How to Find Your Perfect Wedding Venue
Party Time
What I mean by venue is two things: the physical place, and the food. Some places are DIY, and require you to get catering from an outside company, but most venues are all in one. So to make things easier I'm just putting them both together, but choose what works for you.
The Place
Obviously, the main thing about a venue is the place itself. I am all about multipurpose things. A major component of the venue I got married in was the outside. Both my wife and I fell in love with the art deco style windows on the outside and the vintagey cozy feel on the inside. Aside from the inside looking good, the outside gave us space for the RV photo booth, and would have given us space for an outdoor dance floor had the weather held up. If you're gonna spend the amount of money a venue costs, where are you going to get the biggest bang for your buck? The other aspect to look at is the people who work there. When you go on your tours, pay attention to their personality. For the same reason as your DJ and photographer, you'll be spending a good portion of your day with them, so you want to enjoy being around them.
The Food
The second part (my favorite part) is the food. Just like your music choices, it should be an extension of yourselves, and what you both like to eat. Now I will warn you, you will probably have to make a few decisions based on what the masses will like and not just every favorite food you two share. However, I will admit that crowd-pleasers, like the tiny grilled cheeses with tomato soup shooters, do in fact please crowds. We still have people bringing up how good they were, and we got married in 2022!
Once your food is picked out, the other half is how it’s delivered to your guests. Our venue only did small plates and cocktail hour-style delivery. We liked that because there were no interruptions to the reception. People can come and go off the dance floor, grab food as they please, and just enjoy the night. The most common offerings will be your traditional cocktail hour, followed by either a sit-down or buffet-style dinner. I have noticed most people like to eat a ton during cocktail hour, and then are pretty full once dinner comes around shortly after. Of the two, I think sitting down with servers saves the most time. Buffet style can take up a lot of time, especially if you have a big wedding, but some venues run their buffets super efficiently. However, people can have a more customized dinner with a buffet, as opposed to the dinner they chose 2 months ago when they RSVP'ed for the sit-down. Realistically this decision usually comes down to what the venue offers, so I wouldn't stress over it, but just consider those few notes.