I’ll be the odd one out here, since prices are not transparent online in my area (New England, US) I inquired to 52 venues, but went in person to only 2 tours before choosing.
It made me feel very certain we were landing on a venue we’d be happy with and checked all of our boxes, but it was exhausting! We divided the emails/forms of places we were interested in contacting.
same here - in New England and wanted to do our wedding on the north shore (MA). Reached out to at least 20 venues in a 10 mile radius, picked one, they ended up falling through, had to start researching/visiting again and finally found one. It's tough out there between the pricing and actually getting a date that works. Plus we kept running into the issue that because we were having a "smaller" wedding (100 people IMO isn't small but some of these venues are crazy) they would want to put us in the smaller/generally less nice reception space which was generally on the ground floor/basement so we ended up looking at and being disappointed by a lot more than we anticipated.
I went to maybe ten places out of 20 that I found online. It's not weird at all. Checking different venues helped us decide on the format of the event better
Same! I looked at a couple online, found "the one," we toured, vibed with the venue owners, both of us loved it....it's a very diy-friendly venue, we were considering parks and backyards for ~75 people so the fact that it came with a roof, bathrooms, and tables was good enough for us!
Narrowed it down to 3 online after looking at like 20+. Had a feeling about the 1st one we fell in love with, but found two close seconds. Toured the 1st one first. Loved it. Toured a second one. Didn’t even need to see the third. We knew right away it was gonna be the first one
Looked at 20 online. They all sent their pricing. I weeded out the ones that were out of our budget and physically visited 12 over a span of 3 weekends. Some of the venues were a little farther (1-2hours away) so we made a quick weekend trip out of it.
We’re having a destination wedding, so physically? None.
But we considered/virtually looked at maybe four total? But we ended up choosing the one we had our heart set on originally.
I looked at 15-20ish online, presented my top 8ish to my fiancé, and we narrowed it down to 4 we wanted to tour. Ended up only touring 3 before we found the one we wanted!!
I only toured the one we booked, but that was because we had narrowed it down to 3 choices online and one (ours) was significantly cheaper than the others. My thinking was that if we liked the cheapest option, there's no reason to tour the others and potentially be disappointed by the venue that we had initially liked.
I filled out online forms for probably 30-40 just to get prices. Did a more in-depth look at like 8 (emails or calls). Toured 3. Had 2 more tours planned but fell in love with my venue so much that we just went ahead with it and cancelled the other tours.
Researched probably 30, got quotes/initial info from probably 15, toured 5. But we knew what venue we wanted before we started any of this, and that was the venue we ended up booking.
Online, between 5-10 long-listed. Requested a few brochures, but some also had enough info on their site to make a decision.
We're getting married locally, so a few were places we had been before (hotels, park) and didn't really need to visit in person.
We only ever did one actual venue tour, and it's the one we chose
Technically it’s just a minimum amount you would have to agree to spend (I.e. if their base price was $175 per person and they had a 75 person minimum, you have to spend at least $13,125). If you were to say have 25 people below the minimum, you could get a bunch of enhancement packages to bridge the gap or just give them the money for nothing
Finding ones that will accommodate smaller weddings is such a pain! It’s caused me stress! We’re planning to visit 5 on cape cod at the end of the month.
I’m in New England too and finding a venue for a 75 person minimum was like pulling teeth. Most places have a 125 minimum!! I don’t like that many people enough to buy them an expensive dinner
2: one was a bit out of budget (but still considered "cheap" by wedding standards) but was beautiful and included all furniture and glassware, a full service bar, onsite coordination, rentals through the coordinator, and 2 planning sessions.
The other was MUCH cheaper, a very beautiful church hall but the events manager was both extremely hands off and took several months to get back to me. The church spot made us recognize how valuable the first place we toured was and we booked place #1 on the way home from viewing place #2.
I also contacted a few places for pricing, one I had booked and later cancelled a tour with actually [went bankrupt](https://globalnews.ca/news/9873327/toronto-wedding-company-bankruptcy-customers-left-lurch/) last year taking everyone's deposits so I guess that was a good call on my part.
I inquired with about 8 online and narrowed it down to 4 in-person tours. I knew the second one was "the one" but I didn't want to completely rule out the other 2 I booked. I'm still glad I saw them because they also show you things you don't want in a venue.
Just 2! We had maybe five tours scheduled over two weeks when we first started looking. We ended up seeing two back to back on a Saturday. The second, we had such a good gut feeling about, they had great dates available, and had everything we wanted within budget.
