Booking a Venue for your Wedding

You’ve got your invite list, your time of year in mind and your budget. It’s time to begin the venue search.

Be sure to scroll all the way down for a link to request the STP Venue Tour Question List for free!

Location

You can start by considering the area of the state you’d like to get married in. Are you open to anywhere in the state? Do you want to be by a beach/body of water or you looking for a rural, farm type setting? [Photo of English Manor by Jackie Averill Photography]

A few other things to consider regarding location:

• · Proximity to church

• · Proximity to hotels if you have a lot of out of town guests

Type & Style of Venue

You’ll also want to think about what type of venue you are looking for and what style. We’ve listed a few examples of each category below for venues in the Monmouth/Ocean County area. [Photo of Mallard Island by Sweetwater Photography]

Hotel

• The Asbury

• The Berkeley

• Hotel LBI

• The Wave

• Ocean Place

• Molly Pitcher

• Oyster Point

• The Breakers

Country Club

• Eagle Oaks

• Trump National Golf Club

• Beacon Hill CC

• Rumson CC

• Battleground CC

Tented, Non-Traditional

• Sandy Hook

• Bayonet Farm

• The Herbary, Bear Creek Farm

Traditional ballroom

• The English Manor

• The Mill Lakeside Manor

• Channel Club

• Windows on the Water

Yacht Club

• Mallard Island YC

• Clark's Landing YC

• Bay Head YC

• Mantoloking YC

·One with Indoor/Outdoor spaces (ie outdoor cocktail hour, indoor reception)

• Spring Lake Bath & Tennis Club

• Most venues at the Jersey Shore offer outdoor cocktail space!

·Estate

• Bonnet Island

• Ashford Estate

• Park Chateau

• Shadowbrook

Rustic

• Bayonet Farm

• Water Witch Club

• Laurita Winery

Water View

• All venues listed in above hotel category

• All venues listed in Yacht Category

• The Mill Lakeside Manor

• Channel Club

• Windows on the Water

Which days?

Are you only open to a Saturday evening wedding or will you consider holding a Friday or Sunday wedding? Keep in mind that venues often offer discounts for weddings that are held on Friday or Sunday. Additionally, you’ll want to think about your guest count because many venues have higher guest count minimums on Saturday evenings.

Preliminary Questions

Now that you’ve narrowed down what you are looking for in a venue and hopefully have a few in mind, we recommend a call or email to the venues for a few details BEFORE visiting. If a venue doesn’t fit within your budget or the capacity is close to your anticipated guest count, it doesn't make sense to visit it.

• · What dates are available?

• · What do your package prices look like? I am expecting about [total number] of people and looking to stay under [total venue budget].

• · What is your ballroom capacity?

Touring the Venue

Once you know that the venue can work for your budget and other details, it’s time to take a look. We’d recommend looking at 3 venues to start. More than that can be overwhelming.

Be sure to ask lots of questions on your tour and be aware of backup plans for any outdoor spaces. Get an understanding for what is included in the package as well as any amenities the venue may offer. Make sure that you are clear on pricing- some venues include tax and gratuity in their per head cost while others don’t.

Want to check out our the full STP Venue Tour Question List ? It's free! Click HERE to request it!

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