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Consider the colors already predominant at your venue location to incorporate into your wedding day theme. If your wedding will be at a vineyard, consider the crisp green of the grape leaves in season. Find ways to tie grape leaves into your centerpieces, use the color in your invitations or maybe as an accent color on the tables.
Photo provided by The Memory Journalists
Ask your venue what the servers will wear if you are doing passed appetizers or food service. You may be able to get them to play into your wedding theme with accessories such as a top hat!
Photo provided by Celebrations! Elegant Party Rentals
Are there landmarks in your city that help define it? Consider including these locations in your photos with you and your new husband, if they're not too far. Your photographer may have many creative ideas on how to incorporate the important couple and the historic location.
Disclaimer: This post is not to scare you, it's purpose is to prepare you. 
Make sure you do plenty of venue research before deciding on a location. You and your fiance should both get a feeling like this is the place! For Mr. Detonator and I, we visited about 15 venues in a short weekend. Many of them were great, but when we visited our final location, we just knew! Our venue sits on its own lake and has multiple rooms available for our guests. Since most of our guests are coming from far away our biggest concern was spending time with our family and friends in a comfortable location.
Photo courtesy of The Memory Journalists
Photo provided by Allison Stahl Photography
If you're planning a destination wedding, be certain to include nearby hotels so guests can plan in advance. Ask your venue if they can help you organize large party transportation for guests staying at hotels near each other.
Be sure to set appointments to view venues. While you can just show up at some places to "check out the view" or get a "lay of the land", there may be certain key areas you aren't aware of or have access to without a site tour guide. Give yourself an hour at each venue and if you have extra time between appointments you can call the next to see if you can arrive a few minutes early or take the time to discuss the location visited with your fiance and take notes on the things you liked or are concerned about.
While many brides and groom like to get a jump start on the wedding plans by setting a date right away, there are many things to consider. We suggest deciding on a season you would ideally like to get married in, but not deciding on a steadfast date until you've scouted locations. This allows you the flexibility of getting the venue you want and possibly striking a deal if they had a cancellation or you're willing to book in their off-season (if they have one).
Since announcing our engagement on the blog we have been taking wedding planning slowly. We are thinking about getting married this summer in North Lake Tahoe and I have been thinking that I would like our ceremony (and possibly reception) to take place on the beach. I am reaching out to those that could possibly have some suggestions on venues to check out. I'm not opposed to having our reception indoors but would like to have a fantastic view of the lake. We're expecting around 100 guests. Thanks for the help! :)
For large venues with excessive floor space, consider bringing in trees or tall, mature plants with uplighting to add a welcoming ambiance to the room. Costco, Home Depot and other large retail stores may have good deals on large greenery like palms, dwarf banana trees, or even a mature canna plant.
If you're looking to save money, when calling venues you're interested in, ask if they have any cancellation dates. They may be willing to work with you on the fee if they're looking to rebook the date.
Couples want to share their experience with those closest to them by making their wedding day into a vacation for all. Plan a wedding at a destination location where you can spend the days leading up to and after with your family and friends. This will mean more to you and them then spending a few hours with them one day.
While your venue is one of the most important decisions you will make about your day, be sure to ask the possible venues about their preferred vendor lists. If you have specific vendors in mind, that venue may have limited vendors and not permit outside vendors outside of that list. Be sure to ask questions!
Where is ice coming from?
When touring your venue if you notice blank walls or a minimally decorated area, consider design ideas to complement your day. You could spread family photos, family wedding day photos or photos as a couple in the lacking areas.
If the menu you're choosing doesn't meet the food and beverage minimum of the venue, ask if you can include the in-house rentals to make up the difference.
