Great Questions You Should Ask Before Choosing a #Wedding #Venue

all right you're listening to wedding and event insider my name is paul cram i'm actually sitting in today for matt sherry and michelle twarburg and i'm joined by the always always wonderfully fun and fun to talk to elizabeth sherry what does it mean for the wedding and event industry i don't care what situation you're in you can do something simple i gotta say i actually still love weddings elizabeth i also see you have a little a little friend you have somebody with you yeah this is evelyn sherry she's our new addition to our family she's about six weeks old right now and so i'm on maternity leave um so matt and michelle can't join us because they're very very busy um so this new mother of four is not as busy as you would think that i can do this podcast and happy to chat and share some advice oh i know that you're busy so i mean i appreciate you being here i know all the listeners appreciate it too i'm actually really excited because we're going to be able to talk about um some things that are so in your specific wheelhouse um i don't know if everybody knows this but you have quite the extensive background in catering and in venues can you give me just a little bit of a snippet of what that past life or what has looked like for you absolutely really my passion it was um first got it dove into catering right when i was out of college and that was quite the education and education that i feel like really helped expand my career and then i started to go into more specific venues um through my catering side so some of those being the van dusen mansion is where i spent a lot of my time and doing a ton of weddings there um and then i was over at the guthrie theater doing a mixture of weddings and some really great galas and corporate functions um to now lend into my corporate you know nine to five life um but at my work currently i am the venue sourcer i go to uh venues and i i you know just like a couple would when they go and look for a venue for their wedding day i do that for 50 events a year and so i make sure that it's exactly what we need for our functions so today i really want to share with you about what are the great questions to ask especially since this is something that you're doing you don't do it as a career like me you're they're doing it one-off time and you want to make sure that you're asking the right questions because i think sometimes when i was on the venue host side the question that i would get when that was the funniest to me is what am i not asking like a couple within me what there's like a thousand things in my head i don't know what you specifically need so these questions could be to you or they could be something that you know you could lend as advice to your friends or something but oh i i know some of what's coming and i think it's going to be it's going to be really really great i actually i'm curious so did you ever did you have like a go-to answer for that question when people would say that to you like what am i not asking that i should ask yeah oh absolutely i mean one of the things would be the the kind of the questions that i'm gonna say is that i would tell them here all and i'll go into my first point really um here are all the hidden fees um and when i say hidden fees here's all the things that you probably didn't realize might be a fee like we at certain venues had a ceremony fee just because it's added labor and that included ceremony set up in labor yeah so those are the things that right away and of course don't want to speak money to it but when you start finding that venue that really is like oh this feels good um but what how much does it cost because that's a real question how much does it cost so besides the day of the week which could actually save you thousands um of their pricing structure like what their rental rate is so you can choose maybe a friday to be a little bit cheaper than a saturday there are also hidden fees that and not hidden they'll disclose it but i say there's about 30 pieces of paper they probably hand you on a venue tour and you're supposed to read it all um and that's really hard so if you're a ceremony is there a room flip fee is there additional labor is there items in their decor treasure box that cost something do you have a decor treasure box left over from clients that we can access these are all great things to ask them and usually a lot of them are happy to disclose in fact would rather have that than be surprised later on so that one is number one talk about fees what does it mean um and feel free to explore that with that venue person i love that i love that so so it and it's so easy what are what are all the fees include the hidden fees does it cost money to rent that thing that we saw that was really cool in the back yeah absolutely in fact if you wanted to say to them can you just draw me up what it would look like to get married on x date with all the things that i told you that i love and send it over to me via email that way you have no surprises when you go to contract um that will give you everything that you need to know so i think that that's the best approach and that way you have it all in writing writing is good um and i think that there was something that you said that in there that i i'm hoping that you can expound on just a smidge i know that you can but it was the day of the week um i think there's even more that can be done with that right yeah so day of the week um so most couples get married on the weekends so yes there's gonna be a pr primo date is gonna be a saturday then it's probably gonna be a friday and then it's going to be a sunday and then heck if you want to explore what monday through thursday weddings look like for rental rate that's awesome too um so those are going to be the hierarchy and then it also is time of year uh minnesota having a peak time of year is may through october they're gonna be more premium time a more premium rate for that summer month uh especially for those venues that are outdoor uh and then the off