Essen Insights | Choosing the Right Wedding Venue for YOU!
Choosing the right venue for your wedding is a daunting task! It’s such a personal choice with a million little details that you have to balance. Here are a few tips to help you along the way:
01. Get your numbers straight away
Before even researching venues, it’s important to look at your numbers. Who is contributing to your wedding budget, and how much? How much of that total wedding budget are you comfortable allocating for your venue? How many guests are you planning to invite? How many of those invited guests do you think will attend your wedding? Knowing your budget and guest count will help narrow down which venues will be the right fit for you financially and logistically.
02. Ceremony Logistics
Do you plan to have your ceremony at a church and then your reception at a separate venue? Or, do you want to keep it all in one location? Remember to factor in a possible extra cost if you are planning to have a ceremony and reception in two separate spaces. Not only will there probably be an extra cost for having 2 venues instead of one, certain vendors (i.e. florist, planner, photographer) may charge an added fee for needing to travel back and forth.
03. What are your Food and Beverage Options?
Each venue is a little different with who they allow you to hire for your catering. Some venues have in-house catering and bartending, while others only have in-house bartending and have a list of preferred caterers for you to choose from. Some venues have no in-house catering or beverage options, and will allow you to choose any licensed catering company and bartending company that you want. When reaching out to venues, keep this question at the top of your priority list. If they only allow for certain catering or beverage vendors, that could take up a big chunk of your total budget that you weren’t planning for.
03. Seasons of Love
Okay okay, I know that section header is cheesy AF, but I couldn’t help myself. What time of year are you hoping to get married? If you’re located in Minnesota with us, this is an especially important question. It may seem obvious, but put the research in! If you’re hoping for a spring wedding, choosing an outdoor venue might not be the best plan of action … because you never know if it’ll snow in May in the Midwest! On that note, if you do choose to go with an outdoor venue, please please please make sure you have a backup plan for rain or inclement weather!
04. Be Flexible on Dates
Venues book up EARLY. Make sure you keep booking a venue at the top of your priority list, along with any other vendors you know that you need to have for your big day. Going into looking at venues, have a few different dates or date ranges in mind that you’d be open to. If you go into a venue tour with only one date option, chances are higher for your heart to be broken if they’re booked!
05. Stay True to your Story
If you are the kind of couple who loves going out with your friends on weekends to all the local breweries in your area, look into a brewery or distillery as your venue! You’d be surprised how many of those are available for event rental! (Be aware that most of the time, they are usually only available on Sundays or Week days, though). Some of our favorites in the Twin Cities are: Blackstack Brewing, Lakes & Legends, and Surly.
Maybe you’re the kind of couple who is really into a classic modern style. You could look into booking your venue at an art gallery! There are a handful of options right here in the Twin Cites for that: The Walker, Weisman, and the MIA.
I Hope those tips help! We’d love to help you get into the nitty gritty along your planning process, feel free to Contact us and we can set up a time to chat! Happy Planning! <3
Photo + Venue Credit:
01: Yantes Photo // The Blaisdell (Minneapolis, MN)
02: Royal Hart Studio // Camrose Flower Farm (Stillwater, MN)
03: Kate Becker Photography // Cathedral of Saint Paul (Saint Paul, MN)