Last week, we brought you the best weddings venues in Georgia. If you haven’t checked out last week’s blog post on a few of our favorite wedding venues in Georgia (and a few bonus ones in North Carolina), make sure to do that after this! We are fortunate to have so many incredible venues here, no matter what type of venue you have your eye on (from rustic farmhouses to our gorgeous mountain vineyards). It probably won’t surprise you that there is more to choosing a wedding venue than simply looking at photos on the internet.

Yes, your venue does need to reflect the style you want for your wedding, but it also needs to be logistically practical for you, your wedding day vision, and your guests. Your wedding venue also needs to fit your ideal wedding budget and guest count. If there is one lesson we can take anything away from 2020, it’s also that wedding budgets and guest counts can change. Not all venues can be flexible, so you are going to want to keep that in mind before you sign on the dotted line.

The first step when choosing a wedding venue is asking your wedding planner for advice. It sounds obvious and we wrote this post about why the first wedding vendor you should hire should be your wedding planner, but we want to reiterate it again. As wedding planners, we help you sort out the logistics so that you’re not missing out on anything that you should know. It’s always so hard when couples come to us after they’ve booked a venue that has eaten up a majority of their budget or made them very limited on what outside vendors they can bring in. It’s so much harder for us to help them get exactly what they want, which is really always our only goal as wedding planners.

We make sure you know exactly the right questions to ask. If you are looking for a wedding planner based in Georgia, North Carolina, or South Carolina, make sure to reach out here and we would love to connect more and chat about your wedding day.

Budget and Guest Count

Your budget and guest count should determine your venue. Not the other way around! Too often, we see couples start to look at venues before they really have their wedding budget and guest count mapped out. It’s not enough to say “we are thinking about inviting about 100 people” or spending “around $75,000”. As wedding planners, we always help our couples get a handle on both of these numbers before committing to a venue. A venue is one of the biggest decisions you make during the wedding planning process and in case we haven’t said it enough – it’s worth getting it right.

Wedding Venue Logistics

Once you have your budget and guest count in place, you can start to marrow down the venues you want to consider. There are a few things to consider that are purely logistical, regardless of the style of venue you want. Here are just a few of the questions we ask:

• Do you want to have the wedding venue, ceremony and reception in the same place?

• If they’re in different places, how far of a distance are you comfortable with between locations?

• Do they have a backup location on site that you would be okay with?

• How many weddings per day does the property host and how close together are they?

• If your guests count changes from the time you signed the contract, will there be a penalty?

• Other than government restrictions are there any additional regulations you need to be aware of in terms of the COVID-19 pandemic?

• Do they place any restrictions on outside vendors?

The difference between a wedding planner and a venue coordinator

Oftentimes a venue will include a venue coordinator, but there is a big difference between a venue coordinator and a wedding planner. We wanted to quickly break down the difference here in case you’re wondering if you really need both. Although a venue coordinator can help you iron out some wedding details, they are limited in selling you only what the venue provides. They will also not communicate or make recommendations with any outside vendors on your behalf.

More than that, they deal with 100’s of couples a year. It’s nowhere near the attention or assistance you can expect from a wedding planner. It’s important to remember that a venue coordinator will always have the venue’s interest at heart. This is one of the biggest reasons why you should hire a wedding planner who knows what you want and keeps your goals at the heart of everything.

Booking your wedding venue

Once you have crossed your T’s and dotted your I’s, you are ready to save the date. Congratulations because this is the FUN part. If you are looking for a wedding venue (or have recently booked a venue you are excited about!), you can read more about our wedding planning packages here. We’ve always believe every wedding should be as unique as the couple celebrating and we would love to help you turn your vision into a reality! To get in touch with our team of wedding planners across Georgia, North Carolina and South Carolina, make sure to contact us here!