season as we call it is gonna be a little bit less and can we all just embrace winter weddings please i'm not trying to just say like write you off as you know you need to save money but they are so so beautiful and we have an asset here in minnesota so i'm just going to say start that trending now please everyone yes yes yes and just so that i know because i kind of think that i know but when is the off season for the twin cities for weddings yeah off season is gonna be really when you start seeing colder temperatures so that middle october end of october okay to late april may early may um sometimes people are just gonna say may through october blanket is going to be those you know on season rates and then everything else is off season and then everything else is off season um awesome i love it i appreciate you explaining that so so let's go let's dive through some of these more some more of these tips um what is the what would you say is the next thing on people's lists that they should ask always ask if they have on-site catering or an exclusive catering list or exclusive caterer or a list of vendors that they act or especially caterers and do they have to be a licensed caterer if they have an opened policy so when i say an open policy as anyone allowed to come in any restaurant anyone that you've ever known or worked with or you know whatever they're able to come in um most times if that is the case it does need to be a licensed provider so just keep that in mind that you can't have grandma cook for your 100 person a wedding uh most times people are going to x-nay that one but even though it would be delicious i'm sure that your grandmother yeah grandma's cooking is always the best right but unfortunately grandma probably doesn't operate out of a licensed kitchen or have the business that uh you would need so i would say then if um they have an open catering policy and have a list so you know those people have usually been scouted by the venue house have had tastings with those companies so they've been vetted they're not just 20 that they you know rubbed elbows with at one time um and usually it's about a list of three to four so it's not overwhelming to you if they have an exclusive partner and they're not doing their own food just so you know catering a large event is a really difficult thing so that's why they go to a person like a company that does this for a living but does it for an exclusive property so that's why it's not like a hotel that has their own kitchen in-house sometimes these things are a lot more specialty sometimes the venues are a lot trickier to operate out of um so it's not as you know rinse and repeat and as easy as you would think it would be right right some of those behind the scene things like there's a reason why there's a reason why yes i have catered out of back stairways and the craziest little nooks and crannies you could possibly imagine because then you can't manage that there's no kitchen there so there's a reason why a caterer cooks in a facility and then brings it to you and then his experts and how to do that properly love it so it's worth the it's worth the money that you're paying generally speaking yes that is really cool so what what what do you have next for us yeah you know one of the things that i have been i mean it's over a decade now it's been this way but those bridal getting ready sweets um for you know the bridal party the wedding party as a whole are such a nice asset but feel free to ask them what is the earliest that you can get in because sometimes venues will allow you in around noon but truthfully your hair and makeup and depending on your timeline you need to start that as early as like 7 eight a.m um so exactly so it's like either is there additional fees for getting um in early is it an hourly fee um can i just get in early those types of questions are great and then also talk about the end of the night what time do we need to wrap up what time um does music need to be off you know there are some venues that have noise ordinances for outdoor spaces so what time is that ending and then can we still go inside and finish our dance and then to what time that is so if you are i have worked with couples who are like hey our group likes to party and they want to be out until one or two a.m um that's fantastic not every venue is going to let you go past a certain point but there are venues that will do it and they might do it for a fee so and when you see fees add up in the wedding industry just know that it's really it's labor and they have to have those fees because we can't just have couples asked to go until 2 a.m and incur the cost of what it would be which is additional security bartender a server they're all the people that make it so your guests are having fun and they're doing it safely um so that's the reason for those additional fees and why you might feel nickeled and dimed is because we as an industry want to be flexible to what the client wants and flexibility does require and not a one size fits all here's your price there is a little wavering here's some additional fees because you wanted this additional that makes so much sense especially if you're wanting to get into that getting ready room at seven a.m and the wedding the night before went till three a.m somebody had to pick up so that everything was ready for you at 7 00 am yeah absolutely the turnaround time can be tight and and of course you want to have staff there to welcome to greet you and have a great clean space so yes all of those things so that's one of the things i would definitely ask um you know for me i'm a little bit neurotic um and a little bit of a control so one of my favorite things to ask and this is in corporate planning like it was when i was doing wedding planning as well is ask the venue host what their response time is or what their preferred way of communication is whether it be email phone text or day of the week that you can reach interesting and here's why it's a wedding industry we're a weekend business and we're nighttime business so when i have a