If you’ve just got engaged, you are surely interested in booking the perfect wedding venue for your big day. No matter if you’re considering wedding venues on the Gold Coast, Australia, or in Dubrovnik, Croatia, I would like to help you with some tips on choosing the perfect place for your wedding reception. Choosing a wedding venue is very important, because it sets the tone and it’s quite expensive, therefore you should try not to make the most common mistakes.
1. Check only those venues you can afford. Don’t waste your time by taking a peek on a venue that costs $10,000 or more if you can really only afford $5,000.
2. Check the availability online or by emailing them to see whether you could book the site on the date or month you want.
3. The capacity must fit your estimated guest list. In order to make themselves more attractive to couples, some venues stretch their possibilities. By asking about the number of guests that is most successful in their space, you’ll figure out the right capacity of the place in question. Really, just because you can fit 200 people into a restaurant, doesn’t mean you should.
4. Consider the location. If you’re alright with providing transportation for guests to the remote venue, you don’t have to worry about the location of the reception site. Otherwise, you should keep in mind that transportation can be a rather big line item on your budget if you need to bus or shuttle people to and from the venue.
5. Consider catering restrictions. Some venues make couples use one exclusive caterer, usually quite expensive one. Sometimes it means pushing your budget too far. Also, if you were dreaming of having your favorite Thai restaurant cater your big day, but the venue you’re considering wouldn’t allow non-traditional caterers without an additional cost, it could be a problem. So, make sure you check whether the venue has any catering restrictions before booking it.