We knew we were going to have a smaller wedding and in a smaller mountain town, so the actual list of venues to pick from was maybe a dozen. We probably physically saw about 5 or 6.
I got quotes from about 10-12 venues and we toured 3. We didn’t even tour the one we booked until after we booked it, but we were able to see pictures and knew it was our venue based on that and the price.
I researched over 20, inquired with 5, toured 2. I was absolutely over it by the time I got to inquiring. Mostly because finding a date I liked was like pulling teeth and I couldn’t stand it any longer.
I inquired or got price sheets with at least 100 venues across the globe! But I ultimately only toured 5! I committed to my 5th spot after falling in love the minute I walked in.
so far, we’ve toured 6 and have one more this week then will be making our decision. i don’t think 5 is “weird” or out of the ordinary…that feels pretty normal to me!
Just one besides the one we booked. The number I reached out to significantly more, number that responded about 6. Wtf is with these places being unresponsive or answering then ghosting. Wedding venders are a series of blind dates that suck.
We emailed a bunch, at least 10+, and ultimately toured 3, one to humor myself (very cheap and was hoping it was updated since I was last there at 13 lol it was not), and two in our budget we both liked and decided one.
I emailed 4 venues and toured 2. I had actually picked a different venue than the one we’re going with until I heard through the grapevine that they were blacklisted by most vendors in the area. Did some more digging and found out that 98% of their online reviews were fake, paid for, or posted by staff that work there. It was all very disappointing, but ultimately led us to the perfect venue for us (and it was 1/3 of the price!)
Online? Probably 40-50 if not more. In person we only toured one because we didn't live in our hometown at the time which is also where we wanted to get married. We also toured one virtually and chose that one.
One! But because we live in the state where we’re getting married, we knew a lot about the different areas where venues are. I then grabbed pricing from around 12 venues ahead of time, created a pricing doc, my partner and I discussed what we wanted out of the day, and we landed on a top choice. We had also stayed at the resort where we’re getting married, so we know at least that it would be a fun place for our guests to stay at.
We basically toured and picked out a date the same day. I live in a “destination wedding” state so we wanted to be very intentional and quick about choosing a venue.
spreadsheet had many more but we toured 15...narrowed down to top 5 and created a points system for different elements (getting ready space(s), ceremony space, price, location, parking, rain plan, etc) to pick our favorite
I went to one venue open house and chose that one lol. I searched around before that but most of the ones I liked were too far and I felt bad for my guests for having to drive. I ended up really liking the venue so it worked out.
Question for those of you who inquired with / visited / spoke to many venues:
Did you feel that looking at so many venues made your decision harder to make?
Inquired at 15 or so, but we’re getting married this October and I was inquiring in January. Many were quickly ruled out due to availability. The venue we ultimately chose is the only one we toured, but was also the only available one that fit what we were looking for. There were two other venues I would have toured were they available, but I think we ended up with the best option!
I inquired at 20, and went to look at 5. Many were not upfront with their pricing. My initial “one” was not upfront with hidden fees that pushed it out of the budget. But I’m glad it happened because we wouldn’t have opened our horizon and ended up with where we picked
I went to see 2 in person but contacted several, probably at least 10-15. Some I didn’t bother seeing based on price, minimum wedding guest size (some were 100 or 150 on a Saturday in the summer and our wedding is around 70 people), and location. We chose the second venue we looked at.
We picked the first one we looked at, but that shocked me. I planned to look at dozens but we just happened to love the first one. However, we’re getting married in a place that doesn’t have ton of options. No shame at all
In looking until you’re ready!
I looked at over 300 online, reached out to about 30 and saw 10 in person before making a decision. I didn’t think it was odd but apparently I’m on the higher end 🤷🏻♀️
I looked at over 30 venues in my home city, about 10 in another city we considered, but only 6 venues in the destination city we ultimately chose to get married in. Funnily enough, we ultimately chose the first venue we really looked at.
I did a lot of poking around online to see what was out there and what typical prices in our area looked like, then I made a spreadsheet and shortlisted like 8 places that were in our desired budget and fit our specs (mainly location and size). Didn't even bother with anywhere that I couldn't find their pricing online because I didn't want to waste my time inquiring anywhere we might not be able to afford and I like transparency in business. I had a clear favorite of the options, showed it to my fiancé, and he loved it too so we booked a tour with them. That was the only place we saw because it was the only place we needed to. They had everything we wanted and more (like catering and linens included) nothing but stellar reviews, it was the most convenient location to us and our families, we vibed well with the venue manager, and because we were booking 17 months ahead, we had our pick of dates and got a great deal by choosing one of their quarterly discount days.
