[Greenbird]

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How did everyone go about finding venues? When you looked at a possible venue, what are the types of things I need to ask about?

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It's probably helpful to first decide on a type of venue- whether you want to have your reception in a traditional ballroom-type setting (hotels are easy places to look for these), outdoors (in a garden? public park?), or something funky (everything from museums to redecorated barns to converted train stations are becoming more and more popular these days). Also, you'll want to consider what you're doing about your ceremony- do you want your reception venue to be able to double as your ceremony venue? (in that case you'd want a reception venue that either has two separate spaces, or can change over the space easily/quickly) Or are you having the ceremony somewhere else (like at church) and thus probably want to have the reception somewhere close by?
Things to ask your venue: what they take care of (some venues are all-inclusive, meaning they provide the food, the cake, the flowers, the tables, the chairs, the linens, etc.- most provide some combination of the above); what kind of restrictions they have for vendors/services that they don't provide (do they only work with certain approved caterers? do they have restrictions on what kind of decorations you can put up?); cost, including food/drink minimums if relevant; and what kind of staff time/assistance is included in the venue rental (do they hand you a key and leave? will they set up the tables and chairs for you? do they have a coordinator that will work with you throughout the night, even doing things like telling you when to cut the cake?); and how many hours are included in the rental fee (both for the actual party, and also when any outside vendors can get in to set up).
A lot of venues are pretty good about letting you stop by either before, or sometimes even during, events that they're hosting that are similar to yours so that you can get an idea of what a place is like when it's all set up and ready to go.
Good luck with the planning!