After the engagement, finding the right spot for your wedding reception should be top on your list. The first obvious thing you will be looking at is the beauty of the place. However, that is never enough. You have to think in practical terms what you need in order to have a beautiful, incident-free wedding with smooth flow. To help you make your choice, here are the top 15 most essential details you need to consider.
1. Guests
While the wedding day is mostly about the couple, some consideration has to be there for the guests for the overall success of the day. The first thing you have to consider is whether the venue is large enough for the number of guests expected. he second thing you have to consider is whether the place is accessible to the kind of guests you expect. For instance, do you expect many elderly guests? If so, then too many stairs to climb may not be suitable.
2. Theme
What's the theme of your wedding and is the venue suitable for it? You need to decide on your theme with your fiancé/fiancée even before you begin your search for the perfect venue. When planning a wedding, check how the décor, the color schemes, and the menu of the venue will work with your chosen theme.
3. Style
Closely tied in to theme is the style of the wedding. Some weddings have a style that may require change of clothing for guests and the wedding party. This would require holding the wedding at venues that offer suites for resting and changing rooms to store different apparel and change outfits.
4. Meals and Dance Areas
You, your betrothed, and your wedding planner need to stand at the venue and consider where everything will be placed. Is there adequate space to separate the high table, the meal areas, the dancing areas, the entertainers' area, and the bar areas? Is the venue shaped in such a way that some guests will not be able to see what is happening at the front? Are there pillars obstructing views?
5. Ceremony Location
For a smooth flow of the wedding day, the reception and the ceremony need to happen at the same venue or very close together. However, this is not always possible. Therefore, when hosting your reception away from the ceremony venue you should take into consideration factors such as number of kids, modes of transport, paths to the new location, accessibility, and how long it will take to switch venues.
6. Venue Policies
When you are looking over some wedding venues, ask about their policies and see whether they work with your needs. Do they allow alcohol intake? If they do, do they also allow you to bring in your own supplies? This works also in terms of bringing in your independent wedding planner and bringing in your own caterers.
7. Religion
When choosing your reception venue, you may need to consider some religious issues. This is usually easier if the two families share the same religious faith. A non-believer would probably not want to have the wedding at a religious site such as a house of worship.
8. Service Providers
There are many people you will have hired to provide services at your wedding. These may include entertainers, photographers, florists, and caterers. When picking your reception venue, you need to ask yourself whether these people will have adequate room to provide the paid-for services as well as whether they will have room to rest when they are not required. Otherwise, you might have to content with a room that is packed with many service providers intermingled with the guests or taking spaces meant for guests.
9. Lighting
Your wedding venue needs to have the perfect lighting for your big day. Lighting matters because it helps set the mood and it is also an important component for the photographer, videographer, and DJ to perform at their best.
10. View
Depending on your style, you're theme, your preferences, and your photographic needs, you may need a venue that has a certain type of view. For instance, you might need an unbroken city skyline if the reception is at a penthouse rather than seeing the brick wall of a neighboring building.
11. Privacy
Most couples need some form of privacy for their event. A public beach reception may have strangers walking all over the place and even disrupting the event's flow. The same goes for a park reception where passersby may stroll over to pass their good wishes to the couple.
12. Amenities
Your chosen venue needs to have the proper amenities for the comfort of the guests and the service crews. For instance, you need a place with clean washrooms with enough cubicles to avoid queues which may delay proceedings.
13. Power Outlets
Your wedding venue should have enough power outlets. This will be necessary for the wedding MC, the wedding DJ, speakers, band, entertainers, and even your guests who might have to charge a phone or a laptop.
14. Acoustics
Together with your band or DJ, the couple needs to find a venue that does not have echoes and reverberations that will distort sounds. You need a reception venue where the speeches will be clearly heard by all and so will the music.
15. Parking
Your venue has to have ample parking for all your guests and service crews. If there is a separate barking area for service vehicles, guests, and the wedding couple, that is even better.
Summary
Choosing a wedding reception venue has to have some practical considerations and not just checking the aesthetic beauty of the place or costs. The factors described above all have an impact on how successful the reception is and how smoothly the events flow.
