Archive for October 9th, 2012

Location Location Location

Our Locations:

Metamorphosis – Downtown Roanoke,  Hunting Hills – Roanoke County

Kyle House – Fincastle

Venues and What To Consider:

For many Brides, picking a venue for your wedding can be a challenging part of the wedding planning process. Some girls have had grand ideas in their heads since they were little girls and others have no clue what they want until they get that special piece of hardware on their hand.

Being in the catering, event, and venue business for years, there are so many things to consider before you sign on any dotted line at any particular venue or place.

One thing that we often see and struggle with as consultants, is that the Bride has spent so much of her budget on the venue then struggles to come up with money to spend on her food, décor, and other special elements that can make or break the overall experience for you and your guests. Some venues are known to give you a break on the bottom line if you commit to them on your first visit to the property. They may offer to give certain things away for free such as a champagne toast, offer special upgrades and services, or they may even give you questionable advice all so they can close in on the business. As consultants of the catering, event, and venue business, these things can be frustrating and are often left up to us to straighten out and fine tune with our clients.

We want brides to consider thinking outside the box, to work backwards if you will, and DO YOUR HOMEWORK! If your dreams are to get married at a certain historical landmark, outdoors, beach, hotel, or other special venue, then you need to look at ALL of the pieces of the puzzle to bring wedding together.

Here are some other things to consider when choosing your wedding venue:

Indoor venues can be very misleading. The best advice I can give you is to do your home work. You may really love a certain location, but there may be hurdles that could cause an increase in your budget as well as unnecessary headaches. Some questions you may want to ask are: What kind of time restrictions are there? Occupancy ? How many people will your venue hold sitting/served dinner style or sitting/standing cocktail style? How early can we (vendors ) set up? Do you have an ample kitchen for the caterer? Refrigeration? Commercial oven? A place to store/clean china, flatware and glassware. Do you have proper lighting and electrical needs for the band/DJ? Do you provide audio/video? What time can the rental company drop off and what time/day do they need to pick up? What kind and how many chairs and tables are provided with the venue.

Outdoor venues can equally pose as many and more problems. Is the land flat? (it’s hard to dance on a dance floor that has an angle to it), pot holes or rocks? What size tent can be placed on the property? Is it easy for guests to get to the site? Have animals been roaming around the reception area? Have you taken into consideration which way the wind blows and the sun sets? Do you need an auxiliary tent for your caterer? Note: In Virginia, Miss Utility needs to be called so they can make sure there aren’t any utilities in the way of staking your tent. Tent extras? Lights, fans, heaters, sides, liners, pole covers… and keep in mind if the tent is set up on asphalt or a deck, the rental company will most likely use unattractive water barrels.

So, as you move forward with the planning process, we hope that you take a breath and do your homework first, look at all the pieces of the puzzle, ask the right questions, and consider all of your options!

Metamorphosis is an all-inclusive FREE venue

Kyle House Rates Start at $450.00 and M-T is FREE

Hunting Hills Country Club is NOW open to the Public for Events and is a FREE venue

To good to be true?

Check it out for yourself by giving us a call at 540.819.1483 

 

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