Choosing Your Event Venue

Before choosing your venue it is crucial to set your budget. Do not choose your dream venue and then work your budget around it. This will get you into a lot of trouble and could result in your event not having the financial gain that you would like. Set your budget first and then look for the venue. When looking for the ideal venue remember to think about the below and take them into consideration before making your decision.

What is included

When sourcing the venue for your event it is important to find out what is included in their initial quote. Most companies will send out a standard quote to begin with. Find out what is included in this quote. Items such as seating, lighting equipment and sound equipment are details that you should find out about.

Holding numbers

One of the first details you should find out about the potential venue is how many people it can cater for. For your event you should have a rough idea of the maximum amount of people that will be turning up, or you may have even set a maximum number that can register for your event. Does your potential venue have the capacity to cater for that number of people comfortably?

Days and Times

Many venues will have different prices for different days of the week. Weekend events are normally more expense at most venues compared to those that are conducted on a week day. You also need to determine the rates of the hire and how it is calculated. Do you need to pay for a full day regardless of the length of your event or can you book it out for an hourly rate based on the number of hours that you actually need it for?

Seating

Does the venue have a seating plan set up? You need to firstly determine the set up that you have visioned for the event. If you are looking at having people seated around tables, does the venue have this option available. If you are looking at having rows of chairs set up – can this be done and do they have the chairs available or do you need to bring your own in. This is important as you want to make sure that the event it set up in the way you want it to and a way that people are going to be comfortable throughout.

Additional Equipment

Finding out which equipment is included as part of the quote is very important. Depending on your event you may need certain lighting or sound equipment on the day. Are these included, do they have the option for it or will you need to bring your own. Is there space for a registration table to be set up at the entry to the event?

Catering

If you would like catering at your event, can the venue handle this. They may have their own caterers that can be used and included in your quote or you may need to bring your own in. Depending on the venue there may not be the option for catering.

It is a good idea to sit down and write out all the things that you need available to you on the day, in the lead up and that specific details of your event such as the catering needs, seating arrangements and length of the event. Having all these details in the one document means that you can send it to the venue for them to put together an accurate quote for you.

Choose a couple of venues that stand out and get quotes from each of them, you can then compare and find which one is going to be best for your event.

Do not change your event for the venue – change the venue for your event.