10 Things You need to know about your venue before you sign a contract.

Hey Boss Bride!

Today I’m coming to you in the spirit of dipping your toe outside and testing out the venue tour waters. With stay-home restrictions relaxing, it may be time to jump back out there to find your perfect venue. But before you to in for your tour (virtual or in person) make sure you are asking the right questions.

Here are 10 Must-Ask Questions to enhance your wedding and event venue booking experience.

Don’t just start scheduling appointments with venues, first find out which ones are best for your wedding or special event.

Here are 10 Questions You Need Answers to in order to book your wedding venue.

1. How many guests can you accommodate. Make sure you have a solid understanding of your own guest list before you travel out for a venue booking interview. If their space isn’t large enough to hold your guest list comfortably, move on.
2. What is the total cost of your rental. Be careful of budgeting only for the listed price provided by the venue. This may not include any applicable surges, taxes, and fees that you will also have to account for.
3. What is the time the last out time? You want to be prepared for yourself, DJ /band, and guests for what time they will have to head home for the evening.
4. Is there a food and beverage minimum? If your venue requires in-house catering, they may also require that certain headcount minimums are met.
5. Are there any decor restrictions? While you may not have your entire event design complete at this point, you do want to know how much freedom do you have for set up. Such as installing a truss to descend your cake from the ceiling.
6. Is outside catering permitted? If you have a specific menu you were looking to incorporate, make sure your venue can accommodate or allows you to bring in a caterer who can.
7. What are your restrictions on decor? Venues will list in their contract agreement that you cannot tape anything on the walls, etc. but what about cold sparklers on the dance floor?
8. How much time is allowed for set up? If you have a loo of event decor items to bring in you will need to understand how much time the venue allows for set up to make sure you have the time you need.
9. What nearby hotels offer shuttles? This will be a key question to ask to prepare for your wedding room block. If there is a nearby hotel that offers a shuttle service to and from the venue it will help greatly reduce transportation costs.
10. Are linens included? Linen rental and purchase can range from $18-$95 so if your venue includes linen, this would be a huge bonus.

Now you know what questions to ask your venue during your tour.

I hope this has been helpful and join me tomorrow as we begin highlighting some of the Houston Wedding Venues and even getting answers to some of these questions while we’re there.

Plan Like a Boss,

SwaLaRue.