If your New Year’s resolution is to get your dream wedding venue booked, you’ve come to the right place. You might have spent hours poring over the website and scrolling through their social media feeds, but nothing beats visiting a venue in real life. Wedding venue viewings (or showrounds) provide the perfect opportunity to truly get a feel for a venue. At Hodsock Priory we’ve shown hundreds of couples around our Nottinghamshire stately home venue, so know that it’s easy to get swept up in the excitement of the moment – or even intimidated by the experience. If you want to really make the most of a wedding venue viewing, these are the things you should do and ask…
Do your homework
As tempting as it is to jump right in and book that viewing, it pays to do a bit of research about your venue first. Have a good look through the website, take advantage of the ‘virtual tour’ feature if they have one (click here for a virtual tour of Hodsock Priory) and make sure you check out the FAQs listed online. Don’t forget to look through reviews on Google and places like Hitched or Coco Wedding Venues to see what other real couples have said about the venue and follow the venue’s social media accounts for an up-to-date and authentic look behind the scenes. Get in touch with the venue in advance of your viewing to request all the information you need, so you’re as informed as possible before you visit.
Come prepared
Before your wedding venue viewing, we suggest writing down a list of questions to ask the person showing you around. It’s easy to forget these things when you’re taking everything else in, so future you will thank you for being so prepared! Some of the questions you might want to ask are:
- What’s included in the hire price?
- What’s the cut off time for live music?
- Do you allow confetti?
- Where are the most popular spots for wedding photography?
- Do you host more than one wedding a day?
- What sustainable practices do you follow?
Take a notepad and pen with you to scribble down the answers, so you can refer back to these once you’re home.
Take photos and videos
No venue should have an issue with you taking lots of photos and videos on your phone during a viewing. In fact, we absolutely encourage it at Hodsock Priory. After all, we want you to keep our historic venue fresh in your mind. There’s always so much to take in when you walk around a venue (especially one as gorgeous and packed full of beautiful period details as Hodsock Priory) so photograph as much as you can. These photos will be really helpful to look back on to get a feel for the potential flow of your wedding day, as well as a handy starting point for décor ideas.
Picture your day there
Rather than simply following your guide around the venue, take your time and really imagine what your big day could look like there. Picture yourself walking down the aisle, imagine what the reception rooms would look like with your style of décor and imagine yourself twirling around the dancefloor. Putting yourself ‘in’ the venue makes it easier to properly envision how your wedding day could look at the venue.
Look at the practical details
A wedding venue viewing should be exciting and inspiring, but – we hate to break it to you – it should also be about the practicalities too. Boring yes, but essential. Ask about parking (even better, walk from the car park to the venue to see if the distance and accessibility would work for all your guests) and see if there’s a room available to you during the day, whether it’s for getting ready in the morning or freshening up before your evening party.
Toilets often get forgotten during a venue viewing, but you want to make sure there are plenty of them, they’re well-kept and accessible for guests with mobility issues – and spacious enough for you to use if you plan on wearing a big wedding dress! If you have guests with babies, make sure there are decent baby changing facilities as well. If the venue offers on-site rooms, ask to look around the accommodation, and take a walk around the grounds to see how well they are maintained.
Consider flexibility
During your viewing, think about how flexible the space is. Will it work for the number of guests or with the décor ideas you have in mind? Speak to whoever is showing you around – it might be a member of the events team or even the owner – to find out if the venue has any limits on you using your own suppliers, and go through your options when it comes to the menu. If you want to really put your stamp on your wedding day, you want a venue that embraces a flexible approach to each celebration, like we do at Hodsock Priory.
Look around the local area
If you’re not familiar with the surrounding area, take a drive around after your venue viewing. How far is the nearest town or village? Does it have any accommodation options for guests who won’t be staying at the venue? Are there any nice pubs for a pre- or post-wedding meal with friends and family who’ve travelled a long way? Getting a feel for the local area while you’re there really does make sense. And don’t forget to check there’s no major event happening close by on the day of your wedding, which could have an impact on traffic or accommodation availability.
Remember to follow up
It’s helpful to follow up with the venue shortly after the viewing, while everything is fresh in your mind. It’s likely you’ll have plenty of questions that you forgot to ask during the viewing, or things you want to double-check before you book. Once you’ve got all the information you need, it’s time to book the date in and pay the deposit. Then, relax (for a short while, at least!).
The perfect Nottinghamshire country house wedding venue
Hodsock Priory is a stylish, historic wedding venue, sat on the Nottinghamshire and South Yorkshire border. Our spectacular exclusive-use venue has the wow factor in spades, and the best way to experience it for yourself it to visit in person. Click here to book a viewing or to ask our wedding events team any questions you may have. We can’t wait to welcome you to our luxurious stately home venue.
