When planning a wedding or organizing an event, their are many decisions you are confronted with. The largest impact on your event is choosing a venue. The date of the event, catering options, and your guests pleasant experiences … all are partly affected by which venue you select.
Does this sound a bit intimidating? You don’t have to feel that way. Epic Event Strategists included ten guidelines to assist you when making these decisions and what to consider that will allow your wedding or event to have the look and feel so that your guests can have an amazing and unforgettable time.
When to Start Looking for a Venue
The earlier the better! Once you have a good understanding of the budget, estimated event size and space requirements, you can begin your search for a venue.
Book your venue at least 6-12 months in advance so that you will have enough time to plan other critical things, such as catering, wedding/event invitations, entertainment, and websites if needed.
What to Consider When Searching for a Venue
1. Location
You’ve probably already considered this. For a local event, you may be looking for a venue within a reasonable distance from most attendees’ homes or places of work. If many attendees will be traveling from out of town, a venue near the airport or their hotels will be beneficial. In whichever case, don't forget to consider traffic, transportation, and parking option. Also, get an official contract with the venue provider just in case, because having to change the event venue is probably the last thing you want to see.
2. Parking
Does the venue have a parking lot or valet parking? A venue with a parking lot is what dreams are made of. If that’s not the case, are there parking lots nearby which attendees can access and use? If there is no parking available, you’re not completely out of luck as you have a few alternatives:
3. Capacity and Minimums
4. Services and Amenities
5. Layout
Even though you’ll be finding your venue early in the event planning process, you’ll still want to have a rough idea of what types of activities you’ll be including, the amenities you’ll require, and the needs of your team and the attendees.
While narrowing down your selection, get an illustrated floor plan of each venue, and walk through your favorites at least once, making note of important things such as where the outlets are and where AV equipment is or can be located.
The layout and floor plan will greatly affect a few different aspects of your event:
6. Ambiance
Pay special attention to the existing decor inside the venue. What style is the architecture and what does the building’s interior convey? If you’re holding a gala, you’ll likely need different venue accommodations than you would for an expo. The less the ambiance matches the desired feeling of your event (upscale, high tech, etc.) the more decorating you’ll need to do to make up for it.
7. Insurance
According to BizBash, some venues won’t even do business with you if you don’t have insurance. There are several venues that require a certain amount of liability as well as them named as additional insured for the event. Typically you can ask your general liability insurance agent for this endorsement for your event. It is also a great idea to START EARLY in planning to have this added as well as to have all of the wording required, address, etc., prior to contacting your agent.
8. Accessibility
Accessibility refers to the possibility that everyone, especially those with special needs, can access the building and its amenities. Before you can answer this question, you’ll need to understand who your attendees are and what their needs are.
You’ll probably know whether there will be children at your venue, but you may not know if there will be individuals with other special needs. In this situation, reviewing recent events hosted may give you a sense of this.
9. Acoustics
Have you ever attended an event at a venue that was so loud, it was hard to hear others, causing you to strain your hearing and lose your voice, all in one night? That’s caused by poor acoustics. Acoustics is just a fancy word for how sound travels through the venue. A low ceiling will make the venue seem cozy, but it will make it louder if it’s packed. Alternatively, a large warehouse-style venue will result in echoes.
10. Cost and Flexibility on Event Date
Being flexible on the event date can be a great way to negotiate with venues. They may have open dates on their calendar that they want to fill. By providing 2-3 date options, you are more likely to get discounted pricing.
Finding the right venue for your event can be very timely. Thankfully there are a few shortcuts to help you save time:
As you can see, there’s a lot to consider when choosing your event’s venue. However, if you take the above into consideration when doing your research, you’ll find the perfect venue for your event.
After the event date and venue is set in stone, it is then time to start the planning process. Would you like to see how to make your attendees happy while saving you money and time from those tedious event tasks? See how Epic Event Strategists can help. Contact us by sending us an email at info@epiceventstrategists.com or call us at 312-428-5103.
Diane decided to open her own business after many years of planning events for those special moments. She has a passion for organizing and designing corporate events, weddings, baby showers, retirement parties, birthday and anniversary celebrations for other people. Her love of being creative and her impeccable attention to detail have led her to successfully coordinate flawless weddings and other events. Diane’s zeal for planning events and managing designs and integrating her love for organization is equivalent to her ability to help every couple or person plan the gala they have always envisioned.
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