Questions to ask a wedding venue, and what the contract should say

Before you pay a deposit, ask the venue five things: whether you have it to yourselves, what the music and sound rules are, whether you have to use their suppliers, whether you're liable if something gets broken, and whether you need insurance. Then get their terms and conditions in writing, check them against the list below, and get every promise from the viewing written into the contract.

Lucie Forster, wedding planner, fifteen years. Rules linked below read 7 November 2026.

Lucie's five questions

The really important thing is to make sure you've got a copy of the terms and conditions. Every venue should be giving you terms and conditions of some sort. In this day and age, you can feed them into Claude or ChatGPT, if you use them, and get it to double-check everything.

The questions I always ask:

1. Do we have the venue exclusively?

2. What are your music and sound restrictions?

3. Are there recommended suppliers we have to use?

4. Are we liable if anyone breaks anything?

5. Do we need insurance?

Everything below is the long version of those five, plus the money and the paperwork.

Before you go: three things to bring to the viewing

• Your rough guest number for the ceremony, the meal and the evening, because a venue's capacity is different for each.

• The date, plus a second date you'd take.

• This list, and a way to write the answers down. Then email the venue afterwards with what they told you and ask them to confirm it. In the UK, what a venue tells you about its service and you rely on when you book can become part of the contract (Consumer Rights Act 2015, section 50), and an email is how you prove it was said. Anywhere else, the email is your evidence too.

The full checklist

Exclusivity and access times

• Is it exclusive use? Is there any other wedding, event, hotel guest or member of the public on site that day, or the day before and after?

• Which rooms, gardens and spaces are yours, and which are shared or off limits?

• What time can you and your suppliers get in, and what time must everything be out, including décor, hired furniture and the cake stand? Is the day before available for setting up, and at what cost?

• If the ceremony and the meal are in the same room, how long is the turnaround, and where do guests go while it happens?

• Is there a getting-ready room, and from what time?

• If any part is outside: what's the wet-weather plan, is that space held for you whatever happens, who makes the call and by when, and who pays for a marquee or heaters?

• If there are bedrooms: how many are included or held, when do unbooked rooms go back on sale, and are you charged for any your guests don't book?

• Is any building work or refurbishment planned before your date?

• Step-free access, accessible toilets, parking and the walk from the car park: ask if anyone coming needs them.

Music, noise and curfew

• What time does the music have to stop, and when does the bar take last orders?

• Is that time set by the venue's licence or by house rules? Can it be extended, and what does each extra hour cost?

• Is there a sound limiter, and at what level does it cut the power? Tell your band or DJ the level before you book them.

• Is amplified music allowed outside, for the ceremony or drinks?

• Where does the band or DJ set up, how much space and power is there, and when can they load in?

• Are fireworks, sparklers, confetti, candles or open flames allowed? Is there a clean-up charge for confetti?

• What time do guests have to be off site, and are there rules about taxis or noise on the way out?

Suppliers and corkage

• Do you have to use their caterer, bar, florist or anyone else? Is their recommended list a requirement or a suggestion?

• Is there a fee for bringing in your own suppliers?

• What do outside suppliers need to give the venue: insurance certificates, electrical safety tests (PAT testing in the UK), risk assessments, food hygiene paperwork? By what date?

• Corkage: is there a fee for bringing your own wine, fizz or spirits, and is it charged per bottle or per head? Who serves it, and are glasses included?

• Do your suppliers need feeding, who pays, and at what price?

• Is there a cake-cutting fee? Is a tasting included, and for how many people?

• Who is your contact at the venue, and will that same person be there on the day?

Capacity and guest numbers

• What is the maximum for the ceremony, for a seated meal and for the evening?

• Is there a minimum number of guests or a minimum spend? Does the minimum spend include VAT or tax and service, and what happens if you fall under it?

• When do they need final numbers? Can numbers go down after that, and can you add people, up to when?