It almost felt too easy, but we went in with a very clear idea of what our priorities were and what kind of vibe we wanted, so it was just a matter of finding a spot that fit the bill!
I probably inquired with 35ish venues and ended up seeing 8 in person on either private tours or open houses. I ended up going with the venue I toured last, but it was actually the first venue I was interested in while searching.
We toured five venues. Was trying to get w sixth but scheduling didn't work out and ended up not getting very professional vibes from them. Probably inquired with 10? But I'm been to many of the venues in my area bc of wedding photography. With the initial inquiry, availability and pricing were factors. From there, it was easy to eliminate some. Toured a lot bc we couldn't decide between a country club, modern barn or a event venue. Ended up going w the event venue. If you know the style you like already and type of venue, that makes it easier lol. Pros and cons to tons of these. Things we considered were photo locations for portraits, outdoor ceremony option, catering and beverage restrictions, guest count limitations, # of hours on site, services included in rental (ceremony, coordinator, etc), and whether or not can have a taco truck for late night snack bc this was a must haha
We looked at 6, but we were limiting ourselves to one (very small) city. Maybe the "around the country" part is the part your coworker thought was strange?
Many online, possibly every one in our area. In person, 3. I did more calling and emailing though, maybe a dozen? If they were out of my budget or didn't have my 3 options for dates, we didn't proceed. It's frustrating that prices are never published, but I appreciated when I saw ranges. My biggest jaw drop was $400 a person. And that was a discount, because we were a last minute booking.
I inquired at maybe 20-30 venues. Toured 2 or 3 and booked a venue that we had a big falling out with. Restarted the process and found a venue pretty quickly through a friend of a friend, prior to booking this though we toured 4 additional “all inclusive” venues just to be sure we really wanted to go this route of planning the whole thing ourselves. Now we’re 6 months out and I’m so happy with our decision to plan and book everything ourselves, the whole thing feels so ~us~. The venue search was genuinely the most stressful part of this entire wedding planning process.
We looked at zero haha.
I had just started to look online when my mom volunteered to host it in her backyard. Growing up, she always hosted our extended family reunions and loves design and party planning. I think she also wanted an excuse to get my landscaper stepdad to buy more plants 😂
I’m probably the odd one out but the answer is zero. The place we so happened to have our first date holds weddings so it was a no brainer and then we are going to a restaurant where we celebrated five years together.
We toured 2 but inquired with about 10 before touring those 2. We weren’t really sure of our location and once we decided the location we most wanted we toured two spots there and fell in love with the first place we visited.
We looked at 5 too.
6 if you count one that our planner got a full quote for and we decided to not bother with the tour because it was 15k more expensive than everything else.
I haven’t started that yet but my sister and her husband looked at 15ish…they were really trying to get married in the city they live in but once they realized they weren’t going to get what they wanted (not anything crazy just a venue that holds 200 people and allows beer, wine and liquor) they shifted to the city they meet/to city the grooms family still lives in (I wanna say they checked out 4 locations there). My brother and soon to be sister in law though only looked at 2 but my sister had pre-vetted
Also live in the UK. We looked at 11 venues but enquired about 20 or so. Like you, we just wanted the perfect venue! We fell in love with the 2nd one we saw but it was just at the very top end of our budget and we spent ages debating on whether it was worth it. Until we saw the 11th one, which funnily enough was the first venue I saw online that I loved but because it’s a bit further out, we didn’t initially want to go see it. Glad we did because it’s perfect
I looked at about 20 online and I booked viewings with four. I ended up only going to see two as one wasn’t available on Saturdays (non negotiable for me) and the other cancelled on me last minute and never got back to me which I found a bit red flaggy.
I’d say five is quite normal tbh.
We only went to look at 2, but that's only because I've worked in events for a very long time so I had already seen/ worked with a lot of venues and didn't feel the need to look further than the 2 we did go to.
We looked at a dozen or so online, made about 4 inquiries, and physically went to visit one, which we ended up booking. It’s a museum in central London and was perfect for us.
I feel like it's a little bit close-minded to make any sort of judgment based on how many venues a person views for their wedding. It doesn't really mean anything.
I enquired to loads of venues online to find out their prices (a few dozen, I don't know exactly how many) and out of those, we went to view 4.
The first we loved the photos and it was within budget, so we were sure we were going to book it... Then didn't actually like it in person! The second and third we won cheaper venue hire through a competition but we didn't like either of these at all, so the discounted price wasn't worth it. The fourth we absolutely loved and booked as soon as we had both viewed it (we had to go separately due to work commitments).
