When planning an event, there are a million different questions that are thrown your way. One of the biggest and most important is where you will be holding your event?? In order to answer it you need to have the answers to so many other questions. To help you on your way to answering a few of these questions and choosing your venue, we have made a little list of things to consider while making your decision.
Size
When asking questions on size the first thing that comes to mind is how many people can the venue accommodate. If you plan on having 50 people at your event, you might want your venue to be able to hold seventy. If you plan on having 300, you might want the capacity to be 350-400.
What a lot of people miss when thinking about venue size has less to do with capacity and more to do with the physical size of the venue. These two things might seem synonymous, but the aren’t. It is important to ask questions like, how tight will the seating be? Will your guests be able to move freely through the venue space without any uncomfortable hindrances on their movement? How big does the space feel? Is it cozy and comfortable? Is it open and spacious? Two venues with the exact same max capacity might feel entirely differently based on room layout.
It is also important to consider any size accommodations that will be necessary for your event specifically. For example if you want to have food stations instead of a buffet is there room + guests? If you ask these questions when considering size, you will be on your way to ensuring perfect comfort at your event.
Cost
When planning an event, staying in budget is always one of the biggest concerns, so cost is obviously a factor when choosing your venue. Consider the time of year and the day of your event when planning for cost. One of the biggest ways to lower the price of a venue is to have your event on a day that is less sought after than others. You should also be aware of any additional services a venue offers, but we’ll touch on that later.
Location
The main thing to consider when it comes to the location of your event is how easily your average event attendee will be able to reach it. If most of your event guests will be “in-town” guests, then holding the event in close proximity to their homes or offices makes sense. The key to venue location is limiting the hassle your guests will have to face while traveling to your event. And for Tulsa, finding a route that is not under construction is the true challenge. I’m sure I’m not alone when I say I Wish I had the patent on orange cones and barrels.
Additional Services
Do you want to hire your own caterer or do you want the venue to handle it? Do you have all of the equipment you need for your event or will you need the venue to supply it? Does the venue have its own setup/cleanup crew or will you need to hire someone to take care of it? All of these questions should be asked before you choose your event venue and should also be considered when looking at cost. If one venue can take care of 5 things you would have to handle otherwise, it might be worth spending a little extra money on.
Mood/Ambiance
Perhaps the least technical (but by no means least important) aspect of a venue to consider is how well it matches the mood or ambiance you wish to establish. If you are hosting a Fundraiser Gala, you probably want a venue that has an extravagantly fancy feel to it. If you are throwing a company (family) party, you are going to want your venue to be less formal and more fun. Think hard about the message you are trying to send to your event guests and how you can get it across with the environment you choose for your event.
Now you are well on your way to finding your perfect venue. Still need a little extra help narrowing down the potions, we are here to help. Contact us at sharon@tulsaweddings.com
Wedding Gifts – Typically your venue or wedding planner will move your gifts during the event to a secure location, whether it is the venue coordinator’s office or perhaps another event space, it will be away from any wandering eyes. At the end of the event, these items will be loaded onto a cart or taken directly to the vehicle of who you designate as being responsible for these items. Usually this is a parent of the newlyweds. Make sure you tell whoever you designate ahead of time so they know to stay til the end of the night. The venue coordinator or your planner should know who this is so they make sure it all goes home with the right person, not just someone who volunteered.
Food & Drink – If your wedding is at a full service venue (meaning a venue that also supplies catering and staff), they will most likely pack a box of food for the newlyweds to take with them. All other food is thrown out due to sitting out for so long (especially on a buffet). It is an insurance requirement at most venues that they are not allowed to send “left overs” home with anyone. If someone were to take the food home and not properly store it, resulting in food poisoning, the venue does not want to be responsible. If you are working with a caterer, they may have their own policies. Make sure you ask about this when hiring them. If you brought in your own alcohol, you will need to take home what is left over. This can be quite a bit, so make sure that whoever you designate to stay and take this home at the end of the night has a large vehicle, just in case. Typically, your caterer and/or planner will not transport left over alcohol.
Cake – Your venue or caterer will box up your left over cake to take home, but most of the time they do not provide the boxes for this. Make sure you bakery will leave boxes, and if not, bring some of your own. Also, check with you bakery to see if any equipment, such as a stand, needs to be returned. Some planners will return cake stands for you, but again, check with them and see who needs to be responsible for this.
