Wedding venues

After location, the place you hold your wedding will be the second most important choice you will make. There are many options here and each has its own advantages and disadvantages.

The first choice you will need to make is whether you will have the ceremony and reception at the same venue or at different venues. This will largely depend on your vision and priorities for the wedding.

Location

The location of your wedding may be the single most important choice you make. The city or town or even country in which your wedding takes place will dictate the types of venues available, influence the tone of the wedding, and most definitely affect the total cost for you and your guests. It's also one of the earliest decisions you will need to make in the wedding planning process.

Local Weddings
The simple decision is to have the wedding in the city you reside. You will be able to meet one-on-one with every vendor and there is much less room for error when you can see and meet the people you're dealing with in person rather than over a phone and fax machine... You will have total control over every decision and can easily take care of things after work or on the weekends. If you still live where you've lived most of your life, you can also expect help from old friends and relatives.

Hometown Weddings
In today's modern world, fewer and fewer of us stay in the neighbourhood, let alone the city we grew up in... However, you and your fiancée may still have strong attachments to your hometown and want to make it as easy as possible for your families to attend the wedding.

In this case, your best option may be to hold the wedding in your hometown. You have relatives and friends there who you can trust and will help you coordinate details. The negative is that if you're unable to travel there often, you give up some control of the wedding... Maybe your mum, as well-meaning as she is, has a very different vision for your wedding than you do. Or perhaps, your high-school friend who told you she will help out now has problems finding time.

Destination Wedding
A very popular choice today is the destination wedding. Many couples are deciding to exchange vows on an exotic island... the deck of a cruising yacht... or some other location which provides the perfect backdrop to their wedding ceremony. While these can often be the most spectacular weddings, they will be on a smaller scale than the traditional wedding at home...

Keep in mind, if attendance is important to you, many invited guests will NOT come to a destination wedding (if you're trying to plan a smaller wedding or one with less fuss, this could be an advantage).

It's also trickier to coordinate details of a destination wedding since you are so far away from the location, band, caterer, florist, etc. Negotiating details over the phone can be error prone and frustrating, especially if you're dealing with time zones or language barriers. Some tips:

• Consider planning during the off-season to keep prices down
• Check into legal requirements for getting married there? Do you need to be a resident?
• Do you need to show up in person a month before?... See marriage in Australia.
• If not too far (or expensive), visit the location at least once... You can't always trust pictures from a web site or brochure.
• Consider hiring a wedding consultant at the destination to assist.

Ceremony Venue

There are many factors that couples consider when deciding where to hold the ceremony... There are many choices. The obvious ones are a church, temple or synagogue, but there are many others.

Here are some general questions to consider:

• Can the location accommodate the number of guests?
• Is the location typically used to perform weddings, and do the people there have experience with wedding ceremonies?
• Is there space for a receiving line?
• Is there adequate parking?
• How far is it from the reception?
• Is the location available for a rehearsal?
• What is the cost of the location?
• If the location is outside, what are the contingency plans if there is bad weather on the day?
• Do you know anyone else who was married at the location you're considering so you can ask them to tell you about their experience?

House of Worship

For couples that are religious, the choice would bet to pick the church or temple of their faith in the location they've chosen for the wedding. Perhaps, this is the church you've been going to all your life, perhaps it's the most convenient church of your denomination, or perhaps it's been recommended by a friend or relative. Also, you don't need to be very religious to have your wedding in a house of worship, but it's definitely a very personal choice... If it's an interfaith marriage, it may be more difficult to choose.

Questions to ask when picking a house of worship:

• Are there restrictions on the type of ceremony?
• Do you have your choice of officiant or does the location provide a list to choose from?
• What kind of music can you play?
• Are there restrictions on the faiths of the couple?
• Are there restrictions on whether one of the participants has already been married?
• Does the location require you to be a member?
• Does the location provide a discount if you are a member?
• Does the location allow filming and photos?

Non-religious Venues

A public venue such as a museum or park can be a beautiful place to hold a wedding and may complement the values of the couple... Maybe you're both graduate students and wish to get married in a museum or library to reflect your shared values of education and the arts... Perhaps, you're met on a hiking trip and enjoy the outdoors and so you want to hold your wedding in a park, at a zoo, or near the water. Whatever your choice, public venues can be tricky because of their rules and restrictions. Make sure it fits your needs. You may even want to ask the names and telephone numbers of other people who were married there so you can talk to them.

Here are some other ideas for non-religious locations where there would be few restrictions and little difficulty in holding the wedding:

• Island or beachfront resort with or without a chapel
• Boutique hotel with unique features
• Outback property
• Chartered yacht or cruiser
• Mountaintop lodge
• Winery, in the vineyard
• Country club/golf course

Home Wedding

It may seem appealing to hold a wedding at home, but it can be a difficult proposition. Most homes don't have the space or the right layout to meet the demands of a wedding.

Reception venue

Your reception venue will have a strong influence on the tone and quality of the wedding... Most of your time will be spent at the reception, so you will want to make sure that you and your guests have a fabulous time and take away fond memories of the occasion.

Many factors need to be considered. These include:

• Does the venue lend itself to the types of decoration and mood you want to create. Can you hang decorations on the walls? What can and can't you change about the venue? Is it private enough or is it visible to onlookers?
  
  
• Cost to rent the venue. Whether cost includes other items such as tables and chairs. How many hours are included in the rental and whether there are overtime charges?
  
  
• Does the venue provide their own caterer, a list of approved caterers, or lets you bring in your external caterer
  
  
• The facilities of the venue including parking, a kitchen for the caterer, and restrooms for the guests.
  
  
• Are there suitable electrical outlets for musicians and/or DJ. Can you control the temperature and lighting?
  

A great place to start when compiling a list of possible venues is to talk to friends and families if the wedding is local. You can solicit recommendations since they probably have attended many functions there already... You want to start at least nine months in advance since venues often have long lead times for reservations. Start calling early and make appointments.

When viewing a location, ask lots of questions and make sure the person you're working with is well-informed. If not, ask to speak with someone else or try another location. Remember, you're giving these people the responsibility to make your wedding venue a success and you don't want to deal with anyone inexperienced.

Reserve early. Popular venues book up early. It can't hurt to reserve a place a year or more in advance. If you're trying to reserve during a popular date like Easter week or Labour Day weekend, you may have to book even further in advance... The earlier, the better.