How to Choose the Perfect Wedding Venue
South Africa offers an abundance of exceptionally beautiful wedding venues. You have the option of a Ballito Beach wedding, a Sabie Bushveld wedding, a Cape Winelands wedding, a Dullstroom Forest wedding, or a Vaal Riverside wedding and the list goes on and on. Weekend weddings too have become very popular where wedding venues are hired out from a Friday to Sunday for exclusive use and celebrated as a holiday over a few days.
So with all these options how do you choose the perfect wedding venue? There are a few very important aspects you need to look at first. Once you’ve established these you can narrow down your choice to your three favourite venues and from there go on your gut feel.
We have a look at a few aspects that can help you to narrow down your search and ultimately choose the perfect wedding venue.
1. Location
Decide which area you would ideally like to have your wedding in. If most of your friends and family live in Johannesburg, it would make sense to have your wedding close by. There are many beautiful areas surrounding Johannesburg such as Muldersdrift, Parys, the Vaal River and more that offer beautiful wedding venue choices. Ideally you should look at having your wedding close to where the bulk of your guests reside.
2. Budget
Decide on your budget and shortlist wedding venues within your area and budget. If budget is an issue for you then you may want to look at the fine print of wedding venue contracts. Sometimes the venue hire cost doesn’t include chairs and tables, waiters, crockery and cutlery or cleaning up. So although on the surface the venue hire cost is cheap, it ends up being very pricey if you have to hire and pay for all the extras. The easiest really is an all-inclusive wedding venue package where the bride and groom can merely arrive and relax.
3. Number of Guests
Decide on how many guests you will invite and look at venues that will accommodate these within your area and within your budget. Numbers are very important in your quest for the perfect wedding venue. If you’re looking to invite 250 guests, don’t pick a boutique hotel that only holds 50. Likewise if you hire a ballroom for 300 people and only invite 50, you might not get the cosy intimate reception you had hoped for.
4. Onsite Ceremony
Decide if you want your ceremony and reception to be at the same wedding venue and choose from the list of venues within your area, within your budget and within your capacity requirements. Some wedding venues only supply an area for the wedding reception. The bride and groom therefore need to have the wedding ceremony offsite. Although this is not a problem for most, it’s a good idea to be aware of what is available so that there are no surprises further down the line.
5. Accomodation
Decide on whether you will need onsite accommodation and further shorten your list. For out of town and weekend weddings it’s important to find out whether there is accommodation on the premises and if not, whether there is enough accommodation for your guests in the surrounding area. Firstly you don’t want your guests to have to drive for hours after the party and secondly you may have many people declining your invitation if they have no place to stay. If you need onsite accommodation, it is important to ask whether this is an option to some of your top wedding venue choices.
Here is an example of a simple table you can use:
Once you have established these important points it’s time to decide which wedding venue will be the best option for your requirements, ideas and theme and choose your dream wedding venue. Of course you may never find a wedding venue will all your exact requirements which is when you need to decide which of the 5 points above are the most important to you and prioritise from there.
For more information about Wedding Venues around South Africa, read our article 5 of the Best Wedding Venues.
The Nutcracker Country Wedding Venue is an exquisite tranquil weekend wedding venue situated on the banks of the Vaal River, 90 minutes from Johannesburg. Offering all that is needed for the perfect wedding, The Nutcracker is for the exclusive use of the bride and groom and their guests for the entire weekend. Contact The Nutcracker today for rates and availability.