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Questions to ask a wedding venue before you sign

Everything on this page is negotiable before you sign and fixed afterwards. That is the entire reason to prepare for a venue visit: not to be difficult, but because this is the only moment when the answers can still change.

Take the list with you. Nobody remembers to ask about corkage while standing in a beautiful room.

Updated 6 min readStellanza wedding planning team

In this guide
  1. Money
  2. The day itself
  3. Ask for it in writing

Money

Ask these first, because they determine whether the rest of the visit is worth having.

  • What is the guaranteed minimum headcount, when does it lock, and can it be revised after RSVPs?
  • What exactly is in the per-head price — drinks, cake, coffee, service, tax?
  • What is the payment schedule, and what is the cancellation and postponement policy?
  • Is there a corkage fee, and how is it charged?
  • What triggers overtime, what does it cost, and is it billed by the hour or part-hour?
  • Are there separate charges for cake cutting, supplier meals, or setup and takedown?

The day itself

These decide how the day actually runs, and they are the ones people wish they had asked when it is too late to change anything.

  • What time can suppliers arrive to set up, and what time must everything be out?
  • Is there a hard finish time, and is it a licensing limit or a house rule?
  • Is there a wet-weather plan, who decides, and by when?
  • How many other events are booked that day, and do they share any spaces?
  • What is provided — tables, linen, chairs, sound, lighting — and what do we hire?
  • Where do guests park, and how far is it from the door?

Ask for it in writing

The answer given on a walk-through is not the answer in the contract. Send a short email afterwards listing what you were told and asking them to confirm, then check the contract says the same thing.

This is not distrust; venue managers change and memories differ. A confirmed email costs nothing and settles every argument that could otherwise happen in the final month.

The three questions that catch people out most often: what is the guaranteed minimum, what is not included in this price, and what time must everyone be out?

Frequently asked questions

What should I ask a wedding venue first?
The guaranteed minimum headcount and what is included in the per-head price. Those two answers determine what the wedding costs, and everything else is secondary to them.
Should we visit more than one venue?
Yes, and ask all of them the same questions in the same order. Comparing what is included is what makes two quotes comparable at all.
What should be in the contract?
The date, the guaranteed minimum, what the per-head price covers, the payment schedule, the cancellation policy, access and finish times, and anything a manager promised verbally.

Free tools for this

Wedding vendor checklist
Quotes, deposits, balance dates and what each supplier includes.
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Wedding checklist
Every task by how many months are left, with real calendar dates.
Open tool

Sources

Every figure above comes from one of these. Wedding prices move quickly — check the date beside a source before you rely on it.

  1. 1.Wedding day timeline — complete guideBliss & Bone

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