When you’re figuring out how to choose a wedding venue, there are many factors to consider. You’ll want to make sure the venue is available during the season in which you get married and is within your budget. The ambiance and feel of the venue will either draw you in or make you second guess the location. 

But in this blog post, I want to highlight the factors that often get overlooked when choosing a venue from a wedding photographer standpoint. This includes factors to consider when choosing a wedding venue that often get overlooked, and why they make such a big difference when it comes to documenting your wedding!

Wedding Venue Lighting

If you want clear, clean wedding photos, lighting is everything, A camera is, quite literally, just capturing light. Reception lighting is much different than ceremony lighting. Our team at Savvy Shoots uses off camera flash technology to make our own flattering light during a reception. Lighting is more tricky during a ceremony, where we usually have less control.

I am a big proponent of using natural light during a ceremony as much as possible, but I also want to make sure we are able to capture all of your emotions during a ceremony. Natural light is always the most flattering. A ceremony venue with lots of windows can always be a great choice to give your photographers natural light to work with. 

However, many historical venues and churches use yellow lighting. This can cause your images to look more orange. We can compensate for this with our flashes and lighting equipment. The biggest obstacle we face is restrictions set in place by the venue that do not allow flash photography. Most historic venues and churches do not allow flash. So keep in mind that while your photos will still capture the beauty of your venue, they will often be darker.

Venue Restrictions

Historic venues and churches often have restrictions for photographers, They may look like not being able to stand in the aisle for center shots or not using flash photography for brighter photos. Our team at Savvy Shoots has photographed in a variety of venues like this. It’s definitely possible! 

Asking your venue about rules and regulations for photography can help you understand what type of shots you may or may not get during a ceremony. If a church does not allow the photographers to come within 20 feet of the altar or restrict them to a box (yes that is a thing), keep in mind that capturing images of your face may be difficult. 

At the end of the day, create a list of what is most important to you to be captured during your wedding day and make sure your vision aligns with the regulations of a venue.

All Inclusive vs. Al la Carte Wedding Venues

This one may seem obvious, but it’s one of the biggest factors to consider. An all-inclusive venues usually provides everything you need for your reception, including catering, tables, chairs and a bar. An al la carte venue means you choose all of your own individual vendors to work at your wedding. You can also consider A la Carte venues as DIY venues, since you’re doing most of the work yourself.

There’s no right or wrong type of venue. An a la carte venue may give you more freedom and options, while an all-inclusive venue does more of the heavy-lifting for you. If you want a venue that includes a ceremony and reception space, be sure to scope out all the options the venue has to offer.

When trying to figure out how to choose a wedding venue, this may be a dealbreaker for you. Our team at Savvy Shoots has compiled a list of our favorite all-inclusive wedding venues in Detroit and our favorite DIY Wedding venues to help you compare locations for your venue search!

Designated Spaces within the Venue

If you want to keep your wedding day as simple as possible, look for venues with designated spaces that you can use for different parts of your wedding day. These may include:

• Getting ready rooms
• Cocktail hour room
• Ceremony space
• Reception space
• Photography locations
• Parking for guests and vendors

Venues that have all the different spaces are great for making your day simpler. This way you don’t have to worry about the travel time between venues, getting stuck in traffic, or leaving your belongings at the last location (happens all the time!).

One of my favorite venues that has all of this and more is Hidden Grove Estate. They even have guest rooms so you and/or your bridal party and stay the night! Stone Gate Farm in Lapeer also allows a weekend rental for your bridal party to enjoy the whole weekend together.

When it comes to photography, some venues have limitations on when and where you can take photos. This is a great question to ask your venue. When you are touring your venue, look for open areas with greenery or areas with less foot traffic that can be used for taking wedding photos. 

Wedding Venue Staff

When you are choosing a wedding venue, definitely read as many reviews as you can! When you are touring your wedding venue, make sure to interact with as many of the workers as possible. You’re going to want friendly, helpful staff who will ensure your wedding day runs smoothly. 

As a wedding photographer, working with venues with helpful staff makes a world of difference. If your wedding venue has a coordinator, that’s even better! You’re going to want to look for these qualities in venue staff:

• Friendly
• Offering to assist
• Smiling! They should want to be there!
• Interest in your personal wedding

Some of my favorite wedding venues with the best staff include Saint John’s Resort in Plymouth and Premier Events Center in Clinton Township.

More tips on How to Choose a Wedding Venue

We’ve gone over my five tips for choosing a wedding venue that usually get overlooked. But if you’re still looking for some questions to ask your venue, here are a few:

• Are open flames and candles allowed?
• What is the rain plan? (for outdoor venues)
• Do you have a noise policy?
• How many events do you host a day? (Some wedding venues host multiple weddings simultaneously. This greatly impacts your wedding photos, so keep that in mind!)
• How do I make a floor plan for the reception?

Narrowing down your wedding venue is one of the hardest parts of planning your wedding. Once you have your venue and date nailed down, you have the biggest challenge conquered! The next step in planning your wedding will be booking your photographer. Wedding photographers usually book about a year out, so you’ll want to contact them as soon as possible!

If you’re still in the early stages of choosing a wedding venue, check out our Ultimate Guide to Metro Detroit Wedding Venues for a complete, organized list of Detroit wedding venues.

If you’re ready to book your Michigan wedding photographer, contact us today for our pricing and availability. We’d love to meet you and learn how we can artificially capture every  moment of your wedding day!