client and i want to give them my full attention i'm not looking at email i'm not able to take a phone call that's not for that specific wedding i want to be able to as a future client give you my time and thoughtfulness at the right time so that's why i'll say usually tuesday at xmo time or reach me between this window of time right right um or if it's something super dire really quick i always shared my cell phone number that's not something that every venue person wants to do but it's a good way to um have just some quick communication and then you know feel at ease that you are a priority so that would be a good question to ask in general if you are thinking that a week response time is not okay or two days yeah no and that that i mean uh in my day-to-day the work i'm i'm not working specifically in the wedding industry i'm doing you know some other things here and there with branding and stuff but if it's after 5 p.m i'm not going to respond so it's it's it sounds like in in the especially in the wedding planning industry world um i'm assuming that a lot of people are going to be reaching out to you at some odd hours yeah oh true yeah i actually really enjoy the emails that come in from nine to five um because that means to me if they have a normal nine to five job that they're doing wedding planning during their work hours always kind of found that funny it's like all right you do you okay you do but yeah and those people who are probably on the floor workers like i was when i was doing weddings and events um if you're a nurse if you're a teacher you don't have time to be you know talking during the day today are people um so absolutely i think it's one of those things where um you can you know email them and say i know you're busy or i know you're not gonna respond for a couple days just because you've had that come get it asking them that question is super smart just to know what you're dealing with and so then you don't maybe have to maybe have to be like oh my gosh you won't have to worry so much those are really really good tips elizabeth um i am curious like um you specifically like let's say if i wanted to hire you to plan a wedding is that possible in your world right now or or where would where would somebody go to get someone like you yes great question yeah uh we have a lot of great wedding coordinators and planners in our tcwp groups that's twin cities writing and event professionals group and i absolutely recommend a 100 a wedding coordinator wedding planner especially if you're a person so you could almost do a little checklist and you had are you decisive are you organized are you great at communicating if the answer to any of these are no then you need a planner because yes you have a full-time job and you maybe you're adding in a move or i've heard people finishing their masters while planning a wedding that's too much it's way too much so give yourself the gift of a planner or a day of coordinator it is truly a gift and if somebody asks you um what they can give you as a gift say how about a wedding coordinator that's a great answer and so one last thing that i do want to send off as a fantastic tip is always ask of any especially if you're going down to like two or three venues in your head and you and your partner are like oh which one do we want to do ask the venue what is their number one asset what is their thing that they're the most proud of um the response is very open-ended and it tells you a lot about who they are and the passion that they have for what they do because if the answer is not so um fluffy or warm or you can't sense the tone of i am so proud of acts like if somebody were to ask me i would say in my previous life associate the guthrie i am so proud of our food our food is exceptional our service is phenomenal and i would say that about my other places too service is phenomenal the service and the food exactly exactly so if that's you it's like oh that's exactly what i want to work with is somebody who has great staff and great food um then you knew that maybe my answer was maybe better than somebody else's that didn't really resonate with you so just ask that question doesn't hurt curious to see what they say i love that i love that question too because it's um you're going to get different answers i i think that's a very interesting my favorite one that i've asked in their response was we have really great parking like okay like you know like of all the assets hey parking is a good one but it's like that you're most both all about is your parking now you're parking yeah yeah exactly i'm not i'm not knocking it because i mean in some in some ways it's like that's really cool but um huh okay then you're competing against maybe somebody else who gave a response that gave you the warm feels like we take great care of your guests if you go above and beyond to make sure that grandma has a good time and she's well taken care of it's that's really interesting the the i'm surprised by the parking answer that said like if parking was super super hard for your wedding that would be a down or two but but maybe yeah yeah taking care of grandma would be such a would be more of where i would go yeah this has been really really good information elizabeth um do you have anything else to say to let people know before we let them go um well i hope i didn't bore you with this information because i can tell you right now that my kid is snoring so i apparently bored her um so she's adorable thank you but if you do have any questions feel free to reach out to me at info tcwep.com i'm happy to explore or elaborate on any of these or even talk you through some other options that you can ask as far as you've been your tour um and beyond so feel free to reach out to us i really appreciate the time paul yeah i appreciate it too elizabeth and i'll i'm just going to piggyback on what you said people can find us at tcwp.com like elizabeth mentioned you can find vendors there too so go to tcwp.com take a look you might find your next wedding planner there all right everybody thanks so much