Twelve questions to ask before the deposit leaves your hand — from the producer who's watched four hundred weddings and the mistakes that hurt.
Every venue photographs beautifully. The differences live in the run-sheet — the things couples never think to ask until the photographer leaves and the weather changes.
These are the twelve questions our producer would ask if she were the bride — the same ones she answers, unprompted, at every site visit.
Ask what's behind the ceremony — not the view, the backup. Where do 120 guests go if it rains at 4 pm? Every terrace has a weather plan or it's not a venue, it's a gamble.
Ask where the cars park, where the caterers load, where the band powers. The answers separate hotels from fields with a nice photo.
One name owns the day or nobody does. Ask who runs your run-sheet, who calls the vendors, who decides at 6:40 when the wind changes. If the answer is 'the team', keep looking — you want a person.
Ask how many weddings they run per weekend. Venues doing two a day run two logistics operations; you want the one doing yours.
The venue is a photo; the producer is the wedding.
— said at every site visit, and meant every time
The package price and the final invoice are different conversations. Ask what's excluded: cake cutting, corkage, overtime, the dance floor, the second coffee station. Every 'small extra' is a line item someone forgot to mention.
Ask about the deposit structure and the weather-decision deadline. Ours is at the weddings page — the numbers sit in the open because surprises belong in the ceremony, not the contract.
Where does everyone sleep? A hotel venue answers this for free — suites for the wedding party, room rates for guests, breakfast the next morning when everyone tells the real stories.
And ask the producer what goes wrong most often. If they can't answer, they haven't done enough weddings. If they answer well, hire them.
Senior Event Producer, Australian Inn — 400+ weddings delivered.
120 for a ceremony; the ballroom handles up to 400 for the reception.
48 hours out — the producer calls it based on the forecast, and the backup space is held free.
Yes — wedding blocks get contracted rates, and the wedding party suites are part of the package.
Site visits run Tuesdays and Saturdays — the producer walks you through all twelve answers.
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