A Quick Checklist of Questions To Ask Wedding Vendors
Are you planning a wedding?
If yes, you need to know one thing: the perfect venue doesn’t just come down to aesthetics and food. You will want to consider tons of other details that will make or break your big day—and it’s up to you to cover them before you book.
Below we list some of the most important questions to ask your wedding event planner. Make sure these make it onto your list before you sign on the dotted line!
Wedding Venues Checklist: A List of 14 Essential Questions for Wedding Venue Manager and Team
1. Is the venue available for your wedding date?
You’ll need to confirm that your venue is available for your wedding date before moving forward with any plans.
Don’t ignore this necessary step because many things can change between now and when your big day arrives. For example, you don’t want to be surprised by a wedding venue being unavailable or having a last-minute change in plans (like switching from indoors to outdoors) because of weather or other factors beyond your control.
2. Does the wedding venue have liability insurance?
One thing that shouldn’t take up any of your precious mental energy is whether your venue has liability insurance. It should be a given, but unfortunately, it isn’t always.
So you want to be careful. If your wedding venue doesn’t have liability insurance, do not go ahead with your wedding plans there. You will put yourself and your guests at legal risk if anything goes wrong—and believe us: nothing will go right if that happens!
3. Is the wedding venue within your budget? See if they offer a discount or have some packages
You need to consider one of the essential questions to ask a wedding venue: Is the venue within your budget? If the venue fees go over budget, it could affect the quality of everything else, including food, drinks, transportation, etc.
Do they offer a discount or have some packages? Some venues might offer discounts and packages if you book their services early or reserve more rooms than usual. You should ask them about these options before deciding on a venue.
4. What is the capacity of the wedding venue?
What is the capacity of the venue? This will determine how many guests you can invite and improve your venue coordination. With a small venue, your guests may feel cramped and uncomfortable, and there won’t be enough space for everyone to have fun.
A too-large venue may lead to a wedding lacking the ambiance it needs to turn out spectacularly.
5. Do they have a cancellation policy?
Whether booking a hotel room, hiring a car, or booking weddings, you should ask the wedding venue whether they have a cancellation policy.
Why? Well, things do go wrong, and if they do, you need to know the cancellation policy to avoid losing your deposit.
6. Do they provide DJ services?
When you plan a wedding and want to save some money by hiring your own DJ, consider whether your wedding event planner provides DJ services.
It could be possible that the event planner provides these services, which could save you tons of money if they do. It’s definitely worth asking about!
7. Do they have a preferred vendors list?
If your potential wedding planner has a preferred vendor list, they probably worked with these vendors before and know they will deliver as contracted.
However, it could also be that your wedding planner does not work with those vendors exclusively. In this case, they likely don’t want to be accountable to anyone—they want their clients to have the best options available.
8. What is their plan B for weather emergencies?
Every experienced planner knows that wedding plans can go awry—especially when planning an outdoor or destination wedding. But what happens if the weather turns out to be uncooperative?
Do they have a plan B?
Experienced wedding event planners will have a backup venue ready to go in case of bad weather. They’ll also ensure your guests know where they’ll stay if the weather leads to event cancellation.
9. What is the size of their production staff?
One of the first wedding venue questions you should ask is the size of your planner’s wedding team. You need to know how many people will be involved in ensuring a successful wedding day and that you’re not shortchanged on services or attention from those working with you to create an unforgettable event.
10. When can the production head give you a detailed meeting and demo?
You’ll need to meet with them beforehand in person (or by phone if you’re not local) to make sure every detail is perfect before your big day.
Production heads represent an integral part of your wedding preparations and can anticipate various eventualities in time to prevent your special day from becoming a disaster.
11. What are the food and beverage arrangements?
You must understand the food options offered at a wedding venue (buffet or plated dinners) beforehand and how much each option costs per person. Also, ask about the types of alcohol they serve at the venue and whether they charge any additional costs for different types of alcohol.
Remember to check on deposit options, e.g., if the wedding event planner will require a deposit fee upfront.
12. What special services do they provide for the bride and the groom (if any)?
Does the wedding event planner provide any special services for the bride and groom?
Do they provide champagne for the wedding party and a personalized website to store all the favorite images from your wedding shoot?
13. Do they provide design consultation services?
Do they provide decoration services and lighting for the wedding? If so, what type of decorations and lighting (candles, lights) and at what cost?
14. Are there any time restrictions for the wedding day?
If you’re planning a wedding, one thing you can’t miss out on your wedding venue checklist is the time of day.
Morning weddings typically work best for more relaxed events that don’t require much preparation or formality. In contrast, an evening wedding will require access to the venue late into the night.
These are just some of the questions to ask.
Choosing a wedding event planner and knowing which questions to ask them can be an overwhelming task.
If planning a wedding in Chicago, IL, and looking for a wedding planner who will help make your big day everything you’ve ever dreamed of, contact Mode Events today.
We’re happy to answer any questions you may have!