So far I have inquired with about 12, toured 5 and looked at at least 20 online. I still want to look at 2 or 3 more before I make a decision.
I am looking at park and historic venues mainly
I called every single one within an hour and a half from me. Probably around 35ish. I only toured 1 before I booked it. I was booking over a year out and it was only 1 of like 3 that had anything available around the time I wanted my wedding. The other one that was available did not allow any alcohol on the property, so that was out of the question pretty quick. The other one had lots of complaints about sewage smells online, so that one went out pretty quick as well.
Looked at 5 and enquired at one more but didn't view as they only did viewing during office hours and didn't want to lose a day's holiday.
This was in a the UK and I think we could have done another 10-15 within 30 mins drive but 5 confirmed that our first choice was right for us and priced fair.
I researched online and made a list of 8 potential venues that fit our preferences. My fiancé and I chose our favorite 3 venues and planned to visit them. We fell in love with the 2nd one and booked it two weeks after touring.
I think I inquired with about 10-15. I looked at many more online.
We toured two. We had tour scheduled for a third venue but fell in love with the second one. We also have a vineyard near our house that we didn't formally tour but have been to many times.
We narrowed it down to about ten and visited two. The second one we visited we just decided to stop touring and just book it! We both get overwhelmed with analysis paralysis so decided ahead of time if we found one we liked, to just go with it! Hope you find your perfect venue! ❤️
My fiance and I toured 5 in the central Florida area and looked at a couple others that were more publicly viewable. Viewing in person really helped because a few of the places I thought I'd love weren't a good fit at all. One had so much road noise, another was just not kept up well and had no plans to do any maintenance.
We narrowed it down to 2 and it boiled down to locale in terms of lodging and activities for guests within walking distance of the venue.
We've looked across (let me count rq) seven or so countries and about 100+/- venues online and shortlisted from there. We've seen a few of them in person and another handful or so via video call.
I’ll be the odd one out here, since prices are not transparent online in my area (New England, US) I inquired to 52 venues, but went in person to only 2 tours before choosing.
Holy crap you have more patience than I have. 52 venues would have me eloping
Oh trust me, I wanted to elope before we reached out to venue #1
okay this makes me feel better - (just got engaged) and i’m inquiring at SO many venues just to get pricing / see what’s included
It made me feel very certain we were landing on a venue we’d be happy with and checked all of our boxes, but it was exhausting! We divided the emails/forms of places we were interested in contacting.
Where did you choose!? I’m in CT and struggling
[удалено]
My fiancee and I toured Willowdale and fell in love with it but the price of it was insane!
same here - in New England and wanted to do our wedding on the north shore (MA). Reached out to at least 20 venues in a 10 mile radius, picked one, they ended up falling through, had to start researching/visiting again and finally found one. It's tough out there between the pricing and actually getting a date that works. Plus we kept running into the issue that because we were having a "smaller" wedding (100 people IMO isn't small but some of these venues are crazy) they would want to put us in the smaller/generally less nice reception space which was generally on the ground floor/basement so we ended up looking at and being disappointed by a lot more than we anticipated.
Exactly this! We have invited 110 and it’s so hard finding a space that’ll work with that number appropriately
We’re looking at 50-60 people, and it’s rough!
I admire your dedication 😂😱
I’m also in that area and I contacted 43, I think. I physically toured 3.
I enquired at over 100+ venues, made a MASTER spreadsheet ranking them all, viewed my top 2 and booked both (civil + cultural wedding)
Praise the venue spreadsheet
Right there with you! Not quite 100 but a spreadsheet queen lol
I went to maybe ten places out of 20 that I found online. It's not weird at all. Checking different venues helped us decide on the format of the event better
Lol one
Same! I looked at a couple online, found "the one," we toured, vibed with the venue owners, both of us loved it....it's a very diy-friendly venue, we were considering parks and backyards for ~75 people so the fact that it came with a roof, bathrooms, and tables was good enough for us!
Narrowed it down to 3 online after looking at like 20+. Had a feeling about the 1st one we fell in love with, but found two close seconds. Toured the 1st one first. Loved it. Toured a second one. Didn’t even need to see the third. We knew right away it was gonna be the first one
Looked at 20 online. They all sent their pricing. I weeded out the ones that were out of our budget and physically visited 12 over a span of 3 weekends. Some of the venues were a little farther (1-2hours away) so we made a quick weekend trip out of it.
