Questions worth asking before you pay a deposit
Midlands Wedding Styling Questions worth asking before you pay a deposit
Ordered by cost of finding out late. The first five decide whether a scheme is possible at all; the rest decide whether it runs smoothly.
Ask the venue first
May I see your styling and supplier rules, and any restrictions from the fire risk assessment for this room? One sheet, rarely volunteered, settles most of what follows. See venue restrictions.
What is the naked flame position? The restriction that ends the most schemes.
What may be attached to what, and where are the permitted fixing points? Assume nothing until told.
What are the three windows: access, guest-ready, and everything out? See setup and turnaround.
May we dress the night before? Free to ask, and it changes everything.
Then: what are the table sizes and the chair model, who moves furniture, will you store hire items overnight, is there anywhere to steam linen, and where have previous couples put the table plan.
Ask the hire company
May I see the replacement value list.
How are wax, red wine, candle burn and pen treated, as laundering or as damage? Get it in writing. See hiring décor.
Is the deposit a booking deposit or a damage deposit, when is it returned, and am I told before a deduction.
Are delivery and collection included, is collection same night or next morning, and what does a second visit cost.
What is the deadline for changing quantities, and what does a late change cost.
Do you hold public liability insurance, and may I see the certificate.
Do you have flame retardancy certification for any fabric you are supplying.
Have you dressed this venue before.
Ask the stylist
Which am I buying: design, hire, dressing, coordination, or a combination. See what a stylist does.
How many people will be on site, for how long, and is the strike included.
Who is my contact on the day, and will they be present.
What happens if the venue refuses something in the scheme.
Ask the florist
What is genuinely at its best in my month, and what would you build from it. See flowers and foliage.
Are vessels supplied, hired or mine, and who collects them.
Is moving ceremony flowers to the reception included or charged.
What time do you need access, and does that fit the venue's window.
Is anything in this design installed rather than placed, and who strikes it.
Ask about lighting
What power is available, on how many circuits, and what else is on them.
Is the equipment tested, and can you show the venue evidence. See lighting.
Is anything suspended, and has the venue agreed the fixing points.
What time do you install, and what time do you strike.
Two nobody asks
What went wrong at the last wedding you did at this venue, and what did you change? A supplier with a real answer is a supplier who pays attention.
If we had to cut a third of this budget, what would you drop? The answer tells you what they think is doing the work, which is more useful than any list of options. See budget.
Afterwards
Put the answers in an email and ask each supplier to confirm. It takes twenty minutes and converts a conversation into something you can point at. Nearly every dispute in this trade is two people remembering a phone call differently.
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