• How are children and evening guests priced?

• Is the price per head fixed in the contract, or can it go up before your date? If it can, by how much, and can you walk away without losing money if it does?

Deposits, payment schedule, cancellation and postponement

• How much is the deposit, what does it reserve, and when does it stop being refundable? The UK competition regulator says deposit terms are more likely to be fair when the deposit works as a reservation fee and is a small share of the total price (CMA, 2 March 2016).

• What's the payment schedule: every amount and every due date? Is there a charge for paying late?

• If you cancel, what do you pay at 12 months, 6 months, 3 months and the last month? A sliding scale tells you exactly where you stand.

• If you cancel and they rebook your date, does your charge come down? UK guidance says cancellation charges should reflect what a business can do to reduce its losses, such as finding another customer (CMA guide for businesses, updated 22 July 2026).

• Can you move the date instead of cancelling? How many times, by when, for what fee, and at whose prices, this year's or next year's?

• What happens if they cancel, double-book, close or are sold? Do you get everything back, and by when?

• Is there a damage or security deposit, how much, when do you get it back, and how will any deduction be shown to you?

• How can you pay, and is there a fee for paying by card? Paying at least part by credit card can protect you (see the UK, US and Europe section below).

Liability, damage and insurance

• Are you responsible for damage done by your guests? Is there a cap, and how is damage recorded, for example with a walk-round and photos before and after?

• Who is responsible if a supplier you brought in damages something?

• Do they require you to have liability insurance? At what level, and does it need to name the venue? Basic wedding liability cover may not include damage or injury caused by guests; that needs public liability cover (Which?, 5 August 2025).

• Does the venue have its own public liability insurance and alcohol licence? Ask to see them.

• In the US, if you're bringing your own alcohol, ask whether they need host liquor liability on your policy. Some reception venues ask couples for one-day event liability cover (Markel, insurer's own page, 1 January 2020).

• Wedding insurance is separate from the contract. Read what it covers for cancellation and supplier failure, and know that it won't pay out if you change your mind (Which?, above).

What the contract must say

The contract, or the terms it attaches, should state:

• Who: both your full names, and the venue's legal business name and address, which may not be the name on the sign.

• When: the date, your start and finish times, access times for you and your suppliers, the music curfew and the time you must be out.

• Where: every room and space you're booking, and the wet-weather space if there's an outdoor part.

• What's included: an itemised list: food, drink, staff, furniture, linen, tableware, AV, the coordinator, bedrooms, cleaning.

• The price, broken down: each item, the per-head price, the service charge and whether it goes to staff, VAT in the UK or sales tax in the US, and one total.

• The payment schedule: every amount and due date, and how you can pay.

• Final numbers: the deadline, and the rules for going up or down after it.

• Cancellation by you: the charge at each point before the date, and whether it drops if they rebook it.

• Cancellation or failure by them: your full refund and the date it will be paid by.

• Postponement: how, by when, how often, the fee and the price you'll pay.

• Force majeure: what counts (pandemic, extreme weather, a government order, fire or flood at the venue), and what happens to your money in each case. When UK lockdown law stopped weddings, the regulator's starting point was a full refund, including deposits called non-refundable (CMA, 7 September 2020).

• Supplier substitution: if their caterer, coordinator or any in-house supplier changes, you're told in writing and the replacement is of the same standard, or you can say no.

• Your suppliers: whether outside suppliers are allowed, the fees, and what paperwork they need.

• House rules: noise, décor, confetti, candles, fireworks, children and dogs, attached or written in.

• Liability and insurance: what you're responsible for, any cap, and the insurance they need from you.

• Damage deposit: the amount and the date it comes back.

• Photos: whether they can use pictures of your wedding in their marketing, and your right to say no.

• Complaints: who you complain to, how, and how fast they reply; which country's law applies and where any dispute would be heard.