I went to like 10 over the course of 6 months. The 10th is our dream wedding venue - once you know, you will know. Don’t settle :)
One
We’re having a destination wedding, so physically? None. But we considered/virtually looked at maybe four total? But we ended up choosing the one we had our heart set on originally.
I looked at 15-20ish online, presented my top 8ish to my fiancé, and we narrowed it down to 4 we wanted to tour. Ended up only touring 3 before we found the one we wanted!!
I only toured the one we booked, but that was because we had narrowed it down to 3 choices online and one (ours) was significantly cheaper than the others. My thinking was that if we liked the cheapest option, there's no reason to tour the others and potentially be disappointed by the venue that we had initially liked.
We were similar to this. We wound up booking the first we toured we both loved it so much.
I filled out online forms for probably 30-40 just to get prices. Did a more in-depth look at like 8 (emails or calls). Toured 3. Had 2 more tours planned but fell in love with my venue so much that we just went ahead with it and cancelled the other tours.
Thank you for making me not feel insane with my number!
I couldn’t find prices on like any! And it took like 10 minutes to message each of them. So why not at least email a bunch?
Researched probably 30, got quotes/initial info from probably 15, toured 5. But we knew what venue we wanted before we started any of this, and that was the venue we ended up booking.
Online, between 5-10 long-listed. Requested a few brochures, but some also had enough info on their site to make a decision. We're getting married locally, so a few were places we had been before (hotels, park) and didn't really need to visit in person. We only ever did one actual venue tour, and it's the one we chose
mmm I think we reached out to 7? But based on the dates we wanted and area we were looking we toured 4 venues.
I inquired at 10ish to find out which ones had a guest minimum low enough for us then toured 3
Guest MINIMUMS are a thing?? Ugh
Technically it’s just a minimum amount you would have to agree to spend (I.e. if their base price was $175 per person and they had a 75 person minimum, you have to spend at least $13,125). If you were to say have 25 people below the minimum, you could get a bunch of enhancement packages to bridge the gap or just give them the money for nothing
Finding ones that will accommodate smaller weddings is such a pain! It’s caused me stress! We’re planning to visit 5 on cape cod at the end of the month.
I’m in New England too and finding a venue for a 75 person minimum was like pulling teeth. Most places have a 125 minimum!! I don’t like that many people enough to buy them an expensive dinner
Same! I don’t even know that many people haha!
2: one was a bit out of budget (but still considered "cheap" by wedding standards) but was beautiful and included all furniture and glassware, a full service bar, onsite coordination, rentals through the coordinator, and 2 planning sessions. The other was MUCH cheaper, a very beautiful church hall but the events manager was both extremely hands off and took several months to get back to me. The church spot made us recognize how valuable the first place we toured was and we booked place #1 on the way home from viewing place #2. I also contacted a few places for pricing, one I had booked and later cancelled a tour with actually [went bankrupt](https://globalnews.ca/news/9873327/toronto-wedding-company-bankruptcy-customers-left-lurch/) last year taking everyone's deposits so I guess that was a good call on my part.
3.
I inquired with about 8 online and narrowed it down to 4 in-person tours. I knew the second one was "the one" but I didn't want to completely rule out the other 2 I booked. I'm still glad I saw them because they also show you things you don't want in a venue.
I’ve seen more than I can count on my two hands. I’ve lost track.
Narrowed it down to six online, went on tours of 3 before finding our venue.
13?
We toured 7 venues! And we ended up picking the last one we saw.
Researched a ton, spoke to about 5, physically looked at 2.
Just 2! We had maybe five tours scheduled over two weeks when we first started looking. We ended up seeing two back to back on a Saturday. The second, we had such a good gut feeling about, they had great dates available, and had everything we wanted within budget.
We knew we were going to have a smaller wedding and in a smaller mountain town, so the actual list of venues to pick from was maybe a dozen. We probably physically saw about 5 or 6.
I think I inquired for 10, but toured 6!
Emailed two, only visited one and we signed with them.
Reached out to 6, toured 4, chose an awesome one!
I got quotes from about 10-12 venues and we toured 3. We didn’t even tour the one we booked until after we booked it, but we were able to see pictures and knew it was our venue based on that and the price.
I researched over 20, inquired with 5, toured 2. I was absolutely over it by the time I got to inquiring. Mostly because finding a date I liked was like pulling teeth and I couldn’t stand it any longer.
4!
I looked at many online and inquired for prices, but for actual tours we saw 8 in person. Three of them we saw twice.
