Your choice of venue for your wedding and reception sets the tone for the entire day. Your wedding is one of the most special days of your life and you want to remember the day for a lifetime. Your choice of venues will affect how much you and your guests enjoy the event. Thinking through some of the following considerations will help you and your wedding planner choose the perfect venue for your wedding and/or reception.
Consideration 1 – Religious or Civil Ceremony
When you decide to get married, you and your fiancé may choose a ceremony that takes place in a religious venue. If you are both churchgoers or attend a mosque or a temple regularly, you will probably want your wedding to take place amongst your friends and family in the congregation. Even if you do not regularly attend a church, many couples may still prefer to make their wedding vows in some sort of religious setting. This tends to make the wedding venue an easy decision, but you will still need to decide where to hold the reception following the ceremony.
If neither you nor your fiancé is religious, you may prefer to have a civil wedding ceremony. This gives you more options to choose from when deciding where to hold your wedding ceremony. You can get married in a house, a garden, a beach, or a public park. You could choose to get married in the reception venue. You can even get married when skydiving from a plane if that is your preference. You may have to pay fees to hold a wedding in some places, so this could be a deciding factor if you have a tight budget.
Either way, think about how many guests will be attending your wedding ceremony. You will want to ensure that the wedding venue has an appropriate amount of seating capacity. If you choose to get married in a public place, such as a beach or a park, you may need to hire seating for your guests. Hiring an event planner can help you get everything in order with as little stress as possible.
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Consideration 2 – Outdoor or Indoor Ceremony or Reception
Depending on the season when you get married, you may like to have an outdoor ceremony or reception. If you like the idea of getting married or enjoying an outdoor wedding reception, you may like to choose a wedding day that falls into the best season for your location, such as Spring or Summer.
You will want to consider how the weather is likely to impact your wedding day. If you do choose an outdoor reception area, consider contingency plans if the weather happens to be rainy or windy. You will need to consider the heat if you choose to get married in the middle of Summer.
If you choose a ceremony and reception venue that is indoors, you will not have to worry about the weather. You may want to consider if there is a pretty garden or area where you can take photos for the day near the reception venue. Also, you’ll want to make sure there is plenty of parking in the area, and not too far away from your ceremony location.
Consideration 3 – Budget
One of the most important considerations when choosing your wedding and reception venue is your budget. Some venues will cost more than others will, so you will need to know what your budget is before you start looking at your options.
Your reception should include catering costs. Some venues insist you use an in-house caterer, which gives you less negotiating power. If your budget is small, you may want to consider venue options that will not cost very much. A small, self-catered wedding in a family garden can be just as romantic as hosting hundreds of guests in a five-star hotel.
Look at what your reception venues offer in the package. Some will offer additional features, such as accommodation overnight for the bride and groom, limousine hire, and entertainment as part of the reception. Some reception venues that offer extra features may turn out to be less expensive than a reception venue that is initially cheaper but may have extra options that can add to the price, such as valet parking and early access fees for extended setup.
Consideration 4 – Personal Style
Your wedding day is a very special day for you and your fiancé so, you may want to think about your own style and personal preferences. If you love history, you can encourage your guests to dress up in the romantic medieval style clothes and have a wedding feast that represents the Middle Ages of Knighthood and Ladies. On the other hand, if you and your fiancé have an affinity for the ocean or boating, consider hiring a cruise boat as your wedding reception venue.
Even if you hire a traditional wedding reception venue, you can bring your own preferences and style to the venue by choosing the menu, the entertainment, and the decorations.
Consideration 5 – Catering
Your wedding feast will be a wonderful meal for you and your guests. You’re going to have several options for catering. You can serve a traditional style menu with three to five formal courses, or you can have a less formal menu with a buffet or even finger food, like delicious mini quiches. Your budget will have an influence on what you choose for your menu, of course, but thinking about how formal or casual you want your day to feel will influence your decisions about catering, including the cost per person, which can add up quickly.
Consideration 6 – Entertainment
A wedding reception usually goes for several hours. You may want to consider hiring entertainment for you and your guests. Some reception venues have entertainment like dancers, etc., as part of the venue. If you choose a cruise as your reception, your guests will love looking out on the water. If your chosen reception venue does not have its own entertainment, you may like to consider hiring some entertainers. Some people like to have a band or a DJ to play dance music. Others will hire specialist dancers, such as Latin Salsa dancers to enliven up the dance floor while your guests enjoy the meal.
Summary
Choosing your wedding ceremony and/or reception venue is not always an easy decision, but our wedding planners can help take off some of the pressure. Horton Events can help you to choose the perfect venue for your wedding that you, your fiancé, and your guests will remember forever. Contact us to schedule a time to tour one of our venues, whether it is in Downtown Nashville, an outdoor wedding setting or a more unique location like the historic Amqui Train Station. We look forward to partnering with you!
