Where to Get Married Wednesdays: How to Decide Where to Get Married

May 9, 2012 by Pretty Clever Bride

One of the most important decisions you will make in planning your wedding is where to get married. Often, the venue is the key element to all the rest of the wedding planning. Where you get married will influence all the other elements of your wedding from the date you will get married to the vendor you will hire to your overall wedding budget. Here are a four key things to keep in mind when deciding where to get married.

Narrow down your options from the get-go

Sit down with your lucky spouse-to-be and discuss some crucial aspects of the where to get married question. Indoor or outdoor? Big or small? Plated or passed food reception? The answer to these questions will help you eliminate some possible venues from the outset and save you a lot of time. How does it save you time? Because…

Visit, visit, visit

Before committing to a specific venue, you need to see. Clearly this won’t be possible with, say, a destination wedding, but otherwise… you MUST visit the space. If you’re having a small wedding you need to verify that the venue isn’t way too large for your small number of guest. You also need to make sure the venue is big enough for your guest list, so everyone doesn’t feel cramped. Think about the kind of wedding you want to have and evaluate the space by that standard. For example, if you want your guests to dance, there better be a dance floor. Remember, you can’t be sure until you stand in the space!

Availability

If you are in love with a specific venue, but you would have to shift your hoped for wedding date out one month, would that be okay. The answer to this question will vary from bride to bride. If you’ve chosen a specific wedding date for sentimental reasons, the first question you might ask a potential venue is the availability of that date. But you might be more flexible and base your decision on the availability or the cost of particular dates. Either way, availability is one of the first issues to sort out when looking at venues.

Are specific vendors required?

Many wedding venues offer bride’s lists of preferred vendors. Often, brides must commit to that specific list of vendors and are not allowed to bring in any other caterers, florists, etc. This is not necessarily a bad thing. The upside is that the caterers or other vendors a venue recommends are a time-tested and reliable. The venue trusts them and so should you. On the other hand, these vendors may not fit into your budget or offer the specific products and services you have in mind. Asking if specific vendors are required is a critical piece of information and will affect your decision to use that venue or not, so make it one of the first questions you ask.

Where are you planning on getting married? What are the key factors in deciding where to get married for you? Let us know if the comments!