Booking your wedding venue is likely one of the first steps you’ll be taking as you start to plan the big day. It may seem straightforward, but with limited information and expertise, you may end up settling for “just fine” in order to stick to your budget. Hiring or setting up a consultation with a professional wedding planner first will expand your search immensely and with their guidance, you’ll be able to book the venue of your dreams without breaking the bank.
Next in our budgeting series, I want to talk about venue selection. This will be one of the most expensive categories in your entire wedding investment. I’ll break down venue hunting into three easy tips to help you find the perfect place to say ‘I do.’ You’ll also find some helpful questions to ask during your tours!
Your venue will set the tone for your wedding’s design and overall aesthetic. Make sure that as you search for the perfect space to host your soirée, it fits your greater vision and style. Go back to that mood board for inspiration! Hosting an elegant black tie reception? Think country clubs, hotel ballrooms, and high-level tented builds. Want a lively cocktail party with a rockin’ DJ? Opt for industrial spaces that leave room for creativity and personalization. Keeping it simple with Texas tuxedos and rustic vibes? Tour spaces that have a lot of natural beauty and charm like gardens, historic sites, or barns.
If you want to venture out, whether that’s all the way to another country or just the next town over, choose a destination that holds a special place in your heart. This can be somewhere you vacation often, a place that is full of nostalgia for you or one that is extra special to your family. If you’re looking for novelty, choose a destination that neither of you have ever visited, and enjoy making your first memories there with all of your favorite people.
Take a moment to think through all aspects of your wedding weekend. Will you be hosting multiple events? What is the guest experience like? Are there fun things to do in the area? Choose a location that allows for easy guest access, makes you look like a great host, and doesn’t require a lot of of moving around. Bonus if you find a venue to host everything on one property!
Know your general budget and expectations before going in. Choosing a venue in the middle of the mountains requires additional rentals like power, restrooms and water to be brought in, and has a higher minimum spend to account for not only throwing a beautiful wedding, but also safely planning for the infrastructure of the event itself. It’s not as easy as it looks to just “pop up a tent” in a field.
A tented wedding in the mountains (courtesy of Nate Puhr)
On occasion, couples and their families will come to us to assist with wedding planning and design after they have contracted a venue. In the excitement and urgency of locking down a venue before it’s gone, I see so many of them forget to get a full cost estimate before booking, believing that the original quote includes everything they’ll need. This mistake can cost thousands of dollars (seriously!) and sends clients way over their expected budgets.
Catering and sales teams work off of ‘food and beverage minimums’ which is the very least amount you are able to spend to book the space. Often times, a hotel will have a lower minimum of $50,000 or so – WHAT A DEAL! But in reality, after you add up the pricing for a 5-hour open bar, your favorite appetizers, a plated dinner and the wedding cake – you have likely almost doubled your minimum spend. For this reason, it is of the utmost importance to ask about the average cost per guest at the property. For more on price per person breakdowns, check out my overall budgeting post here!
After you’ve narrowed it down, make sure to ask for a cost proposal broken down by the number of guests you are expecting to have. This estimate should include things like:
Space Rental
Food and Beverage Costs for cocktail hour, reception and dessert.
Labor, Taxes, and Service Fees, which can easily add 30% or more to your total bill.
Beyond the basic food and drinks, make sure to ask about everything that is included in your venue rental fees. It may seem enticing to pay $10,000 for a blank space rental, but when that doesn’t include anything else, your costs will add up much faster than you think.
Venues like hotels come complete with food and beverage service, tables and chairs, and even linen, china, glassware and flatware. Your minimum spend may be higher, but often there is no “room rental” fee in addition to your minimums.
Spaces like museums and barns are likely to only charge a rental fee. Then it is up to you to source food, beverage, and all rentals that are normally included with hotels – tables, linens, china, glassware, etc.
Make sure you take into account each piece when comparing venues, as most times it isn’t apples to apples. One space’s selection may be significantly newer or higher-end compared to another’s. Never assume Hotel 2 has the same gorgeous vintage table chargers in your exact wedding colors like Hotel 1 does!
For those of you looking for an entirely custom experience with a mid-six to seven-figure budget, choose something that is special to you, and let our team craft a wedding specifically to your taste! We can assist by bringing together all of the right pieces with safety and logistics in mind so the end product is a beautifully designed custom wedding day.
As always, thank you for trusting our expertise! We hope that this was helpful as you search for your dream venue. At Pop Parties, we offer clear, honest advice, backed by 15+ years of experience to best serve our clients in their milestone celebrations.
Happy Planning!
XO,
Molly
The entire Pop Parties team is the most organized, communicative, and on-it team I have encountered Their response time is unbelievable and made my entire wedding day stress-free. Not one detail was missed, and the wedding was the most beautiful and fun evening. They maintained professionalism, while also feeling like a close friend through the entire process. I could not recommend them enough.
- Claire, Bride
MARY AND RICH TEMPLETON
LEGACY CLIENT