Questions to Ask Your Venue

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Former Wedding Venue, Lavender Hill on Waiheke - Photo by the extremely talented Danelle Bohane from this wedding

When it comes time to choose your venue, you're undoubtedly going to forget to ask a question or two in the flurry of information you're given during your visit. 

To help make it a little easier, we've compiled a list of 38 questions for you to pick and choose from to be most relevant to your choice of venue!

Remember to make sure you're comfortable with everything in the contract before you sign, that includes ensuring that the contract includes things like: Company name and contact details, date and hours booked for, hireage fee, dressing cost (if you are using their inhouse planner/stylist),  rules and additional costs like cleaning or security. 

Questions to Ask:

1. How many guests can you comfortably accommodate? 

2. How many hours does the hire cost cover? 

3. Does this time period include set up and clean up? 

4. What are the overtime charges? What happens if guests stay overtime? 

5. Do you have an in-house caterer, a list of approved caterers, or can I bring my own? 

6. If we bring our own caterer, are there any cooking restrictions? - Confirm with your caterer that the facilities will be adequate. 

7. Are you licensed to serve alcohol? 

8. Is there a dance floor? – How big is it? 

9. Is the dance floor a separate area or do they set up tables on top of it? - If it’s not a separate area how do they handle moving the tables/ guests before the dancing starts? 

10. Can we have live music? 

11. When can our DJ / Band set up? 

12. How late can we play music? 

13. Do you have a sound system for background music, microphones for the toasts etc.? 

14. What else will be happening the day of our wedding? (If there are several function rooms, you won’t want a noisy group next door or a quiet group complaining about your noise.) 

15. If there is more than one function room, which one will we be using? 

16. What’s the lighting like? Does it have a nice ambience? 

17. Is there a minimum fee? 

18. If there is a package on offer, what is included? Are there any extra charges? 

19. Is the price quoted guaranteed for our date? 

20. Do you require a deposit?

21. What is the minimum deposit?

22. What is your refund / cancellation policy?

23. What happens to our deposit if you sell or close down the business?

24. When do we need to pay the balance?

25. When do we need to advise numbers?

26. Can we see photos of previous wedding set-ups?

27. Can we come and see the room set up for a wedding? (When you do, look carefully at the traffic flow for buffets, dancing etc.)

28. What are the tables like? How many can sit comfortably at each one?

29.Does it look like it will hold the group comfortably, or is it cramped?

30.What parking is available?

31. Do you offer valet parking? - What is the cost?

32. Will there be enough parking if another function is running concurrently?

33. Tell us about a wedding you did where something went wrong – how did you handle it?

34. Who will be there on the day making sure everything runs smoothly?

35. Are there any restrictions? - e.g. numbers, noise, curfew

36. Are tables, chairs, plates, cutlery, table linens etc

37.(If you’re decorating yourselves) – When can we get access? When does it have to be cleaned up by? And are there any restrictions on what we can use?

38. Is there a room where we can change into our reception / going away outfits?