What to look for before you book

Most Wedding Venues work on some sort of minimum. Whether it be food, food and beverage, people, or total dollar amount, there's bound to be some sort of bottom line they have to hit for your event. Minimums can vary for different nights of the week, times of the year, or times of the day. For instance, a Bride looking for a May Saturday night is going to have a higher bottom line than a Bride willing to go for a December Friday night or Saturday morning. It doesn't hurt to ask if there are lower minimums for different dates. If you're on a tighter budget you may have to be willing to choose a non-prime date to get a great venue and a cheaper final bill. Make sure you know what the minimum requirement is and what can go towards that minimum before you book. If you're planning on a smaller guest count and want to provide a smaller meal and lots of alcohol, a food only minimum wouldn't be the right fit for you. Remember, no matter how much your plans change over the months of planning your wedding, you are locked into that minimum number so you have to be comfortable with hitting it.

Make sure when you're looking at pricing for anything wedding related you leave some room for tax. Different areas will have different tax rates and they vary more than you think. So when you look at wedding venues all over town the final bill may be more or less than you're expecting because of a different tax rate.

Every single wedding venue out there is going to have a Service Charge that they charge on top of whatever the minimum is. Usually this is a percentage calculated off of the food and beverage amount. Some venues also charge service charge on their room rental fees. This percentage is usually between 15%-25% so it's going to be a big part of your final bill. Service Charge can turn a $3000 room fee into a $3600 room fee or a $30 per person menu into a $36 per person menu! Make sure you know what the venue's service charge percentage is and that it's calculated into your estimate before you decide whether a venue fits into your budget or not.

No matter what part of the country you're in, there are going to be little fees that are either hidden, or aren't presented to you before you book a wedding venue. I have seen fees for: room rental, ceremony, Bartenders, cashiers, cash bar, required security, uncorking, required valet, banquet captains, chef attendants, cake cutting, room set up, room tear down, cleaning, club usage, non-member.... and this list goes on and on. Sometimes these fees are spread out in the 30 pages that a venue will hand out to you when you tour. You need to really look through all of the pages they give you to get a clear idea of what fees the venue charges. With some venues there are just too many to calculate on your own so the best tip I could give would be to get an estimate before you book!

A lot of the confusion from choosing your menu and alcohol will be solved by knowing your final guest count. Some venues may lock you into a certain menu or package for your guest count in addition to meeting their minimums. Make sure you can get the food and beverages you want for the guest counts you're projecting. Always ask about children's pricing because some venues charge the same price per person no matter what and some have cheaper prices for 2-12 year olds or under 21 year olds, etc. When choosing your menu make sure to consider any chef attendants you might need with action stations or buffets. Sometimes they are required but their pricing is listed separate from the food pricing.

When choosing an alcohol package ask if the bartender is included or if you have to pay for him in addition to the alcohol, if you choose to do a cash bar is there a cashier fee on top of a bartender fee, are you required to hire a security officer if you serve alcohol, is there a separate children's pricing? Again, some venues will charge the same price for a package whether little Jimmy can drink whiskey or not. Another tricky part of alcohol is that venues should not charge sales tax on the alcohol itself. If they are packaging your menu, alcohol, and other things together they will probably charge sales tax on the whole package. If you can do everything a la carte they shouldn't charge the sales tax to the alcohol.

Be as specific as possible when requesting an estimate and always get one before you book. Make sure you look it over very thoroughly and don't be afraid to ask questions! If you have no clue what a charge is for, ask them! If you already know what type of menu you'd like to serve request an estimate that "includes all fees and charges necessary to have ____ menu with ___ adults and ___ children." I would request the estimate over email instead of over the phone so you have a record of exactly what you asked for and what they responded with. When they send you the estimate keep a copy for your records so you can refer back to it at the end.