Touring venues is often the first step on your wedding planning checklist, and it’s easy to feel a bit unsure of where to start. In today’s episode of Wedding Secrets Unveiled!, Sarah Narcus of Olio Peabody is here to ensure you’re fully prepared to kick off your wedding planning journey with confidence. With over a decade of experience as a wedding planner and years as a venue owner, Sarah will guide you through everything from ‘How many venues should I tour?’ to ‘What questions should I ask?’—helping you make your first big wedding decision with ease!
Meet Sarah.
My name is Sarah Narcus, and I own two wedding businesses here in New England – just north of Boston. I own a planning company called Without a Hitch, and I launched my very own venue just about five years ago called Olio. And we are in Peabody, Massachusetts, about 25 minutes north of Boston. Our clients come from all over the world, but the majority of our clients live or reside in the greater Boston area.
How does one open up a reception venue?
Oh, I could that could fill your ear so many places to start here, right off the bat. But I will you that there’s many ways to do it. Mine started with my planning company. Back in 2013, when I started Without a Hitch, it was a side hustle for me in my 20s. My friends were getting married, and I started to see a little niche where I could get in and do some planning and coordination. I love that business – and we still operate to this day, doing dozens of weddings each year across New England.
But what that business afforded me was the opportunity to work at venues all over New England. So I got my hand in tons of different spaces in the greater Boston area, all the way north to Maine and Vermont, all the way south to New York, and I got the chance to see how other venues operate. In doing that, I really had the idea that there was a gap in the marketplace, and things have changed in the past few years. But, when I started this process I saw that there was nothing serving a client who wanted a really unique, flexible space where they could bring their own caterer, that wasn’t in Boston (but served the area) and had a big enough capacity for their loved ones. So that’s what started me on the journey to say, “Hey, maybe I could do this.” Now, I had no idea what I was in for over the coming years, but back in 2016, that’s where I started.
I love it. With you being a planner, me being a photographer, I go to all different spaces, and I see the pros, cons, and the pain points – and the successful things that are out there. So, it’s awesome you wanted to do something about that.
Now, tell me what the first steps someone should take when they get engaged?
I love this question, Sara, because I am often one of the very first calls people make when they get engaged, right? Like, “hey, we I have a ring on my finger. We’re ready to start planning. Can I come see your venue?” And I never want to turn anyone away. I’m always happy to give tours of my space. But I think there are some things that couples need to do before they step their foot in the door of a venue to actually evaluate whether it’s a fit for them.
The very first thing I always say is actually enjoy it. Take a moment to say, we did it! Celebrate and tell your family and friends. Then you’re going to sit down with your partner and have a meeting about what’s important to you both in the planning process. When I have couples that come in that haven’t done this step, I can see it. As a professional vendor of over a decade, I can see it clearly. You have one member of the partnership that feels the venue is great, and the other saying that they didn’t think the wedding would be that big. It becomes a really large discrepancy. So, make sure that you’re starting off with your partner on the same page. What do you care about?
I would say figure out the top three things that are really important to you, and the top three things that you really don’t want at your wedding should be discussed. What have you seen at other events that you want to like not have as part of your day? If you’re on the same page with that, you might be almost ready to tour venues.
Get a guest count…
Before you go and step foot in a venue, you also want to have a general sense of your guest count. So, that is one of the biggest pieces of looking at spaces, particularly in New England. We are so fortunate to have incredible historic spaces in this part of the country and many of them are very small. Some great historic homes, some tents, and some venues are set for a certain amount of people. If you know going into it what your general guest count will be, or at least what your invite list might look like, that is going to really help define where you should go and look at venues.
And then the very last piece that I would say is a must do before you go to start visit venues: you should have a general sense of budget. This is a tricky one, because people think they want to spend one thing, or they have no idea where to start. We just want to tour venues and then we’ll figure out our budget. But I think that’s a backwards approach, because you’re going to feel really caught off guard, perhaps, or frustrated in touring venues. The venue is not the one who’s going to tell you what your total budget should be. You need to go in knowing what you’re hoping to spend, and you shouldn’t tour venues that are outside of your budget, because it’s going to set you up – as the couple- for disappointment.
Now what?
So, if you’ve started off by enjoying your engagement and celebrating, getting your priorities straight, talking about your guest list and budget, that’s going to be the best first steps. As a bonus piece of advice, I would advise couples to talk about whether or not they are hiring a planner when they talk about what they want or don’t want for their big day.
This is kind of putting my planner hat on, thinking about when we see the most success from an event perspective. If you know from the start that you don’t have the capacity over the next six, 8, 10, 12 months to take on the planning of an event of this scale, you should be bringing a planner in from the start. The planner loves to go and look at venues with you and help you decide on what you should spend and where you should spend it. So, if you know before a tour that you’re going to have a planner, start there and then go to the venue.
That’s a lot of great tips! I know that you mentioned the guest count – and roughly knowing what that will be before you look at a venue for space, and how that also informs your budget. Can you give a quick cliff notes discussion so someone can understand what to set aside for their budget?
