What to ask the venue?

deliciouswitchchild

We're booked in to see a venue on the 2nd of July.

At the venue you don't pay a venue hire fee, you only pay for catering. That means that as long as you pay for 60 people at the wedding breakfast and minimum of 100 in the evening theres no hire fee.

We'll be paying for 80 people for the wedding breakfast, but probably won't be inviting anyone else for the evening. Its not the cheapest of places either really.

So what should we be asking the venue? what should we be asking to try to get the costs down and what kind of things can we ask them to negotiate on price?

Dekazer

I think the hitched.com list of questions is very useful: http://www.hitched.co.uk/wedding-venues/Venues/Checklist.htm?type=venue

I have also found that bargaining is, while a bit unnatural at first, often very effective. Phrases like 'I was hoping the price would be closer to £xxx, can we find a way to reduce it a bit?', and 'what's your best price on x, y, z?' can help to open negotiations.

We haven't got away with too much on prices, although I did get the price of our meals down by a couple of ££s per head, which made a big difference overall. Don't forget that you can change the content to reduce the price too, so cava instead of champagne, for example...

Bride2be24

What would be their suggested timings for your wedding day? Ask for timings for three different start times – e.g. 1pm, 2pm and 3pm. This is important because the availability of a registrar may restrict what time you can get married.

Will your wedding be the only one at the venue on the day or does the venue cater for multiple weddings?

What are the parking facilities? How many spaces? When do cars need to be removed from the car park? Some guests will drive to the wedding venue and leave their car overnight so they can have a drink and get a taxi home before collecting their car in the morning.

Is confetti allowed?

What decorations are supplied as part of the wedding venue hire? E.g. candles, table number holders, cutlery, plates, table linen, cake stand and knife, lighting, flowers etc.

How are the costs broken down? for example
Is there a charge for the room?
Is there a booking or an admin fee?
Is there a service charge included?
Is VAT included?
Is insurance included?
Is there a deposit to pay? Is it refundable?

deliciouswitchchild

Thanks, i've got the hitched list printed out (i'm on hitched as well but they all seem to like spending a LOT of money)

We have a rough idea of what it might cost its just whether they're going to charge us a room hire fee if we don't have the 100 people in the evening.

For example, do we need canapes? will people notice they're missing? I don't want people to complain about being hungry but surely people would think to actually eat before they came to the wedding? especially if we're getting married at 2.30 pm. If we knock those off the cost of the catering it reduces the cost by £400. We also want the bbq in the afternoon instead of the sit down wedding breakfast but its only basic of £18.75 per head, and it costs £4.50 to add salmon or steak. No mention of vegetarian options either. So is it worth asking if they can perhaps do us a slightly better deal on it? Should we also ask them to do it at 2011 prices and make sure its written into the contract?

bride2be24, thanks. Will definitely check about the timings. We're hoping to get married in church so that is still relevant about what time they think people should arrive etc.

speaking of the contract, should i get everything they offer us in writing?

Bride2be24

deliciouswitchchild wrote: »

speaking of the contract, should i get everything they offer us in writing?

Oh yes i definately would advise it

deliciouswitchchild

So i need to ask about:

timings
breakdown of costs of venue incl hire fee and all charges
catering prices
what they include in the prices
EVERYTHING in writing.

Bride2be24

also ask about corkage fee as it may be cheaper for you to bring in your own alcohol but can sometimes work out more expensive x

deliciouswitchchild

Corkage? is that when you pay them to open the wine? Tbh their drinks fees aren't too bad really.

Bride2be24

The corkage fee is a charge levied by restaurants/venues on diners who wish to bring their own wine with them. This fee is generally low (often the price of their cheapest bottle) but some places more expensive and is effectively a tip to the restaurant/venue for their trouble in serving your wine to you.

clairus

We brainstormed a list of questions, and used ones off website like Hitched to made a sheet to fill in for each venue after we had seen it. Also let us write down other important things like:
-Rude staff
-Cold room
(Both reasons why we didn't even consider one venue).

I could send you the document if it is any use to you?

sammy_wheeler

deliciouswitchchild wrote: »

Thanks, i've got the hitched list printed out (i'm on hitched as well but they all seem to like spending a LOT of money)

haha that made me laugh QUOTE]