For Grace and I, this was a very difficult decision… We got engaged a year and six months before our wedding date. We felt lots of pressure from nearly every vendor to “book now and lock in your date”. It was STRESSFUL. You’re probably dealing with that right now because quite frankly, every business is trying to create urgency in you taking action. While it’s fair, you also need to slow down and consider your priorities. Below is a list of what Grace and I prioritized in our own wedding reception venue. We hope that it can give you some insight as you plan your wedding day!
Number one, capacity.
First step to figuring out how the heck you’re going to host people to celebrate with you is figuring out a general number of people you expect. For us, that number was about 200. This ended up being important because our own wedding venue could host 180 with a dance floor or 200 guests without one. It’s worth noting that only 155 or so could make it but it certainly directed us in our decision. Going too high means you’re paying for unused space and going too low could cause problems later on with seating, food, and more.
Two, proximity to the church.
With many folks coming from various places a couple of hours away, the last thing we desired was to make everyone spend another hour or two in the car driving between our wedding mass and reception. We prioritized finding a venue roughly 10-30 minutes away from the church before taking into consideration other factors.
Three is catering.
For us, we wanted in-house catering provided. This took a stressful step out of our wedding day and quite frankly, I wouldn’t change a thing. Okay, let’s paint a scene. It’s 4:55 pm on our wedding day and our cake hasn’t shown up. Our entrance was in twenty minutes and guests were showing up in five…The cake made it but not without a decent amount of worry. What if that was our dinner? What if catering didn’t show up on time? A mishap like this throws off timeline for DJ, photographer, videographer, etc. Though a mishap is unlikely, Grace and I didn’t feel like finding a caterer and were honestly happy with the food options provided. We even had friends afterwards tell us it was the best wedding food they’d ever had with one gal asking us who catered…You can imagine her disappointment when we told her it was the clubhouse itself and not a restaurant she could frequent.
Four: A clubhouse wedding
There are perhaps an infinite number of possibilities when it comes to the architectural style of your venue. Most common or trendy spaces currently include things such as barns, parks, clubhouses, historical buildings, community centers, etc. This is both an important style question as well as a budget question. We encourage you to look far and wide to find the space you feel like fits into your vision best!!
Number five, set up/clean up.
At our wedding venue, we were happily surprised to find that they provided a team of people to help set up and clean up for our wedding day. The day before, we visited and ensured that things were going to be set up properly. We also knew that after our reception, neither we nor our families would have lots of clean up to worry about. Honestly, a huge win!
Six, bathrooms. REALLY NICE BATHROOMS.
When I tell you we had amazing bathrooms, I mean it. Yes, this is silly. But so, so legitimate. For Grace, she wanted a venue where she knew the facilities were both clean and spacious. Fun fact, wedding dresses tend to be both large and very white. A clean and large bathroom was essential for Grace and is something to consider for yourself! It’s also something to keep in mind if you’re planning on hosting at a park or other outdoor venue. A wedding I was photographing required that the bride and groom rent out a trailer bathroom for use as no public bathrooms were available.
Number seven, the in-between spaces.
For your wedding, there are going to be lots of activities happening at once. The cake is being cut, dinner is served, dancing takes place, maybe a bar serves drinks, and so on. For us, it was important to prioritize a venue with lots of other “support” spaces. Our venue in particular offered a balcony as well as a separate lobby area with couches for our guests to enjoy. This offered a great variety in spaces for people to reconnect, get to know each other, and a respite for those overwhelmed with all that was going on!
Eight… Day of coordinator
As mentioned before, venue staff were able to help with the set up and clean up of our venue. This was only possible because we had a direct coordinator at our venue helping to prep for our day in the months before. As a testament to how well they communicated, our first coordinator celebrated the birth of a child and took maternity leave only a few months before our wedding. Another staff member picked up where she has left off and nothing was lost in-between.
Nine: magical photos
The clubhouse for our wedding was located right next to a golf course where we were able to take wedding photos. Aside from the marginal amount of danger in flying golf balls, it was a beautiful backdrop for Mr. and Mrs. portraits, bridal party shenanigans, and some video shots for our videographer! We found that these were some of our favorite photos and highly encourage you to take the surrounding context of your venue into consideration.
Point ten has to do with support spaces and amenities.
Grab your markers again, we’re drawing another picture. It’s 6 pm, dinner is being served, and all is well. Speeches begin and the time gets closer to your first dance. But wait, the catering is on the dance floor. Instead of guests being able to get seconds on all of that amazing grub you ordered, they are removing it and making room for dancing. The lesson here? Find a venue that can accommodate all of the people you have as well as the various activities throughout the night. Grace and I made it clear to our wonderful in-house wedding coordinator that we wanted the food left out for two hours to ensure that our guests were happily well fed!
Bonus point!
Our venue had a single guest house near the clubhouse available to rent. This space was available to us for the bridal party staging area and is where all of the bridesmaids stayed the night before and after the wedding. We ate lunch there and used it to store anything we needed throughout the day. Definitely worth looking into this or another hotel solution offering similar convenience!
If you have any other ideas or questions about our own experience, email hello.michael.geener@gmail.com. We are happy to help in any way possible.
Keep tabs on us for next week with a blog all about the importance of engagement photos!
Thanks for tuning in!!
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Make sure to check out last week's blog all about style and theme for your wedding here!
Author: Michael
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