This is probably the most important question a bride and bridgroom will have before they start planning their wedding day, well to be exact the bride, guys tend not to worry about the wedding too much at all until the very end.  Brides however plan the wedding a year or two in advance.

When you find a venue, ensure that you read the booking contract for the small print, this is where many brides fail after falling in love with the look of the venue.

1) Ensure the Wedding Venue does not have a sound limiter unless you are planing to have a quiet wedding party. Sound Limiters are great big white wet blankets.  Vocals will send the limiters to their limit easily, cutting off the power while the live wedding band is peforming. It is a draconian device. The sales person for the person for the venue will off course say, don’t worry, it will all be fine, they just have to ensure it is turned down slightly, what he or she is actually saying is ‘it needs to be tuned down by 50 – 75%.

2) Health and Safety – Check what their health and safety policy is, will the caterers, event production company or bands have to supply a risk management and method statement document. This will increase your cost with the suppliers

3) Check in detail the late finish policy and charges as a good party is sometimes difficult to end and you yourself would be feeling like partying. Once the sales person at the wedding venue agrees to the additional charges and finish times etc. ensure it is in the contract.

4)if you are planning to have one of the weddings with a real cool and fancy look created by curtain, backdrops and lights, ensure you take and event production person with you. Just because you went to a wedding where they said it costs £5k, it does not mean it will cost anything similar for the wedding venue you have chosen. Logistics, venue location, ready fittings, power supply issues with the venue you have chosen, can mean the cost to create the same look that your cousin Sara for her wedding might actually cost you £10k

5) Not everyone can afford a wedding planner, but if you can afford one, get quotes from the recomended wedding planner that venue gives you andone you find independently. Venues are like little cartels, they prefer for you not to bring any of your own suppliers or bands, simply because someone at the venue is on the take from the suppliers. If you have a paticular caterer , musician or any supplier that you want to specifically use, find a wedding venue that will accept your terms. Get married on your terms, sit at the negotiation table and negotiate your terms, do not let yourself be bullied.

6) Location – think about about your friends and family, if they can afford the nearby accomodation if they cannot travel on the same day. That is if you are not booking the rooms for them. If the venue is in London, look at hiring a minicab company as well, not all your guests will be able to afford Black Cabs to the home counties. Best is to give guests a choice.

If you have any tips, please feel free to add them here at the comments section below.