Why wedding venues ask those all-important starter questions.
Photographed by Younger Photography. Written and published in March 2023.
If you are recently engaged and starting to look at potential wedding venues – congratulations, and welcome onboard your wedding planning journey!
It is likely that you have a particular style of venue in mind (i.e., castle, barn, or hotel), and will use an online platform like Hitched or Coco Weddings, or directly search the venue’s website to request a brochure and explore their price list. Whilst it can be easy to access these initial documents, a venue will often come back to you with a series of questions relating to your preferred date and guest numbers. These may seem generic and slightly frustrating (after all, you simply want to find out more and make sure that the dreamy venue is within your budget), but they are incredibly relevant. Here’s why…
Prices vary from year to year and across the seasons
There is still very much a trend for weekend weddings in the Spring or summer months, so these dates tend to be higher in price and availability is limited. There are several reasons for this demand. Firstly, the weather can be a deciding factor for couples who want to beat the weather odds with a warm and sunny day, particularly those who want to incorporate outdoor activities such as lawn games, Aperol spritz bars and ice cream trikes. Secondly, weekends tend to be favoured for most working guests and those with children to consider. If midweek is a viable consideration, there are often savings to be made and potentially enough to bring the unaffordable back into affordable territory! You may also have a wider choice of supplier availability midweek and they often offer more competitive midweek rates too.
Choosing a year also makes a big difference as prices do increase. It is unlikely that your household bills have done anything but rise and for businesses it is the same. Being as most weddings are two years in the planning, it is up to the venue to predict what utilities, wages, licensing and running costs will be at the point when you marry. Hence there is probably a difference in pricing each year. On the flip side of this, there may be some late availability offers for you to take advantage of. We have helped couples arrange weddings in just a short 3 months, so don’t let this scare you – anything is possible!
You may be restricted by guest numbers
When asking for guest numbers, venues know that you haven’t received your RSVP’s yet and your numbers are very much a suggestion or an indication of who you hope will attend. It is a variable factor, but one your venue will help to determine. They will also ensure there is adequate (or not too greater) space for all your loved ones, perhaps by recommending a smaller room or through the additional hire of a marquee.
An increase in guest capacities from day to evening is standard for most venues. For example, our Castle Dining Room can seat up to 60 guests for a wedding breakfast, and a grand total of 100 guests for an evening reception. If your venue can only seat a proportion of your desired day guests, this offers the opportunity to consider who you would like to attend your wedding ceremony and if there are any that you would be happy to join you for the evening celebrations only. Plus, it may even make your day more feasible! It is common trend for predicted guest numbers to be immensely different to the actual number of guests who attend. This can be due to capacities, or like us, your venue may offer a separate wedding package or tariff for smaller numbers. You can explore our intimate tariff here.
What if we don’t know the answers?
Many couples struggle to know where to begin when planning a wedding and that’s absolutely fine. Why not read our guide?
For these initial guest queries, simply put pen to paper and jot down who you would really like to attend. Count them up and hey presto, you have a basic indication of the number of guests you need to be working towards. Date wise, unless you have a special date in mind, look at the seasons that you both like. Can you whittle this down to a month and a year? It is ok to say that your date is flexible. In fact, it’s completely ok to say that your plans are flexible (if they are). Telling venues little things like that helps to build up a clearer picture of what is important to you.
Where to go from here?
With your dream guest numbers and ideal date or time of year, a venue will have the sufficient information to issue the initial price indication you are seeking. When you are further along your journey, you can adapt your numbers and plans. After all, at this initial stage you are fact finding, and will have lots of questions to understand if what you want to achieve is realistically attainable. So, now that you have a clearer idea as to why we ask these questions, are you ready to learn more?
Featuring images by Younger Photography, Freckle Photography, Ray McShane Films, Tim Bishop Studio, Rebecca Roundhill and Noah Werth.