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What to Consider When Searching for The Perfect Wedding Reception Venue

When planning a wedding, the reception venue is one of the most important choices you will make.  The right venue will act as the perfect backdrop for your big day. As such, there are just two major things you need to consider when researching a potential Le Crystal wedding reception venue.

#1:  LOCATION

This is probably a no-brainer—you should know this already—but the first thing you have to do is pick a tentative location. And by “tentative” I mean, the city or region in which you want to hold your wedding.  I say city OR region because you might not like venues in your vicinity or you might not be able to find one that is available when you want to get married. All in all, this might be harder than you think, of course, as you have to consider things like:

  • Distance for wedding party to travel
  • Hotel/lodging Accommodations
  • Transportation accommodations
  • weather/seasons
  • traffic
  • parking

Thanks to smartphones, getting around in a new city is easier than ever, but you still have to think about people who are unfamiliar with these apps and, of course, being uncomfortable in a new city.  At the same time, you can make arrangements before the event (or, better yet, have someone in the bridal party do it) to improve accommodations:

  • reserve nearby parking lots
  • look for ride-sharing app discounts for events (like a bulk discount). You can even negotiate with the company to provide/distribute promo codes to cover the cost of rides
  • arrange for ride-sharing with other guests

#2:  CAPACITY

There are two things you need to know about capacity when it comes to reserving space. First of all, you need to know what the limit is, and secondly you need to if there is a Food and Beverage minimum.  There are two reasons you need to know the building capacity:

  • how many guests you can invite (sometimes the “limit” is flexible)
  • fire and safety codes

In addition, you need to know if the venue has F&B minimums.  Basically, the venue needs to be certain that they can afford to pay for the staff who will be working your event.  The hope, of course, is that your food budget (which is often included in the price of the venue) is roughly the same as their labor expense.  Of course, you can always negotiate.