What Do You Need from A Wedding Venue?

Your wedding is a very special event that you will look back on and remember for the rest of your life. The venue you select for you wedding will have a huge impact on what your wedding will look like once it is planned. The function room, menu, drinks, décor and other facilities, such as the speakers used to play music, will all be factors in how your wedding turns out. With lockdown creating issues for venues across the country, planning your perfect wedding may seem harder than ever before. Situated in Tunbridge Wells our beautiful wedding venue, Salomons Estate, can offer a wide range of function rooms and services to make your wedding special. This article will act as a guide to what you should consider before booking a venue as well as what you need to create the wedding of your dreams.  

In order to find a venue that works for you it is important to keep in mind not only your vision for what your wedding will look like, but your guest list, budget and your checklist for what you need from your venue.  

Here are a few important considerations to keep in mind when you are looking for a Tunbridge Wells wedding venue. Your initial questions to any venue should be enough to find out whether they have the things you need for your wedding: 

• Your first question should be whether the venue you are looking at has the capacity to hold all of the guests you will be inviting. With social distancing and lockdown ongoing, this question is more important than ever. If the venue doesn’t have the capacity to hold your guests it may be time to select another option.  

• If you have a specific date in mind, then you need your chosen venue to have a free slot at the allotted time. If you are booking well in advance this is usually not an issue as there will be a range of free spaces, but if you are booking a venue on short notice be prepared for a few of them to have bookings already on the day that you wanted for your wedding.  

• When you are getting married it is important to have your own space in the venue to get changed and ready with the rest of the wedding party, and these rooms can act as a separate space for the wedding party to relax and prepare in. Most venues will offer a separate room for the bride and groom to get ready in, even if it is repurposed accommodation rather than a dressing room.  

• If you have guests who don’t have access to a car, or you are serving alcohol at the wedding, it is key that there is transport available for your guests to use. Many venues will be able to give you advice on local taxi services that you can book for your wedding.   

Menu  

Your wedding venue will most likely be experienced when it comes to catering, with many venues having full time catering staff that will help you make your wedding a wonderful experience. Most venues will offer a ‘taster menu’ so that people interested in booking can try the range of dishes offered and select the menu for their wedding.  

Almost all venues will have vegan and vegetarian options available, which you can offer as an alternative option for your guests if necessary. However, if your guests have a more specific intolerance or allergy, informing the venue before the wedding and discussing potential options is a great way to reduce stress and ensure your guests have a great time.  

Drinks  

While dry weddings are becoming more popular, the vast majority still serve alcohol. As such, most people who are planning a wedding will want there to be a bar at the venue they select, with most weddings having both a bar and a few bottles of wine set aside for each table to help keep the guests well-watered. In order to cut down on unnecessary stress, selecting one or two cocktails that have significance to you as a couple to be served from the bar can cut down on confusion, as well as help the venue bartenders keep up with the guests’ orders.  

While alcoholic beverages might be more your focus when it comes to your wedding, having a few non-alcoholic options available for non-drinkers – such as mocktails or bottled soft drinks – is a good way to ensure that all your guests are catered for. 

Accommodation

Often with larger weddings and celebrations guests will travel quite a distance to attend, with invitees coming from across the country. In the case of wedding ceremonies held with family members living in other countries, guests will sometimes have to travel to the UK to attend. While they are only attending the wedding on one day, many of the guests will need overnight accommodation, with some who have travelled a long way staying for longer. While some venues offer accommodation as well as function rooms, not all of them do.  

If accommodation held aside for guests is something you need as part of your venue package, it is important to discuss options when you are first contacting venues. Even if your venue does not have rooms as part of what they offer, the staff there will often be more than happy to give you the names of hotels in the area that other wedding parties have used.  

Support

Organising a wedding is often stressful. Having an experienced venue to work with can often help to ensure you get the support you need in planning. Many venues will have a dedicated list of suppliers that they have used at the venue before, which you can consider.  

Many venues will have a direct contact for you, who will be able to help you organise your wedding. With helpful staff focused on ensuring your wedding goes as smoothly as possible, you will be able to plan a wedding to remember.  

Here at Salomons Estate we offer a range of function rooms that can be booked to host a wedding. If you are considering Salomons Estate as a venue for your Tunbridge Wells wedding, then please contact us here. Our staff would be delighted to discuss what you need from our wedding venue to ensure you have an incredible day.