Your beau has proposed and now you are finally engaged! The first thing that has hit your mind is “Where are we going to get married?” Picking your wedding venue can be a difficult task so I’ve come up with a few tips to help you in the selection process.

It’s best to choose a venue that is all-inclusive and has everything you’re looking for including being able to bring all your dreams to a reality. When selecting your venue, try to find a venue that has a beautiful ceremony location and a breathtaking backdrop for  your photographer to take beautiful portraits. It would also be good to find a location that has a nice getting ready room, with great lighting and views. An all in one location limits the need to travel from location to location and gives you more time to enjoy the moments of your special day with your closest loved ones.

When shopping for the venue, make sure to stand at the exact location you would stand if this day was your wedding day. This will allow you to get an idea of how the weather and lighting will be at your ceremony and/or reception. You wouldn’t want to be blinded by the noon-day sun, and rehearsing this will help you to see these unforeseen complications. 

Avoid ceremony sites that has a beautiful backdrop with an overhang above you and your guests, this leads to either an over exposed background or an under exposed couple. Also avoid half shaded areas, where the bride is all in light and groom in darkness or vice versa, this is mostly caused by buildings being on one side and shading half of the ceremony. Avoid trees that have speckled lighting where there may be spots on the bridal party or guests faces. Ceremony sites that are good are either all the way shaded or not shaded at all. One or the other is better than half and half.  These tips are good for thinking about your photos as well as your comfort during the wedding.

For reception areas make sure there is enough room to walk around in-between the tables. Think about if your dress will be fitted or fluffy. I know that you don’t have all of this planned out yet since venue shopping is always the first thing on the list, but just think if you have a fluffy dress and you are trying to get through all of those tables to greet your guests. Are you going to be able to get through? Think about where you will be sitting during your reception, you don’t want to be off to the side where no one can see you or a hard place for people to get to, you also want to have a nice backdrop behind you, whether it be landscape or pretty trees if you are outside or a nice wall or pattern behind you inside. You want to try to avoid a background with random items behind you and highly reflective surfaces such as glass or plastic. Ask your venue director how it will look during your reception because it sometimes changes once it gets dark.

Other things to think about is what kind of chairs do they offer for your reception and ceremony or do they offer any? How many people does this place hold? Will you get to be there for the entire day or do they have a stick timeline or when you should arrive and leave? Are you able to hang the things that you want or will they charge you for it? Is this a place that will charge you for every little detail or are they lenient? Are the people there friendly and easy to work with, will they be nice to your guests? These are some random things to think about while deciding your venue.

Lastly when you find the perfect venue, book it and stick with it! Venues often book up fast for the year and go with your instincts and select the one that is a perfect fit for your special day!