Twenty questions for an Eastern Cape venue

Published

Ask all twenty, and ask for the answers by email afterwards. Only the written version counts.

Power and water

  1. Do you have a generator, and what exactly does it run?
  2. How long is the changeover when the grid drops?
  3. Who refuels during an event, and is fuel included in the quote?
  4. Is there an inverter or battery system in addition?
  5. Is your water municipal, borehole or tanked, and what happens under restriction?

Site and weather

Ask six standing where the ceremony will stand, in the afternoon, on an ordinary day; if you cannot hear the person beside you at conversational volume, neither will your guests hear the vows, and wind explains what else that position will take away from you. Ask eight at the hour the ceremony will actually happen, because trees shade different ground as the sun moves — the reasoning, and the question nobody asks about the evening, are in afternoon heat and the evening cold. If the plan involves a temporary structure, add the three anchoring questions from marquees, anchoring and the wind question to this section.

  1. Which direction does the prevailing wind come from, and where is the sheltered ceremony position?
  2. What is the wet weather plan, precisely, and does invoking it cost extra?
  3. What shade exists at the ceremony position in mid-afternoon?
  4. What is the access road surface, and how does it behave after rain?

Guests

Ten is the question that sets your guest list rather than reflects it, and the answer should be given in beds rather than rooms. Where your guests will sleep covers block bookings and release dates; for anyone travelling internationally, what to tell overseas guests is the list of things they need from you rather than from the venue.

  1. How many beds are on site, and what is the nearest accommodation cluster?
  2. Is there a minimum stay requirement?
  3. What are the arrangements for guests who cannot walk over sand or gravel?

Money and contract

Fourteen is asked too rarely and is the largest single source of budget surprise. Fifteen is the document to read before you buy any cover, because the venue's own schedule is the exposure you are insuring — see insurance and liability. If you are paying from a foreign account, budgeting across a currency sets out what else moves after you sign.

  1. What does the quoted figure include, and what is billed separately?
  2. Is VAT included in the figures shown?
  3. What is the cancellation schedule?
  4. What is the overtime rate and when does the clock start?

Suppliers and the day

Twenty deserves a name and a job title, not a reassurance. At a rural venue, add the ones that only matter when you are far from a town: who is on site overnight, where gifts and supplier equipment are locked, and how far the nearest hospital is.

  1. Must we use your caterer and bar, or is there an approved list?
  2. What are the noise restrictions and the hard end time?
  3. Will another event be on the property that day?
  4. Who is on site during our wedding, and what are they responsible for?

The three that matter most

One, two and six. Power, changeover and wind. A venue with confident, specific answers to those three is a venue that has run real weddings in real conditions.

Getting written answers

Ask these on the tour, and then ask for the important ones again by email.

This is not distrust. A tour is a conversation, conversations are remembered differently by the people who had them, and venue staff change between your booking and your date. An email exchange survives all three, and a venue that answers readily in writing is telling you something useful about how it operates.

Four answers are worth having in writing without exception: what the generator actually carries, what the water arrangement is under restriction, what the wet-weather space is and who decides to use it, and exactly what the hire fee includes. Everything else can live in your notes.

What a good answer sounds like

The quality of an answer matters more than its content, and the difference is audible.

A venue that has thought about wind names the direction and tells you what it does about it. A venue that has thought about power gives you a rating and a list of what is on the circuit. A venue that has thought about rain walks you to the alternative space rather than describing it.

The answer to be wary of is the reassurance without specifics — that has never been a problem, we'll sort it on the day, don't worry about that. It is not usually dishonest. It usually means nobody has been asked before, which means you are the person finding out.