Have you checked what your venue includes? How about your suppliers? You could be spending various amounts of money on things that you truely don’t NEED to! (You thought those wants and needs had run away? Nope! If you have no idea what I’m talking about head to our last “budget series” post or our initial budget blog 🙌🏻)
One thing we’ve noticed is couples are planning well ahead of time and looking at furniture, tableware and all of the dreamy items surrounding Instagram yet their venue includes all furniture and tableware. This is obviously extremely enjoyable for us “plan ahead” kinda people but if you’re on a tight budget, first thing to do would be check what’s included in your venue hire to save those extra pennies on the unnecessary.
SERVICED VENUES
Most serviced venues will include cutlery, glassware, basic linen, microphones, music access and basic lighting. Some wedding specific venues are even starting to offer upgraded options like Tiffany chairs, centrepieces and alternate coloured cutlery - or they may offer a styling package close to what you’re looking for! Serviced venues will almost always have their own restaurant or kitchen for your menu selections which takes a HEAP of stress away.
Another bonus with a venue is you will most likely be provided an “event coordinator” who will assist you with basic planning at the venue itself. They aren’t there to plan your entire day but they will make sure the venue is set with what they’re providing, timings are as planned and dietaries are catered for.
DRY HIRE
You then have your “dry hire” venues where you are simply hiring the space and/or space and basic furniture ie: tables and chairs. In this case it is extremely important to find out what is included as you will need to fork out the cost for majority of the items, unless specified. This is when you really have to pay attention to the NEED and WANT.
Do they have a kitchen?
Do they have power access?
Do they provide lighting?
Furniture?
They may have a bunch of recommended suppliers that will offer discounts, or you may be better off hiring a planner to ensure you’re covering all of your necessities and making room in your budget for your WANTS.
OUTSIDE
The third piece in the venue puzzle is the outdoors.. sounds like a spooky movie but honestly, outdoor venues are my favourite! You get to create your own magic in an uncharted space! If you’ve been dreaming of an outdoor space, maybe a family farm or that dreamy section of council land next to the beach and we don’t blame you!
Being one with the nature is our jam!
Although in saying all of this fabulousness, outdoor space comes with complications, challenges and a whole lot of NEEDS. This is when not only do you need to think about the basic furniture and linens etc, you need to think about power, toilets, caterers, lighting, permits, shelter.. it’s quite an extensive list! If done right, outdoor weddings can be done quite cost effective! Outdoor venues are 100% the place you will require a planner or even just an on the day coordinator to ensure everything is thought of - nothing worse than assuming your band, bar and caterer will have power when you’ve no organised a generator.
We hope this has kept some food for thought! Research those venues and find which fits in with your needs and maybe offers that point of difference 🙌🏻
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