Yeah, the biggest factor for your budget is the guest count. They’re intrinsically linked because you’re spending a price per head/person with things like your caterer. It’s not a set fee, like your photographer or DJ. So, if you can get your guest count within a range that you feel is reasonable, it’s going to be the biggest factor for figuring out your budget.
From there, hiring a planner will be helpful to set a budget because they’ll help you determine what’s your dream or vision for your wedding day. They can help you determine what you might spend on all of the various components you want. But, if a planner is not in your budget off the bat, I would say to check out my blog. It has tons of great worksheets. I would caution people away from big national websites or budget books. They’re not applicable in New England – one of the most expensive places to live and get married. So, some of the averages that you see on those sites will be misleading.
My best back of the napkin advice on calculating your budget is this: You want to start with a caterer. Once you know the price per person, take that amount and double it. That’s a really good back of the napkin estimator for what your total all in budget would be for an event, without breaking everything down right away.
I agree with what you were saying about not using nationwide resources for your budgeting for New England weddings!! This is exact reason why I started this show, because a lot of times there’s information out there, but it’s just too general.
Okay, so once a couple has that guest list and a rough budget, they’re going to call you. What are some of the questions they should start asking you to evaluate if a venue is the right choice? Some of these initial calls can be so overwhelming when they’re just starting to plan.
Even though I have to break bad news to couples sometimes – like a fall Saturday is probably not going to be available – I’m still in a really special position of getting to help people set their feet on the ground and start to plan. It’s a huge honor to be able to do that. So, I would advise couples when they’re starting to reach out to venues – first off, don’t reach out to 100 venues. Do some research online first.
Some of those big national websites, while they have really poor advice columns, have some really great aggregate tendencies that you can use to search and see information on a venue in one place – like the capacity and budget, maybe even some photos. I would look at their social media accounts.
Checking out social media…
Scroll through and ask yourself: Does this look like a fit and does it speak to you? Are they showing people in their feed who look like you, who act like you? Are you connected to this venue? And once you reach out: do you have my date available? If you are set on a specific date, it’s your anniversary, you like the numerology that’s the only date, or the sun and the moon and the stars align for you, you need to ask that before you go on a tour. I cannot tell you how many times, particularly as I was first starting, couples would say they wanted my venue and I’d share they only do one event a day and they’d ask for a day I couldn’t give them. We’ve we both wasted each other’s time, so start with the date, if that’s important to you.
And then, as you said, the capacity piece – especially if you’re over 100 people, which most weddings these days are, you’re going to have fewer options. And you really want to make sure that the vision you have for a big dance floor, for a ceremony on site, a dessert buffet or whatever else can fit with the number of guests that you’re thinking. Use the maximum guest count that you may hit when planning. Sure, not everyone will come but if you end up at that number, you need to fit in the space and within your budget. So, start there before the tour. I would also advise couples to ask venues if they have any great resources to share before a tour, too.
How many places do you think is the most successful amount to reach out to there? In every industry, there’s a sweet spot.
Yeah, great question. Couples should tour three to five venues. That’s super ideal, in my opinion across most vendors. You’re going to interview three to five planners, you’re going to talk to three to five photographers. That’s kind of with the sweet spot when searching for vendors. But in general, to set up three or four or five tours of venues, you’re probably going to reach out to 10-15, maybe 20. You’re going to see who gets back to you.
Are you happy with the way they replied? Did they did they spell your name correctly? Did they congratulate you? Were they excited to invite you in? Do they even have tours available over the next coming, upcoming weeks when you want to be doing tours? The reality is that you’ll spread your net a little bit wider at first to go look at venues but try to keep your actual visits to 3-5.
Tips for your venue tours…
Try to schedule them, if not consecutively, pretty close together. The biggest challenge I see from couples is that I’m often the very first tour, which I feel so honored to be – but, if their next tour isn’t for 6 weeks, that date that you wanted with me will be gone. Not only that, but you get so confused trying to keep up with everything. If you feel, as a couple, that you’re in a place where your visits will be more scattered, then try to get a planner who can help you keep them straight and evaluate venues.
That’s one thing as a venue owner that I kind of chuckle a little bit about. I always ask couples where else they’re touring. I don’t know if that’s a weird question. And the reason I ask that is because I’ve worked a lot of places, so I love to hear from them where else they’re touring. I’ve worked so many places so I love being able to pass on knowledge that I might have.
I really would love for you to break down the difference between a venue planner and a coordinator, because there’s definitely different roles that these professionals fill and play.
This is something I’ve definitely come up against as a planner. I’ll hear clients say, “well, my venue has a planner. My venue has someone on site who does day of coordination.” My response is always that it’s terrific… But… Every single venue has somebody who’s on site, unless it’s your cousin’s backyard. They’re just going to be there for you with the doors open. Someone’s got to be there. The extent of the services they provide will vary greatly depending on the venue. That’s a great question to ask on your tour or when you follow up. Try to understand more about their scope. However, no matter what, the venue is not acting as an independent wedding planner. And I think that’s a really important point for couples to hear and really internalize.
