You’re engaged (congratulations)! Now it’s time to start thinking about your wedding day – remember this is a happy time in your life, so take a few deep breaths and whatever you do, don’t panic. Though it can be easier said than done, we recommend selecting your venue before you do anything else. Greenville boasts a wide variety of great venues, from rooftop terraces with an industrial chic vibe to intimate private dining rooms at an upscale steakhouse to hotel ballrooms with top notch restaurant quality food, there’s something for everyone in South Carolina’s Upstate.
The location you choose to celebrate your nuptials can impact so much of your planning, from date availability to vendors. Furthermore, the venue you choose will likely have the single biggest influence on your wedding than any other decision, as it will impact the underlying aesthetic of your big day, the guest count and potentially the timeline of your events.
Start with Google
1) It might seem obvious, but especially if you don’t have a firm vision for what you want your wedding day to look like, start by Googling. Searches like “Best wedding venues in Greenville” or “Greenville venues for a small wedding ceremony and reception” will bring up a variety of different blogs and wedding-related websites so you can have a preliminary peek at a wide variety of venues before you start visiting your favorites in person.
Visit the Venues in Person
2) Once you have selected the venues you want to see firsthand, make appointments to meet with the on-site planner and see the space. Even if you’re tempted to just pop-in for a first look, don’t do it. When you make an appointment, you’ll have dedicated time to see the space, ask questions and get an overall feel for whether you and the venue representative “click”. If you’re hiring a full-service wedding planner this may be less important in the long run, but if you’re like many brides, who plan to do at least some of the legwork themselves, your relationship with your key vendors can be the difference between making the planning process fun and high stress.
Get Pricing Information
3) As you visit venues, make sure you get pricing details and fully understand what is included. You want to be comparing apples to apples, and you’ll quickly find that one venue’s price is quite literally the cost to rent the space for a given number of hours and nothing else (not even tables or chairs), whereas other venues may include staffing, seating/dining arrangements, food and beverage, etc. So, while some venues may appear much more expensive at first glance, once you understand what you’re getting, you may quickly realize that a cheaper “bare bones” venue can be much more expensive in the end.
Get the Details in Writing — Before You Sign
4) Once you’ve found the perfect wedding venue for your wedding, make sure you get everything in writing before you sign the contract. This is just good business and will ensure that everyone is on the same page going into your big day. This is particularly important if you’re asking the venue for special arrangements or terms outside of their normal contract.
Stay True to Your Instincts
5) Don’t second guess yourself. If you’ve taken the time to visit venues and do your research, rest easy knowing you’ve picked the right venue for your wedding celebration and move on to planning the other details. Trust us, you don’t want to start reconsidering your options because you saw something new in a blog or your future mother-in-law made some off-handed comment. If you let yourself fall into this “is there something better out there” trap, you’ll not only drive yourself crazy, but it can end up being very expensive if you’ve already signed contracts and made deposits.
Have Fun
6) And last, but certainly not least, don’t forget to have fun with the planning process. To learn more about hosting your wedding events at UP on the Roof or one of Greenville’s two Ruth’s Chris Steak House restaurants, contact us – we’d love to help make your big day a dream come true.