What to ask a venue before you book

We would rather you asked these here and got straight answers than booked somewhere on a nice afternoon and found out in March.

1. About the money

What is in the hire fee and what is not? Is there a minimum spend behind the bar? What does a corkage charge come to for 120 people? Is VAT in the number you have just quoted me? When is the balance due, and what happens to the deposit if we move the date?

A venue that answers all five without reaching for a folder is a venue that has answered them before.

2. About the day itself

What time can suppliers get in, and what time must everything be out? Who is here on the day, and will I have met them? Is there a noise limiter, what is it set at, and what time does music stop? Where do 120 people go if it rains at four?

3. About the things nobody mentions

Is the site exclusively ours, or is there another wedding on the far side of the barn? How many weddings do you host in a weekend? Where do guests park, and how far is that from the door in the rain?

4. Our answers

Exclusive use, one wedding at a time, two nights. Suppliers in from two the day before, out by eleven the morning after. Limiter at 96 decibels, music to midnight. And in the rain, the Long Barn is already laid, because we lay it every time.