Wedding planning, no matter how many times you’ve done it, comes with a lot of questions about how and when certain things should get done. This can be stressful enough, but on top of all the questions already going through your head, you then go to check out your top wedding venues and realize that you don’t even know what questions to ask. Well, being one of Virginia Beach’s top wedding venues, we have some helpful tips for whatever venue you’re looking at! We’ve put together a list of 10 questions, and answers, that we hope will help and that you should definitely ask your wedding venue before booking!

1. What do you provide?

This is such an important question because you want to know what you need to bring in from an outside vendor or what you’ll need to bring yourself. Lesner Inn tries to be as inclusive as possible, and provides everything from the linens and decor to the food and beverage. We even offer wedding favors! Make sure you discuss what your venue includes in detail before booking so you know exactly what you’ll be responsible for!

2. How long do I have to set everything up and break it down?

Like almost every question in this list this changes for each venue, but you should at least have 2 hours to set up before the wedding and 1 hour to break down. This is our policy at Lesner Inn, including the set up for vendors and other personal décor items. Be sure to ask your venue because this is just a generalization, so it might be different for each place!

3. Do you have a preferred vendors list? If so, do I have to stick to that list?

Most venues will have a preferred vendors list. Whether you have to stick to those specific vendors or not is what is normally different between venues. We have a list with vendors that we highly recommend, but our couples are more than welcome to bring in any vendor they would like!  However, our preferred vendors offer discounts to Lesner Inn couples, so we highly recommend taking advantage of that!

4. If my fiancé gets deployed, what is the process we go through to postpone?

This is a question that we really hope doesn’t come up during the wedding planning process, but we understand when duty calls. Different venues will have different policies and processes, but Lesner Inn is particularly understanding in this situation and will resolve this on a case by case basis. Be sure to ask your venue what the steps are if this happens before you book!

_{Right: Love Simply Photography}

5. How do I hold my date?

Ahh, the question that every couple should ask once you’ve completely fallen in love with your wedding venue! Some venues will require a deposit to hold the date and others will hold it complimentary for a certain amount of time. Once a couple expresses that they would like to secure the date, Lesner Inn will place a 5 day complimentary hold on the date so the couple can rest easy knowing that no one else can book it. If you have a specific date in mind, we highly recommend asking if you can place a hold on it and what is required to book the space while you’re in the process of looking everything over!

6. What is the payment schedule?

Just like everything else, this will differ from venue to venue, but we can say that most of them will have a payment schedule for you. We don’t know of any venues that would required everything to be paid in one lump sum. Either way, never fear to talk about finances with your wedding venue. If you want to break payments up into more frequent and smaller amounts just tell your venue up front!

7. When do you need all final numbers and details?

This! This is such an important question that needs to be asked before booking your wedding venue! We can’t stress enough how important it is to have every single detail that your venue needs in to them on time. Definitely ask when they will need all final numbers, food/beverage selections, etc. This is especially important when your venue does on-site catering, as Lesner Inn does, because they need to prepare all décor and order your food and alcohol in time for your event. It will make the end of planning so much easier if you know beforehand when your venue will need all of this information and can save you some hefty late fees, so be sure to ask!

8. How far out should I book?

This is really up to you and how picky you are with the specific date, day of the week, or time of day for your wedding. If you’re super flexible, then you really don’t need to worry about booking crazy far in advance because you can typically find a weekend that works for both you and your venue. However, if your venue doesn’t do more than one wedding per day or even weekend, then you may have a little more trouble finding a weekend in the near future. If you want it on a specific date, then we would say to go ahead and book early so you can be sure to get that date. A good rule of thumb is to book at least a year in advance!

9. What if there’s a hurricane the day of my wedding?

This is another question that no couple wants to talk about but that you should always ask before booking your venue. At Lesner Inn, as long as our doors can open the show goes on!  We will do everything in our power to make it happen and make sure everything still goes as planned. This is generally the policy with most venues because no one ever wants to postpone a wedding due to weather, but it’s always good to ask beforehand!

_{Right: Lia Everette Photography}

10. Am I required to have a coordinator?

The possible answers to this question are pretty cut and dry: yes or no. Some venues will require you to at least have a day-of coordinator for your wedding. However, there will be other venues, like Lesner Inn, who do not require you to have a planner or day-of coordinator. We do suggest it though, because it takes a ton of stress off of you and your fiance and will make a world of a difference on your wedding day. Lesner Inn actually offers full wedding planning and day-of coordination services specifically for Lesner Inn couples, so you don’t even have to work with another company to coordinate your wedding!

We know wedding planning can be stressful and you sometimes just don’t know the questions to ask certain vendors, but we really hope this list helps with some of the questions you should ask your wedding venue before booking! If you have any more questions, don’t be afraid to speak up. We would much rather couples ask all of their questions upfront than to be confused down the road!

If you have any other questions about the booking process at Lesner Inn, feel free to contact us at info@lesnerinn.com or give us a call at 757-481-1122.