Your wedding venue isn’t just where the main event takes place. It also contributes to the mood and provides comforts to your guests. While there are many options from which to choose, some couples favor all-inclusive venues for their convenient advantages. Before you make your selection, it’s important to keep a few things in mind.
A Quick Review of All-Inclusive Venues
You may already know about some all-inclusive venues in your area. Perhaps you’ve already scoped a few out online: hotels, ballrooms, country clubs, chapels, and maybe a rustic barn or two. These venues exist to cater to couples and offer a complete wedding experience from start to finish.
Wedding Wire’s Stephanie Hallett points out that they adopt different approaches to how they provide their services. However, many employ onsite planners or coordinators to guide each couple through the process. They also typically have catering options with in-house food staff and prep. Depending on the venue, you may also have access to furniture and linen rental, disc jockeys or live music performers, photography and videography, florists, and officiants. An all-inclusive location could be the best choice in certain situations:
- You need simple, low-stress planning.
- You’re hosting a destination wedding.
- Many of your guests are from out of town.
- You’re flexible about your food, music, and vendor choices.
Wedding Chapels Offer New Conveniences
While some reception spaces have transformed into all-inclusive venues, wedding chapels have also become popular. You’ve probably heard of the Vegas wedding chapels, but they’ve popped up all across the United States and in popular foreign tourist spots. Many of these supply ceremony space with changing room access, onsite officiants, music, and photography. Expanded packages may also include wedding planning services along with a short reception, wedding cake, refreshments, and favors. Travel + Leisure reports that resorts and hotels are also adopting the trend, providing standard services plus catering, guest lodging, and live entertainment.
Great Tips for Your Venue Search
A Practical Wedding’s Kate Levy stresses the importance of constructing a budget before searching for services. You also need to know your approximate guest count, date, and the general formality level and mood you want.
Those details will help you quickly narrow down your list, but you have other things to consider in your search. Some locations can host both the ceremony and the reception, while others are ceremony-only or reception-only sites. If you’re planning an intimate wedding with only 20 guests, for instance, you could select a small wedding chapel for the ceremony and host your reception at a nearby restaurant. On the other hand, you may choose an all-in-one venue for your afterparty if you’re tying the knot in a house of worship. Keep in mind, however, that some venues with small chapels can accommodate your entire event from start to finish. This is especially true with resorts and hotels.
Track Your Search and Compare Options
Levy suggests tracking your venue search by using a spreadsheet. If you don’t have access to MS Excel, you can choose one of the many alternatives listed by Scoro’s Karola Karlson. Be sure to create columns for capacity, venue type, pricing, rates, layout, features, parking access, and restrictions. Not all vendors supply every amenity, so you’ll need to confirm their packages’ details before moving forward. Of course, your spreadsheet is the perfect tool to document this information and compare options side by side.
Weddings aren’t one-size-fits-all. When you’re building your event, you must consider what’s best for you, your guests, and your budget. For some couples, all-inclusive wedding venues may offer the perfect combination of convenience, quality, and savings. To determine whether a full-service venue is best for your big day, you must let your priorities guide your decision-making.
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