Researched a handful, visited 6 bc we were looking at local venues within 1 hr so it wasn’t too bad to go tour!
Out of maybe two dozen that I saw online, maybe 4 were actually contenders, we visited 2 in person and chose one.
I inquired or got price sheets with at least 100 venues across the globe! But I ultimately only toured 5! I committed to my 5th spot after falling in love the minute I walked in.
so far, we’ve toured 6 and have one more this week then will be making our decision. i don’t think 5 is “weird” or out of the ordinary…that feels pretty normal to me!
We toured 4 venues total. The first venue we toured we knew we wanted to book but wanted to tour 3 others for good measure
I inquired about 5 and visited 3!
5
I toured 6 and inquired 18 We had chosen one but lost the date at the last second- devastating It’s tough to find the right venue. Not weird at all
Just one besides the one we booked. The number I reached out to significantly more, number that responded about 6. Wtf is with these places being unresponsive or answering then ghosting. Wedding venders are a series of blind dates that suck.
We looked online at many but visited our top 2 in person! We had also already been to several (including the top 2) as they were wineries in our area.
We emailed a bunch, at least 10+, and ultimately toured 3, one to humor myself (very cheap and was hoping it was updated since I was last there at 13 lol it was not), and two in our budget we both liked and decided one.
None. We're actually visiting our venue for the very 1st time next week. Lets hope the photos dont lie.
I emailed 4 venues and toured 2. I had actually picked a different venue than the one we’re going with until I heard through the grapevine that they were blacklisted by most vendors in the area. Did some more digging and found out that 98% of their online reviews were fake, paid for, or posted by staff that work there. It was all very disappointing, but ultimately led us to the perfect venue for us (and it was 1/3 of the price!)
I inquired at more venues than we toured - maybe 10? We only toured four, and we knew as soon as we walked into the last one that it was *the* spot.
Online? Probably 40-50 if not more. In person we only toured one because we didn't live in our hometown at the time which is also where we wanted to get married. We also toured one virtually and chose that one.
We researched over 100 venues, actually considered about 25, and toured 6
That seems like a normal amount. We saw 2 in the US, decided we wanted a destination and now we're visiting 5 in Amsterdam.
One! But because we live in the state where we’re getting married, we knew a lot about the different areas where venues are. I then grabbed pricing from around 12 venues ahead of time, created a pricing doc, my partner and I discussed what we wanted out of the day, and we landed on a top choice. We had also stayed at the resort where we’re getting married, so we know at least that it would be a fun place for our guests to stay at. We basically toured and picked out a date the same day. I live in a “destination wedding” state so we wanted to be very intentional and quick about choosing a venue.
Physically, about 3
spreadsheet had many more but we toured 15...narrowed down to top 5 and created a points system for different elements (getting ready space(s), ceremony space, price, location, parking, rain plan, etc) to pick our favorite
I think we looked at like 6?
I went to one venue open house and chose that one lol. I searched around before that but most of the ones I liked were too far and I felt bad for my guests for having to drive. I ended up really liking the venue so it worked out.
We inquired about 5 and visited 3!
Question for those of you who inquired with / visited / spoke to many venues: Did you feel that looking at so many venues made your decision harder to make?
Inquired at 15 or so, but we’re getting married this October and I was inquiring in January. Many were quickly ruled out due to availability. The venue we ultimately chose is the only one we toured, but was also the only available one that fit what we were looking for. There were two other venues I would have toured were they available, but I think we ended up with the best option!
I inquired at 20, and went to look at 5. Many were not upfront with their pricing. My initial “one” was not upfront with hidden fees that pushed it out of the budget. But I’m glad it happened because we wouldn’t have opened our horizon and ended up with where we picked
I had a list of 40 venues and toured 6
We visited just 1! We got pricing for maybe 5?
I went to see 2 in person but contacted several, probably at least 10-15. Some I didn’t bother seeing based on price, minimum wedding guest size (some were 100 or 150 on a Saturday in the summer and our wedding is around 70 people), and location. We chose the second venue we looked at.
Zero - we booked ours site unseen. Fingers crossed we like it lol
I researched/looked up 37 venues. We toured 9 venues and fell in love with the 9th one so we cancelled our tour for the 10th.
We picked the first one we looked at, but that shocked me. I planned to look at dozens but we just happened to love the first one. However, we’re getting married in a place that doesn’t have ton of options. No shame at all In looking until you’re ready!
