The Ultimate Guide to Choosing the Right Wedding Venue

Your reception venue is quite possibly the biggest and most expensive decision of your wedding. This happens to be one of the most difficult decisions for most brides. We want you to have clarity and certainty on which venue is absolutely perfect for you! We have put together for you, “The Ultimate Guide to Choosing the Right Wedding Venue.” Consider each of these topics thoughtfully to ensure that you are choosing the right wedding venue for your big day.

Booking a Wedding Venue

Taking into consideration that your venue is one of the first decisions you need to make to start planning your wedding, start the search earlier rather than later. Doing your research far in advance will take so much stress off of you and give you a clear canvas to plan everything else around. Not only this, but the best venues are booked 12-18 months ahead of time. Ensure that you get the date and time that you want by deciding on and reserving your perfect place several months in advance. Another benefit to finding your wedding venue in advance is that you will set a date for your big day in advance as well. This gives all your guests time to work their schedules and mark their calendars for your big celebration!

Where should you have a wedding ceremony?

The next thing that you need to take into consideration is the amount of venues that you will have. Some couples have one venue for the ceremony and another for the reception, while the majority of couples host both the ceremony and the reception in the same location. Either option is perfectly fine, but you do need to think through a few things. First, you must consider the amount of time it takes to travel between venues, so that you can properly plan start times. Second, you will want to take the cost into consideration, most times, hosting both parts at the same location saves you a good amount of money and is easier on your guests. The third thing you need to decide with two venues, is where the pictures will be taken, and also plan for the time between ceremonies when taking pictures.

Where do you want your wedding and reception?

Close to home or anywhere you fall in love with? While looking for your perfect venue, pay attention to how far away it will be for your guests. Is it easy to find or in a location that none of your guests have been before? Your guests don’t have to be familiar with the location as a qualification for your venue, but if they aren’t, be sure to provide them with clear directions. This is especially important for if your ceremony and reception are in two different places. Professional wedding planners stress the importance of making the transition between locations as seamless as possible. 

Wedding Venue Capacity

The capacity of a venue is one of the first things you need to look at. Before you start considering venues, you need to write your guest list and get an estimate of how many guests will be attending. Now obviously, you cannot be cramming 400 people in a space that is designed for 100 guests, however, the opposite is just as problematic. Guerard says, “The biggest mistake we see clients almost make is actually picking an oversized space for their guest count, meaning they’ll have to spend a fortune to make it feel full and intimate.” If you’re booking a ceremony and a reception space, make sure that both can fit your total guest count, since “the same guests should be invited to both the ceremony and reception.”

Vintage Wedding Venue Style

This is your number one priority when choosing your vintage wedding venue in Georgia. It comes before anything else and can only be decided by you as the bride. Make sure your venue screams your vision and will enhance your style!