What to consider when considering your wedding venue.

Wowee, there’s a ring on your finger and its time for you and your fiancé to start considering where to say I-Do.

For me personally, I knew the venue longgggg before my partner proposed. In fact, we booked our venue on their last remaining date for that year within 48 hours of saying ‘yes’. SO, you’re probably thinking, “um Luci, you have no idea then and you’re going to give very unsolicited advice.”

But no TRUST ME I’ve got this…I know the things…read on

The main things to consider when beginning your hunt for the venue is:

• Whether you want your ceremony and reception at the same venue

  • Critical! This was the biggest thing for me, apart from the fact my venue was the biggest drool of a location, my ceremony and reception HAD to be in the one spot so my guests didn’t have to move (and so my brand new husband and I didn’t need to move)

  • This also saves you some money. One venue. One hire cost. Don’t have to move guests around. And mostly importantly – YOU and your fiance don’t need to move around which above all else, saves you TIME and lets face it, your wedding day goes very quickly.

• The amount of people you want to invite to your wedding

  • Most venues have maximum capacities and as well as minimum spends – aka you don’t want to be hosting a 60 person wedding in a venue with an enormous minimum spend

  • If you want to have a bigger wedding and particularly want it to be a sit down affair, checking on numbers is a huge factor

• Sit down or stand up

  • Cocktail? Grazing tables with bar seating vibes? Or do you want a more formal sit down affair? Depending on your guest number deciding whether you want a stand up or sit down wedding is one of the first things you need to consider

• CURFEW

  • IMPORTANCE LEVEL HIGH V. V. HIGH. Almost every venue has a curfew (unless you’re planning on popping up on a private residence, in the country with no neighbours) so make sure you ask when last song, last drinks and departure time is. This can be some couples biggest consideration with a venue. Consider whether you want a wedding starting at 5pm and concluding at 11pm.

  • On this – also consider and ask your venues about lengths of weddings. If you’re after a longer wedding reception and keen to start your ceremony earlier to make the most of your time – make sure you ask your venue if you can extend the drinks packages and consider this in your overall budget per head

• Your wedding vibe

  • Consider the type of wedding you want, do you want modern? Traditional? Rustic? Destination? Let your wedding vision lead the way, the look and feel of the wedding you’ve dream of will effect your wedding venue choice

• Venue restrictions

  • Not every venue will have this but some venues might only want you to choose from a specific list of vendors. If you have vendors and suppliers in mind ahead of choosing the venue, make sure to ask about this.

• Venue specifics

  • Try and gauge what is included in your package at your wedding venue. Linen, cutlery, crockery, bar staff etc. If you venue doesn’t include these things, consider the cost of hiring these type of items in your overall budget

  • On this, some venues might also require you to hire a portable kitchen. Ask about their kitchen facilities and cleaning costs etc for caterers

  • Also consider the weather, are there wet weather option B’s for your ceremony?

  • Photo locations. If you’re like me, being at my own wedding was really important to me, I didn’t want to be away from my guests and the party for longer than 30 minutes. So selecting a venue with great photos op’s was a huge MUST when booking our venue.

Just ssssssssome of our venue top picks: (we will do a good proper blog on venue options soon)

Melbourne

• Rupert on Rupert – Melbourne warehouse

  • Capacity: 80-200

  • Minimum spend required

  • Can have both ceremony and reception

Higher Ground – inner city 1890’s former power station

• Capacity: 120 sit down, 300 cocktail

• Minimum spend required

• No ceremony options

Mornington Peninsula

• Tanglewood Estate – Country winery with Barn

  • Capacity: 200

  • Sit down weddings only

  • Venue hire cost applies

  • Can have both ceremony and reception at Tanglewood

• Port Phillip Estate – Winery

  • Capacity: 125

  • Minimum spend required

  • Can have both ceremony and reception at Port Phillip Estate

• Epicurean – Converted warehouse and loft

  • Capacity: 300

  • Minimum spend required

  • Can have both ceremony and reception at Epicurean

Macedon Ranges

• Camp David – Pop up wedding in beautiful country setting

  • Venue hire required

  • Pop up wedding

  • Camp David provide all inclusive packages

• Spring Hill Estate by Lancemore – Luxurious countryside

  • Capacity: 200 guests

  • Multi million dollar refurbishment

  • Can have both ceremony and reception at Spring Hill Estate

Bellarine

• Truffle Duck – “Site 3a” an Old Paper Mill

  • Capacity: 750 cocktail, 250 seated

  • Venue hire required

  • Can have both ceremony and reception at Site 3a

The Murray

• Corowa Whiskey and Chocolate factory – Heritage listed 1920’s flourmill

  • Contact the venue for more info on capacity, packages, ceremony and reception options

Anyway, that’s all from me for now! Catch ya next time.

L x