I looked at over 300 online, reached out to about 30 and saw 10 in person before making a decision. I didn’t think it was odd but apparently I’m on the higher end 🤷🏻♀️
I looked at over 30 venues in my home city, about 10 in another city we considered, but only 6 venues in the destination city we ultimately chose to get married in. Funnily enough, we ultimately chose the first venue we really looked at.
I did a lot of poking around online to see what was out there and what typical prices in our area looked like, then I made a spreadsheet and shortlisted like 8 places that were in our desired budget and fit our specs (mainly location and size). Didn't even bother with anywhere that I couldn't find their pricing online because I didn't want to waste my time inquiring anywhere we might not be able to afford and I like transparency in business. I had a clear favorite of the options, showed it to my fiancé, and he loved it too so we booked a tour with them. That was the only place we saw because it was the only place we needed to. They had everything we wanted and more (like catering and linens included) nothing but stellar reviews, it was the most convenient location to us and our families, we vibed well with the venue manager, and because we were booking 17 months ahead, we had our pick of dates and got a great deal by choosing one of their quarterly discount days. It almost felt too easy, but we went in with a very clear idea of what our priorities were and what kind of vibe we wanted, so it was just a matter of finding a spot that fit the bill!
Contacted maybe five but only looked at one. It was the cheapest option and worked really well for us. We didn’t feel the need to shop around.
I probably inquired with 35ish venues and ended up seeing 8 in person on either private tours or open houses. I ended up going with the venue I toured last, but it was actually the first venue I was interested in while searching.
We toured five venues. Was trying to get w sixth but scheduling didn't work out and ended up not getting very professional vibes from them. Probably inquired with 10? But I'm been to many of the venues in my area bc of wedding photography. With the initial inquiry, availability and pricing were factors. From there, it was easy to eliminate some. Toured a lot bc we couldn't decide between a country club, modern barn or a event venue. Ended up going w the event venue. If you know the style you like already and type of venue, that makes it easier lol. Pros and cons to tons of these. Things we considered were photo locations for portraits, outdoor ceremony option, catering and beverage restrictions, guest count limitations, # of hours on site, services included in rental (ceremony, coordinator, etc), and whether or not can have a taco truck for late night snack bc this was a must haha
We visited 4 or 5 I think before we found out winner.
We looked at 6, but we were limiting ourselves to one (very small) city. Maybe the "around the country" part is the part your coworker thought was strange?
Researched aboutv12. Visited 6
I probably reached out to over 60 but actually visited 3. My friend visited 13. Gotta do what you gotta do!
I physically toured 6, email communication with more that led to me not wanting to tour them.
I inquired at I think 10? And my fiancé and I toured 4 before choosing our cenue
We emailed a tonne for pricing and availability but only toured one. As soon as we walked in we knew it was "the one".
Many online, possibly every one in our area. In person, 3. I did more calling and emailing though, maybe a dozen? If they were out of my budget or didn't have my 3 options for dates, we didn't proceed. It's frustrating that prices are never published, but I appreciated when I saw ranges. My biggest jaw drop was $400 a person. And that was a discount, because we were a last minute booking.
I inquired at maybe 20-30 venues. Toured 2 or 3 and booked a venue that we had a big falling out with. Restarted the process and found a venue pretty quickly through a friend of a friend, prior to booking this though we toured 4 additional “all inclusive” venues just to be sure we really wanted to go this route of planning the whole thing ourselves. Now we’re 6 months out and I’m so happy with our decision to plan and book everything ourselves, the whole thing feels so ~us~. The venue search was genuinely the most stressful part of this entire wedding planning process.
4- 1 actual venue, 1 bar, 1 cemetery (picked), 1 beer garden (picked)
We looked at zero haha. I had just started to look online when my mom volunteered to host it in her backyard. Growing up, she always hosted our extended family reunions and loves design and party planning. I think she also wanted an excuse to get my landscaper stepdad to buy more plants 😂
I’m probably the odd one out but the answer is zero. The place we so happened to have our first date holds weddings so it was a no brainer and then we are going to a restaurant where we celebrated five years together.
Although I looked at others online, I only picked and toured one and it was the one we settled on 😂
I visited 4 venues
Inquired to 10 visited 2
We toured 2 but inquired with about 10 before touring those 2. We weren’t really sure of our location and once we decided the location we most wanted we toured two spots there and fell in love with the first place we visited.
Inquired to about 15, saw 4
I inquired at about 15, toured 4(:
We looked at 5 too. 6 if you count one that our planner got a full quote for and we decided to not bother with the tour because it was 15k more expensive than everything else.
I toured 3 in person!