So I’m just going to say it again: the venue is not acting as an independent wedding planner. And what that means is that the venue is going to make decisions or make recommendations that are in the best interest of the venue. That’s not always a bad thing, right? I don’t think they’re out to get you, but they may have always seen people do this certain layout, or they may recommend something specific.
When you bring in an outside planner, that person works on your behalf. They’re going to work with the venue, the planner, the coordinator, the staff from the venue, but they are going to work for you as the client. And that is what every couple truly deserves on their wedding day: is someone who represents them and has their interests in mind, who understands their priorities inside and out, who isn’t doing hundreds of events per year.
I love it. Let’s figure out the questions you should be asking venues when you do go and tour, and also how you should prepare for that!
When you know you’re coming into tour, I would start by following that venue on their social so you can see what they’re posting, what they’re up t, and see if they have any great resources. Review this in advance of your tour. I would say that the majority of venues are doing that these days, so please take the time to review whatever is sent to you! If you go through it and you see a non-negotiable in there, like, we don’t allow live flame, we don’t allow dogs, and that was a big part of your you and your must haves, you can cancel the tour. You can save everyone’s time and focus your endeavors elsewhere.
I would absolutely suggest making a list of questions that you want to ask on the tour itself. But I do think going into the venue tour, I see so many couples pull up their phones or take out a literal notebook and go through the questions that they have -many of which we’re going to cover during the tour. But at the end of the tour, I’m always turning to couples and asking if there’s anything else I can answer.
So, what are some questions that they should prepare?
Well, we talked about capacity. That’s my number one. How many people does this room hold? It’s my job as the venue owner to help a couple envision and understand what a space can hold. Ask how a room is laid out. You should absolutely be prepared to ask budget questions you may have. For me, knowing what my couple is planning to spend is non-negotiable. My prices for Olio are one my website so people know what to expect before they ever come in. But make sure you clarify what is included – furniture? Service? Upsells that can be added? That’s a great question. I would say, in general, in New England.
Plan B for Weather…
You need to understand what the contingency plan is in the case of inclement weather. New England can have extreme weather. So, understand what your options are. And I would absolutely suggest couples ask to see the indoor or the inclement weather plan on their tour. If that is not a plan that you love in New England, I would not choose that venue, frankly, because it’s just very likely to happen. If it doesn’t, congrats, you got a beautiful, sunny day. But you have to love your indoor plan, right?
Other pieces of things I would kind of ask are kind of less essential for the actual tour itself, but just keep these in mind as you are touring venues. What’s their policy about vendors? Do they have an open vendor policy? Do they have a list of preferred vendors? So you get to decide what’s important to you. I also recommend asking about insurance. This isn’t the most glamorous topic, but I actually do get asked this quite a bit and I’m impressed when couples ask this, because they’ve read someone’s tips and tricks. Insurance policies could be an added expense for you.
Ask about insurance & permits…
So, you want to understand what you have to purchase or what you’re recommended to purchase. And I’ll tell you in brief that most venues, including mine, recommend that couples consider purchasing a cancelation policy. That’s one type of insurance policy and the second type of policy is liability policy. Some venues require those, and some recommend them. I would also definitely suggest asking about hours and noise restrictions. If it is small town New England, there are a lot of noise ordinances taking place on a town by town basis, particularly if you’re looking at a tented wedding, a backyard wedding, anything outdoors.
Other questions I would definitely ask – anything about permits. This isn’t applicable to most established venues. You’re not going to be required to pull permits. But sometimes I have couples come in and require open flame or something special. So, if you want or need that, it’s important to know upfront what that process can be like.
The other thing you want to ask is what the venue expects from your vendors. Because a lot of vendors, believe it or not, don’t have insurance, and a lot of venues want their certificate of insurance!
Wrap-Up Question
What are some key points that couples should be asking the venues to make sure that they are inquiring with a professional company to ensure that their wedding day is an absolute perfect event?
I think we talked about capacity and budget, date availability and beyond that, just understanding what is allowed, what is recommended, and kind of asking that that venue for a lot of examples.
Look at what you’ve been provided and determine: does it a fit for what you love and want to do?
And one more thing, I think it’s really important to understand what the venue commitment is to you throughout your planning process. This is a relationship you’re now going to have with someone for an extended period of time.
What We Discussed
Meet Sarah (2:01)
First Steps for Engaged Couples (4:42)
Preparing for Venue Tours (13:33)
Questions to Ask During Venue Tours (19:03)
Understanding Venue Planner v. Coordinator (19:20)
Wrap Up Question (31:40)
Links Mentioned in the Episode
Find Olio Peabody at Website | Instagram | Facebook | Tik Tok | Pinterest | YouTube | LinkedIn
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