• Every promise from the viewing: the free upgrade, the extra hour, the discount. If it isn't in the contract, ask them to add it.

• Signatures: both of you and the venue, and a signed copy you keep.

Check it with AI (and what it can't do)

Lucie's tip: once you have the venue's terms and conditions, feed them into Claude or ChatGPT and get it to double-check everything.

Take out your names, address, phone number and any card or bank details first. Then paste the terms and ask something like:

Here are my wedding venue's terms and conditions. List every charge and every payment date. Tell me what I'd lose if I cancelled at 12 months, 6 months and 1 month before the wedding. Flag anything about deposits, cancellation, postponement, force majeure, damage, insurance, final numbers, supplier rules or curfew that looks unclear or one-sided, and quote the clause.

It reads fast and it can be wrong, so check every clause it points to against the document itself. It isn't legal advice. If a clause could cost you real money and you still don't understand it, ask the venue to explain it in writing, or take it to a solicitor or lawyer where the venue is. In the UK, Citizens Advice can help; in the US, your state consumer protection office; for a venue in another EU country, the European Consumer Centres Network.

UK, US and Europe: where the rules differ

This list shows where to look, and none of it is legal advice. Rules were read on 7 November 2026 and can change.

Cooling-off period

• UK: None for catering or leisure services booked for a specific date, even online (Regulations 2013, reg. 28(1)(h))

• US: Three business days only for sales of $130 or more at a seller's temporary location, such as a wedding fair in a hotel or convention center; not online or at the venue's own premises (FTC, Sept 2025)

• EU: No 14-day withdrawal for hotel bookings or catering for specific dates (Your Europe, checked 28 Apr 2026)

Unfair terms

• UK: Unfair terms don't bind you even if you signed (CMA, 2 Mar 2016)

• US: No single national rule; it's state law and the contract itself. Complaints go to your state consumer protection office

• EU: Unfair standard terms don't bind you; unclear terms are read in your favour (Your Europe, checked 5 Aug 2026)

Deposits and cancellation

• UK: Non-refundable in every case is unlikely to be fair; charges should reflect real losses (CMA guide, updated 22 Jul 2026)

• US: Set by your contract and state law; get the refund terms in writing

• EU: A term letting the venue keep your prepayment, with nothing equivalent if it cancels, may be unfair (Your Europe, above)

The price you're shown

• UK: Must include mandatory fees, taxes and charges (CMA209, 18 Nov 2025)

• US: Varies by state. California requires mandatory fees in the price, but sales tax can be added and banquet and catering contracts are mostly exempt (California AG). Ask for tax, service charge and gratuity in writing

• EU: Total price including taxes and all charges before you buy (Your Europe, checked 29 Apr 2026)

Paying by card

• UK: Pay any part by credit card on a booking over £100 and up to £30,000 and the card company can be liable for the whole of it under Section 75; debit cards get chargeback (Citizens Advice)

• US: Credit card disputes for things not delivered as agreed, in writing within 60 days of the first bill showing the charge (FTC, May 2022)

• EU: Check with your card issuer before you pay a deposit abroad

If you're marrying abroad

• UK: The rules of the venue's country may apply. Ask which country's law and courts the contract names, and get it in English as well as the local language

• US: Same

• EU: Cross-border help through the European Consumer Centres Network (Your Europe, above)

When an hour is worth it

You've got a venue contract in front of you and you haven't signed it. Bring it to the hour with this list, and the sixty minutes go on the lines that cost you money if they're wrong.

If that's you, book An Honest Hour.

Book the hour

An Honest Hour is sixty minutes on video with Lucie for €195 (about $218, about £163). You pay when you book and can move it once, free, with 24 hours' notice, and her note comes within 24 hours of the call. Calendly shows the times in your time zone.

Book the hour, €195

Lucie Forster: fifteen years of weddings and no reason to sell you anything. She worked her way up to producing weddings and events across Europe, and runs To Have + To Help.