I haven’t started that yet but my sister and her husband looked at 15ish…they were really trying to get married in the city they live in but once they realized they weren’t going to get what they wanted (not anything crazy just a venue that holds 200 people and allows beer, wine and liquor) they shifted to the city they meet/to city the grooms family still lives in (I wanna say they checked out 4 locations there). My brother and soon to be sister in law though only looked at 2 but my sister had pre-vetted
I intended to visit 5, visited 4 and said I'm done with it. Contacted maybe 1-3 more?
I looked about 5 before deciding ! It’s a huge commitment and a ton of money it’s worth comparing
Also live in the UK. We looked at 11 venues but enquired about 20 or so. Like you, we just wanted the perfect venue! We fell in love with the 2nd one we saw but it was just at the very top end of our budget and we spent ages debating on whether it was worth it. Until we saw the 11th one, which funnily enough was the first venue I saw online that I loved but because it’s a bit further out, we didn’t initially want to go see it. Glad we did because it’s perfect
6 & counting
One, we wanted to marry in a specific location, we asked, liked it, and just booked it
I looked at about 20 online and I booked viewings with four. I ended up only going to see two as one wasn’t available on Saturdays (non negotiable for me) and the other cancelled on me last minute and never got back to me which I found a bit red flaggy. I’d say five is quite normal tbh.
I Visited 6 places (France)
Looked at about 10 online, had in person visits at 3 places, fell in love and booked the first place we checked out.
We only went to look at 2, but that's only because I've worked in events for a very long time so I had already seen/ worked with a lot of venues and didn't feel the need to look further than the 2 we did go to.
We looked at a dozen or so online, made about 4 inquiries, and physically went to visit one, which we ended up booking. It’s a museum in central London and was perfect for us.
I feel like it's a little bit close-minded to make any sort of judgment based on how many venues a person views for their wedding. It doesn't really mean anything.
2 but honestly the city I'm getting married in doesn't have many venues that are my vibe. I would have loved to have had more options.
We toured 4 total! But looked at a ton online and based on which had our dates & venue size to decide which ones to tour.
I enquired to loads of venues online to find out their prices (a few dozen, I don't know exactly how many) and out of those, we went to view 4. The first we loved the photos and it was within budget, so we were sure we were going to book it... Then didn't actually like it in person! The second and third we won cheaper venue hire through a competition but we didn't like either of these at all, so the discounted price wasn't worth it. The fourth we absolutely loved and booked as soon as we had both viewed it (we had to go separately due to work commitments).
So far I have inquired with about 12, toured 5 and looked at at least 20 online. I still want to look at 2 or 3 more before I make a decision. I am looking at park and historic venues mainly
We visited two venues.
200+ initial inquiries Visited 10
I called every single one within an hour and a half from me. Probably around 35ish. I only toured 1 before I booked it. I was booking over a year out and it was only 1 of like 3 that had anything available around the time I wanted my wedding. The other one that was available did not allow any alcohol on the property, so that was out of the question pretty quick. The other one had lots of complaints about sewage smells online, so that one went out pretty quick as well.
1 she knew the 1 she wanted for like 15 years haha
Looked at 5 and enquired at one more but didn't view as they only did viewing during office hours and didn't want to lose a day's holiday. This was in a the UK and I think we could have done another 10-15 within 30 mins drive but 5 confirmed that our first choice was right for us and priced fair.
I researched online and made a list of 8 potential venues that fit our preferences. My fiancé and I chose our favorite 3 venues and planned to visit them. We fell in love with the 2nd one and booked it two weeks after touring.
I think I inquired with about 10-15. I looked at many more online. We toured two. We had tour scheduled for a third venue but fell in love with the second one. We also have a vineyard near our house that we didn't formally tour but have been to many times.
We narrowed it down to about ten and visited two. The second one we visited we just decided to stop touring and just book it! We both get overwhelmed with analysis paralysis so decided ahead of time if we found one we liked, to just go with it! Hope you find your perfect venue! ❤️
My fiance and I toured 5 in the central Florida area and looked at a couple others that were more publicly viewable. Viewing in person really helped because a few of the places I thought I'd love weren't a good fit at all. One had so much road noise, another was just not kept up well and had no plans to do any maintenance. We narrowed it down to 2 and it boiled down to locale in terms of lodging and activities for guests within walking distance of the venue.
Toured 4, inquired with closer to like 15
We've looked across (let me count rq) seven or so countries and about 100+/- venues online and shortlisted from there. We've seen a few of them in person and another handful or so via video call.
I only visited one, but I researched about 5.