Understanding Your Wedding Venue Options

Hotels, Ballrooms, Country Clubs & Banquet Halls will be familiar with hosting weddings and events and will sometimes offer various locations to choose from. These venues typically provide a good mix of flexibility and reliability when it comes to things like accommodations, catering, and wedding details...It’s also worth noting that employees and management at these venues will all be very familiar with all stages of the wedding process from planning to execution. That means you’ll likely be able to rely on them to provide expert advice about how to structure and style the event. They’ll also be familiar with working with caterers, rental companies, and other vendors, as well.

If you have a specific vendor you really want to work with, it may be a good idea to get their thoughts on venues as it can be easier to work in a space they’re already familiar with. Sometimes, venues may not allow for you to bring in outside vendors so this is something to keep in mind as well and make sure you ask up front.

Churches, Temples, and Houses of Worship are the most traditional of traditional venues. That means reliable services... but also limited flexibility when it comes to decorations and event structure. If you're looking to get married at one of these venues, it’s also important to remember that you might need to work around their scheduled services and worship commitments.

Refurbished barns & Farms: Holding a wedding in a refurbished barn or farm is for the couples who want their wedding to feel natural and rustic. Don’t confuse that description for boring, though. Barns are uniquely beautiful places to share tearful vows or to party all night long.

Warehouses: Warehouses tend to have an industrial or an unfinished vibe to them, which may be right up your alley. If you aren't one for glitz and glam, warehouses offer huge open floors with high ceilings that will give your event the perfect minimalistic look and feel. 

Garden: If you're looking for an outdoor space with a ton of greenery, a garden may be the perfect place for you. Gardens are already chock-full of natural beauty and provide a serene setting for everyone involved. 

Campsite & National Park: If you’re a fan of the great outdoors, a campsite or a national park might be the location for you. This option is wonderful for couples who want to say their vows under the stars, beneath a canopy of trees, or beside a beautiful lake. 

Wineries & Vineyards: Saying “I Do” at a winery promises lovely views and even lovelier wine! If the scenery doesn’t convince you to host a wedding there, the one location option is great if you want to hold your reception and the ceremony in one place.  

Museum & Library: Museums and libraries offer rich history that you won’t be able to find anywhere else. If you’re a book lover who can’t imagine getting married in a traditional church, this may be the route for you. 

All-inclusive venues are a great option if you don’t want to deal with all the fees, extras, surcharges, and general hassle that goes into coordinating a wedding yourself. When you choose to get married at an all-inclusive resort or venue, a good chunk of your costs will be included in the upfront price... but you’ll still need to be involved in the wedding planning process. What all-inclusive really means is that the venue will help you narrow down vendors with their recommendations.

Couples will still have the opportunity to choose rental items, look through inventory, attend menu tastings, create appetizer menus, choose alcohol selections, etc. It all may just be more ‘a-la-carte’ if you will. Sometimes, all-inclusive venues also give you the option to utilize their wedding planners or day-of coordinators which can be a huge benefit since they’re familiar with the venue and vendors and can offer you targeted advice. However, this route does limit your flexibility quite a bit. So, if you’re going for a one-of-a-kind, my-way-or-the-highway wedding, it might be better to avoid the all-inclusive option. Finally, if you’re considering an all-inclusive venue, make sure you know exactly what you’ll be getting. In other words, read the whole contract. It's important to understand any additional fees like administration, gratuity, service fees, etc.!

Hosting a destination wedding makes the venue-choosing process a bit more complicated. If you don’t have the money to take a trip to visit potential venues (which, let’s be real, a lot of us don’t! You’ve got a wedding to pay for, after all.), you’ll have to really scrutinize the venue online. Be sure to check out any videos on their website and search them on socials to see if any other couples or guests have tagged them in their wedding photos! We would also recommend doing a quick google search of the wedding venue to see if they’ve been featured in recent editorial articles or blog posts. This is a great way to get a more realistic look at what you can expect from a venue. It’s also a great way to get some inspiration for your wedding style and vibe!

Additionally, coordinating details at a venue so far away may be a challenge, so we’d recommend hiring a planner with destination experience or a local planner to help guide you through this process. You don’t always need to be local to host a destination wedding so it's completely doable with the right forms of communication and process.

Hot tip! Sometimes your actual wedding is "free" if enough guests book rooms through your hotel, so a destination wedding may not come with the big price tag you might expect!

If you’d rather spend your money on something other than a venue, there are tons of gorgeous options available. Keep in mind that going with an option like these may leave you with a bit of extra work in terms of rentals, set up, and coordinating because there won’t be any venue staff to help you through. But don’t worry, that’s why we have wedding parties, right?… Right?

At-home wedding (whether it’s your home, your family’s home, or some other generous homeowners'): This option is perfect for an intimate wedding for close friends and family. You will save a ton of money that you can use for an even more extravagant honeymoon! 

Airbnb Event Spaces: The beauty of having a wedding at an Airbnb event space is the variety of options and locations that you have available. Want a beach wedding? Book an Airbnb near the beach. Want a woodland wedding? Book an Airbnb near the woods. Whatever location you can imagine, there’s an Airbnb waiting for you.

Municipal Locations: Hosting a wedding at a municipal location like a local city hall or park is a wallet-friendly option for you and your guests. Your close family and friends probably won’t need to travel very far to get there which means there's more time for you to celebrate with the people you love.