5 Things To Look For In A Wedding Venue

A wedding is not just about the ceremony and two people looking starry-eyed at each other. It also means the guests and sponsors, venue and decorations, even something about the weather. No one ever got married in a pouring rain, for how will the minister read his book if it is dripping wet? So after the bride, groom, and entourage, the wedding venue takes front seat in importance. Here is how to select it.

Size

Make sure the venue can accommodate your entourage, guests and invitees, plus a few more they’d probably bring along. If you plan a grand wedding, the venue must also comfortably accommodate your musicians, a good aisle to walk on, and the decorations and flowers. No problem in a large church, though it may look empty and hollow for intimate weddings, but choose your chapel well even if the wedding is strictly a private affair. For outdoors prepare some sort of shelter if the weather is unpredictable.

Location

Unless you are hiding from everyone, the wedding’s venue should be easily accessible more especially for guests from out-of-town. Likewise, it should not be too far from the place where the reception is to be held, preferably even in the same building. This way, people can more easily move from the wedding venue to the reception, which is very beneficial to the older folks, the physically impaired or those without personal transportation.

Environment

You will want a beautiful backdrop for your wedding pictures, naturally, so is the venue good for that? For an outdoor wedding, the view should be picturesque, as in a grand vista or a garden full of flowers, for instance. No sense having the beach for a wedding venue if the background is a harbor full of commercial shipping, with rusting hulks and all that. It must be the open sea, probably with a few ‘red sails in the sunset’, to make the scene appropriately romantic.

Another thing is the venue’s surroundings. If your guests must pass a gauntlet of dangerous or just hazardous streets to get to the church, that will be counterproductive. Security within and outside the site for your guests should also be a vital factor in considering a wedding venue.

Facilities

Is there enough parking space? Does the venue have its own sound system in place? If it is a church, is the choir part of the rental price? Can the photographers move around the venue easily to take pictures from various perspectives? What about restrooms and changing rooms? You must check each for suitability.

Price

Of course, everything must fit within your budget so carefully consider this aspect, and make amendments to your plan as needed. But remember that sometimes a higher price is worth the reduction in stress, when the extra amount covers activities the management of which you’d rather leave to others. Included in these may be church or venue decorations, clothes for the entourage, details of catering service and so on.

Whatever the specifics of your wedding arrangement may be, selecting the right venue will count substantially to its success, including the convenience of your guests who will attend it. Thus it is wise to be judicious and prudent about choosing it.

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This article was written by Peter from EEF Venues. When not at work Peter enjoys spending his time blogging, writing, and painting.