don’t have what you need, you will have organise yourself which means event hire and chasing. If this is not what you want, cross these options out.
- Location
Have you ever been to one of those weddings where the couple get married in one area, and the reception is a good hours’ drive away? Frustrating? Yes! If your photos are also somewhere else, your guests can be waiting for hours – and driving for hours. Have a look at the list of prospective venues you have remaining, and think about how far you want your guests to have to travel to and from the venue. Cross out any that are too far.
- What do they offer?
Next, you want to ensure your remaining options offer what you need to make the reception a success, and hassle-free for you. If you don’t want to hire a separate caterer and organise alcohol and service yourself, you need a venue that provides these. It is also ideal if the venue has an event organiser onsite, who takes care of arranging everything for you, so you can just enjoy your wedding day. To cut your list further, consider what they have on offer, and how much extra you will have to do, and remove options that don’t provide what you need.
- Atmosphere
Finally, once you know all the functional aspects are in place – cost, location, service offerings, size – you can do a final cut of your options list, based on the atmosphere and ambience you are trying to achieve. If you want that romantic, yet refreshing waterside feel, cross out venues that don’t apply. If you’re looking for cool and calm, try rainforest settings and remove all others. Think about exactly what you want the feel to be and make your final shortlist.
All of this work can be undertaken in just an hour or two in front of your computer. This then means you have only one or two venues to consider and can save yourself a lot of time, and concentrate on the person you are marrying. Of course, if you want to cut the fuss completely, hire an event manager and team, head to a pool supplies store and clean up the pool – then have a waterfront wedding at home.
