Your wedding venue is one of the most important parts of your big day. It sets the atmosphere and tone for how you want to celebrate your wedding, and a venue’s facilities can greatly affect how your guests enjoy the day, too. This makes it one of the first and most important decisions you make in your wedding planning journey (of course, after choosing your partner!).

A wedding venue checklist can give you peace of mind: both in the planning process and on the day itself. It covers everything from the practical details like seating and staff numbers to more subjective matters, like whether the venue lives up to expectations or provides the atmosphere you’re looking for.

Why Do You Need A Wedding Venue Checklist?

Let’s be honest, unless you’re already dead set on the venue of your dreams, you’re probably going to be visiting a few different wedding venues before making a final decision. In the midst of the rest of wedding planning, the small details can get lost when you’re trying to make a final comparison. That’s why we advocate for a wedding venue checklist.

This list covers all the essentials you need to consider when touring a venue, including things like max capacity, accessibility, transport links, and vendor requirements. After you’ve toured a few venues, you may have trouble remembering if Venue #6 had a capacity of 250 or 300! Keeping this checklist on hand and making notes on each venue can help you keep all your facts in order.

The Ultimate Wedding Venue Checklist

We know there’s a lot of detail here, but on your wedding day, you want nothing overlooked. Your venue needs to match your personal style and your functional requirements in terms of guest capacity, services on offer, and location. Let’s take a look at the essentials to get you started:

1. Availability
2. Location
3. Capacity
4. Day-of Details
5.Costs
6. Vendors
7.Event Planner
8. Complimentary Events
9. Venue Policies

Availability

This is, unfortunately, a huge decider when choosing a wedding venue. You need to find out if the location is already booked out on the day you want to get married. By planning further in advance or being flexible with your wedding date, you’ll have more luck in securing that much-coveted venue. If a venue isn’t available, and you’re not flexible with dates, it’s just not meant to be.

Location

The location of a venue is a key factor to consider when planning your big day. Think about whether you or your guests are traveling from nearby or from out of state or country, and consider whether the venue has good transport links for those traveling from afar. Are there hotels nearby? Can the venue accommodate guests, or can they help in finding accommodation in the area? Transport for guests, and the parking situation at the venue, have a strong impact on how smoothly your day goes.

Capacity

A ballpark figure of how many guests you want to invite to your wedding is essential when considering venues. The max guest capacity of a venue cannot be exceeded, so if you’re 50 invites over, you may need to look into other options. This is both for the smooth operation of the venue on wedding day and also for safety reasons.

Day-of Details

Once you have the basics down, it’s time to talk logistics. You need to find out from the venue about the requirements they have on the day. How many hours do you get at the venue? Are others sharing the space? How early can vendors or your team set up the wedding decor? These are all important when considering the flow of your big day — you don’t want to plan a morning wedding only to find out you can only access the venue beginnin at 2 p.m.

Services

Most wedding venues offer more than just a location for your ceremony or reception. They may offer catering packages, accommodation options, and decor rentals, just to name a few. These services can greatly reduce the hassle of planning all of these things yourself, and a good venue will have years of experience and trust in their capabilities. If these services are offered, make sure to try out the food at the venue or ask for a rundown of your options.

Costs

Venues can have widely ranging costs, so it’s important to set your budget and assess what each wedding venue offers in terms of services and location. Make sure to take notes about the packages on offer or take brochures for the best comparison when you’ve had some time to reflect on the venue. Talking costs also means talking about the cancelation policy, required deposit, and payment due dates.

Vendors

Wedding vendors can make or break an event. If you don’t already have trusted connections in the wedding industry, choosing the right vendor can seem like a daunting task! Luckily, most wedding venues should have trusted vendor lists for you to browse. These vendors will be good quality, reliable, and they’ll have worked in the space before, which is a definite plus.

Event Planner

An event planner simplifies the entire wedding process. A venue’s in-house wedding coordinator knows the ins and outs of the location, the local vendors, and how to smoothly organize a wedding in the venue you choose. This can take a lot of stress off your plate, letting you enjoy tastings and venue tours with peace of mind.

Complementary Events

Your wedding day isn’t the first day you celebrate your marriage. Planning a bridal shower and a rehearsal dinner with the venue you have in mind can help you celebrate before your big day and give you peace of mind about the operation of your wedding day itself.

Venue Policies

Finally, you need to ask if there are any other venue-specific policies to keep in mind.

The Detailed Checklist

Congratulations! You’ve made significant steps in your wedding planning journey already, and now it’s time to cross all your t’s and dot your i’s. This next checklist covers a more detailed look at what a venue can provide for your big day, with each of these factors holding different weight for different couples. Stick firm on your deal breakers, but remember to try to work with a venue for special arrangements if you can.

• Decor choices: This covers everything from the color of the linens to the arrangement of seats for the reception. If you can’t work with outside vendors for rentals, you may be more restricted to what the wedding venue can offer themselves. Make sure the options match your style.
• Number of staff on hand: Can the venue provide enough staff members to run the bar or the coat check? Are external vendors bringing in their own staff? These factors greatly affect the smooth running of your day.
• Accessibility: This is an essential factor to consider. You may be greatly impacting your guests’ experience if the venue is not ADA compliant.
• Managing indoor and outdoor space: While South Florida can have some wonderful weather, does your venue have a plan if the forecast isn’t promising? Whether you need indoor spaces for time out of the rain or sun, this is a key issue that the venue needs to be able to plan around.

Galuppi’s: The Premier Wedding Venue Choice in South Florida

Weddings at Galuppi’s are one of our favorite events. We love to celebrate the joy of your big day with you, and we’re here every step of the way to make sure your wedding exceeds your imagination. We have dedicated wedding and event planners that work with you to make sure there’s no stone left unturned and no detail overlooked.

Contact us today and book a viewing of our scenic outdoor landscape, the perfect backdrop for your big day.