If you are recently engaged, you’ve likely heard the advice, “Book your venue first.” While booking your venue early is an important part of wedding planning, hiring a planner before booking your venue is one of the best decisions you can make. As East Coast wedding planners, we’ve seen time and time again that the weddings that feel effortless from the guest perspective are almost always the result of thoughtful planning, and making decisions long before guests arrive.
Venue selection is not simply about choosing where the wedding happens. Your venue decision impacts every logistical, creative, and financial layer of the wedding weekend. When you work with a planner from the very start, we don’t just evaluate whether a venue is aesthetically beautiful. We evaluate whether the venue can realistically support the experience you want to create.
Things Planners Look for When Considering a Venue
When it comes to wedding planning, everything is connected. Your venue impacts every single part of your wedding experience, from logistics to the timing and flow of the day itself. A venue may look perfect online, but our years of experience have taught us to look beyond the beauty of the space and ask important questions, like:
What does the timeline for setup and tear down look like?
If your vision requires extensive production, we must consider the timing for lighting, tenting, draping, staging, entertainment setup, and rentals. If the venue’s set-up and teardown times are compressed, that may increase labor costs. In some cases, design elements may need to be revised to align with the available setup and teardown windows.
What weather contingency plans are available?
As planners, it is our responsibility to prepare, not react. We are preparing your rain plan throughout the entire planning process, so that if inclement weather arrives, we already know exactly what to do. If your venue has limited contingency plans, it may limit what your wedding experience looks like if the weather doesn’t cooperate.
What is the catering structure?
Some venues require you to use their in-house catering team. While that isn’t always a problem, it may limit your flexibility and alter your guest experience.
Are there any sound and entertainment limitations?
At Swoon Soiree, we’re dedicated to making every wedding feel unique, personal, and immersive. To do this, we often partner with entertainers who provide unforgettable experiences. If your venue has sound or entertainment restrictions, it may change your reception plans.
What is the parking and guest transportation situation?
While transportation isn’t the most glamorous part of wedding planning, it’s important to consider how the parking situation will impact the guest experience—and your budget. If there is limited parking available, you may need to provide a shuttle service for your guests. You must also consider the needs of any elderly or mobility-impaired guests.
Will this venue require a room flip?
For many weddings, the ceremony and reception actually take place in the same room. Your planner and vendor team work together during cocktail hour to transform the ceremony space into a reception, complete with tables, decor, a dance floor, and entertainment. Room flips often require extended vendor hours and additional labor.
Will multiple events be occurring simultaneously?
There are some venues that host multiple events per weekend, and sometimes even per day. This will greatly impact your vendors’ ability to unload and set up for your celebration.
Is your venue a historical property? And if so, what restrictions must we work around?
Historical properties in particular can be challenging to work around, but they are often some of the most spectacular. The main goal of these properties is to preserve the history, therefore your planning and vendor team must follow strict guidelines and carefully prepare for your event.
Operational Restrictions to Be Aware Of
Many venues often have a set of additional rules that impact how much you are actually able to do within the space. Hiring a planner helps you understand these restrictions before you secure your spot, in case any of the rules are deal breakers. Each venue has it’s own operational restrictions, but here are some common ones we see.
- No open flames, even enclosed candles
- No red liquids, including wine
- Limitations on attaching anything to the walls or structures
- A requirement to hand-carry all items into the building
- Protective floor covering or velvet-tipped equipment requirements
- Strict preservation rules at historic properties
Consider Creative Alignment
One of the most overlooked advantages of hiring a planner before booking a venue is creative alignment. When you share your creative vision with your planner before booking a venue, your planner may be able to find a venue for you that you didn’t even know existed. Some visions are perfect for historic properties. Others would be better suited for a private estate, or a nontraditional space.
The best part of working with a planner like us is our vast vendor network and close relationship with local venues. Because we work with couples all over the East Coast, we have an abundance of new, unique, and little known venues to share with our clients. Maybe your wedding needs a stronger indoor contingency plan, or maybe you deeply value guest movement and layered experiences. Whatever your priority is for your wedding, we have a venue that will exceed your expectations.
Hiring a Planner for Your Celebration
Hiring a planner from the very beginning allows the creative process to evolve intentionally. Instead of reacting to venue limitations later, the design can develop in direct conversation with the architecture, operational realities, guest experience goals, and production capabilities of the property itself. This almost always results in a more cohesive event experience overall and helps you avoid costly pivots or compromises later in the planning process.
If you want to choose a venue that aligns with your goals and creative vision, bring a planner into the conversation now—not after the venue is booked. And if you are looking for planners with great venue relationships across the country and a strong portfolio of visually striking events, you’re in the right place. Explore our wedding planning services and inquire to learn how we can help you find the very best venue for your event.