You’ve got the dress. You’ve got the wedding venue. You’ve got the rings. So, where are you going to have the reception?
Far from being an afterthought, the choice of where you have your wedding reception can have an enormous impact on the day itself and can make or break reception photos.
For couples who are looking to hire a hall or manor to rent for their wedding reception, how do you assure yourself that you have chosen the right place?
Vibe
What is the vibe you want to have for your wedding reception? Laid back and hipster? Or do you want the full glamour feel?
This is crucial when choosing reception halls for lease, and you should always visit the halls before booking them to see if they gel nicely with your vision.
Accessibility
Most people dream of having a wedding reception somewhere glamorous, like a castle or a country manor. But you need to ask yourself if such a setting can be easily accessed by your guest list. Unless you have the additional budget to hire cars to transport your guests, having a wedding reception in the middle of the countryside is not likely to work out well for guests who don’t drive, so be sure to check transport options before booking!
Staff
Yes, when it comes to hiring a venue to act as a wedding reception hall, it is often the case that any additional staff that are needed to help the event go off smoothly are an additional cost.
Therefore, when planning your wedding reception, be sure to check about staff. Will there be staff behind the bar or to greet guests, or will you need to pay a bit extra for that? If you are hiring a catering team to serve food, it can be worth checking the costs of the additional staff that can be booked as part of the catering service alongside the costs of any staff who may come with the venue who will be able to do the same job.
Catering
Are you having a buffet at your wedding? Or are you aiming to have food cooked on-site? Either way, you will need to check that the wedding reception hall that you choose will allow the catering team to either drop off the pre-cooked food before the reception starts or that there will be someone on-site to let the catering team in before you and your guests arrive at the venue.
You should also assess how much space will be available for the tables and, if necessary, the buffet. So, be sure to take a tape measure and discuss how much space will likely be needed with your catering team before booking the venue.
Cost
You don’t need to be told that the cost of weddings is pretty high. So, for many couples who are planning their weddings, it is often vital to look for cheap wedding venues that you can dress up with decorations and, of course, cheap reception halls.
You will need to ensure that the wedding reception hall you choose can comfortably accommodate all of your guests and has facilities on hand that may be needed. For instance, if you are aiming to have food served at your wedding reception, you will need to check that there are kitchen facilities on site.