Ten Important Questions You Should Ask Your Wedding Venue

It's our favorite time of year at Cedarmont! Engagement season! And that also means lots of tours and showings of our venue. We love meeting all the newly engaged couples and hearing their proposal stories and wedding plans. Making our clients dream wedding come true is one of the things that truly makes our job fulfilling  (not to mention sometimes challenging and we LOVE a good challenge!) In Nashville alone, there are so many different types of wedding venues from rustic to urban and everything in between. While finding the venue that fits your aesthetic is important, there are also some other important questions you may not think about that you should be asking venues when you tour.

• Do you have liability insurance?​​  If drunk Uncle Joe hurts himself on the dance floor, you don't want to be held responsible. Many venues require that brides purchase their own day-of event insurance, which you should do for your own protection. (We love The Event Helper) But it doesn't hurt to have a venue that has their own insurance (this goes for caterers and bar services too!) At Cedarmont, we have liability insurance and make sure all our vendors do as well. 
• Do you have a charge for outside vendors? What's the approval process for outside vendors? Many venues only offer all-inclusive packages and will charge a "buy out fee" for bringing in other vendors. So if your caterer friend is giving you a 50% discount you may want to make sure that the venue will let her cater your wedding up front. Many venues will allow outside vendors but charge a "buy out fee" and require vendors be pre-approved. Discuss the approval process beforehand so you can be clear what requirements your outside vendors will need to meet. At Cedarmont, along with an all-inclusive package, we also offer venue packages that don't include vendors so you can pick and choose your own without paying extra fees. To be approved, vendors must have the proper insurance and licensing and not be on our Bad List (like Santa's list if a vendor did something bad at Cedarmont, we add them to our list and we check it twice. However, our list is very short because most vendors we know in Nashville are lovely) 
• Is alcohol included in my package? Many venues include bartending services but not alcohol in their packages. In order to provide alcohol, venues must also have their liquor license and be insured for host liquor. If you're getting married at a restaurant, hotel or other similar event space it's more likely they include the alcohol in their packages, but many other venues require that the client purchases it. At Cedarmont, we do not include alcohol in our all-inclusive package but do include bartending services which means two bartenders, a bar back and all the mixers. Our bartenders can help clients determine the quantity and where to order from and even arrange pickup but they cannot purchase the alcohol. 
• Do you have any limits on type of decor? Sparklers, candles etc? It is also common for venues to restrict certain types of decor for safety and housekeeping reasons. Confetti, sparklers, and real candles are often on the "no" list. At Cedarmont, we allow candles as long as they are in the proper type of candle holder. We also allow sparklers but we do not allow paper confetti (have you ever tried to sweep confetti out of grass? It's REAL fun.)
• Is gratuity included? Are there any other fees I need to know about? The budget aspect of a wedding can be stressful enough. Make sure you know what to expect on your last invoice from your venue. Different venues have different policies when it comes to sales tax and gratuity. Often sales tax will not be included. At Cedarmont, we include gratuity but sales tax is charged separately. The only other fee not included in packages is event insurance which we require our brides to purchase and normally costs about $100. We like to let brides know up front so they know what to expect and can properly budget. 
• What is your backup ceremony location in case of rain (for outdoor ceremonies)? Everyone loves an outdoor ceremony. It's good to be optimistic and imagine your wedding ceremony taking place on a gorgeous sunny day with a light breeze. However, rain happens. Make sure that you know your venue's rain plan and are OK with it. Whether it's a totally indoor location or some umbrellas and a good attitude, make sure you're aware of the worst-case scenario. At Cedarmont, our rain plan is a ceremony in the reception barn then cocktail hour on the covered porch or in the lobby while your space is flipped into a reception set up by our staff. 
• How does the end of my reception and clean up process go? At what time does your bar have to close? When do guests have to leave by? How much of your "venue time" is used for cleanup? Packages often say things such as "10 hrs of venue time" but they don't say that one hour of this is used for the event breakdown. Does the staff take down all of your decor? If you brought some decor items when do you need to pick them up or take them home? Because some venues have multiple events in a weekend, they can have strict rules about when things need to be broken down and picked up. Especially if you are not doing an all-inclusive package, make sure you know who is responsible for cleaning up and what exactly that means (chairs stacked? linens taken off tables? etc). At Cedarmont, we have a limit of five hours of open bar so the bar normally closes 30-45 minutes before guests depart. We also require that all guests leave by 10pm allowing for an hour of clean up. In our all inclusive packages, we include clean up and our staff will put together your personal decor items and help load them up and send them home with a trusted friend or family member after your wedding. 
• How many planning meetings are included in the "wedding planning" package? Is there unlimited phone and email help? Many all-inclusive venues include wedding planning and styling. Find out what exactly this entails and how many in-person meetings are included. Will your planner be readily available by phone and email for any questions and concerns you might have? If they don't include planning services, ask what their policy is on outside planners. Many venues that don't include these services will allow outside planners but they may require you hire one from their preferred list.  At Cedarmont, we include wedding planning & event styling with our all inclusive package. This includes three in-person planning meetings and unlimited phone and email consultations. We also allow outside wedding planners and stylists with our Essentials Package and require a day of planner. 
• What time can vendors start setting up? What time can bridal party arrive? The allotted rental time for a venue often includes clean up and set up. Make sure that your timeline matches your venue requirements. If you wanted a full morning to get ready and hang with the girls before photos make sure your venue includes more than a few hours of pre-wedding time. Particularly with non-inclusive packages you may want to ask if vendors are allowed to come in before the rental period starts. If not, make sure the vendors you're hiring will be able to set up in the time the venue is allotting. If you have an elaborate floral installation at your ceremony site, your florist may need more than just a few hours before your ceremony. At Cedarmont, we include 12 hours of venue time. For our normal wedding timeline, vendors and bridal party are welcome to arrive at 11am for a 5:30p wedding ceremony and must have cleanup complete by 11pm.
• Is the reception space climate-controlled? Is there heating or air conditioning? It goes without saying that the South can get hot and muggy. Rustic weddings can be truly beautiful. But do you know what's not beautiful? Fifty people dancing to Black Eyed Peas in a barn in the middle of July. It's swampy, it's sweaty and it is the opposite of what you want on the happiest day of your life. Many rustic venues may not have AC or heat so make sure you pick a date that's a little more conducive to a non climate-controlled space. You paid a lot for that makeup. Noone wants to see it melt off your face in the middle of your dance floor rendition of "Sweet Caroline". At Cedarmont, our reception barn is climate-controlled and has both heat and AC. We did enough July weddings in a tent to make that a priority.