Exercises: Venue Selection
Several of these require going to a venue. