How to Choose a Wedding Venue

When you’re in the beginning stages of wedding planning, it may feel like there are a million things to decide and even more to consider. We’ve been there, and we can very easily remember that it’s a pretty thin line between having fun planning the best day ever on one side, and feeling overwhelmed that you need to plan the best day ever on the other. And that’s why we’ve put together a short and manageable list with you in mind on how to choose a wedding venue.

Choose Your Location

Our first tip when determining how to choose a wedding venue is by looking at your locations available. Do you want to get married in your hometown, or is there a wedding venue you’ve been dreaming about since as long as you can remember? Another thing to keep in mind is traveling for all of your guests. Destination weddings are amazing, but if you can’t have all of your favorite people with you to celebrate, will you be okay with that? You could also search for a location more centered between family, or even locally, and then save the destination location for your honeymoon.

Set Your Budget

Once you have a location in mind for your wedding, determining a budget will help you see what venues are within your scope. Your budget will also keep you on track for the rest of your wedding planning. We’re huge believers in setting and keeping a budget once you’ve decided on the total number. The last thing we’d want for you is to start your marriage with a large amount of debt related to your wedding day. You’re going to have a gorgeous wedding day, but ultimately, we hope your marriage will be even more beautiful!

Choose Your Wedding Style

The wedding style you choose for your wedding day will make a huge impact on your wedding venue choices. If you’d like a classic and indoor-only wedding, a ballroom or hotel may be your best choice. If you’d like to say your vows overlooking the ocean, then that venue can be much different than a ballroom indoor-only wedding day. Similarly, if you love the look and feel of a modern romantic garden styled wedding, we’d suggest looking for wedding venues in the Santa Ynez valley. Some of our favorites are Sunstone Villa and the Fess Parker Winery.

If you’re stuck trying to figure out what type of wedding style you’d like for your day, we have another blog post about choosing your wedding style just for you!

Determine Your Guest List

Our last tip for how to choose a wedding venue is determining how many guests you’d like to invite to celebrate with you. Most wedding venues list how many guests they can accommodate on their websites. So, having an estimate of how many of your friends and family you’d like to invite is a great step in the right direction. Choosing to plan an intimate wedding will be much different than throwing the biggest bash that year.

When you’re ready to start designing your wedding invitations, check out this blog post for all of our tips and tricks so you don’t forget any important information needed for your guests to arrive on time and at the right location.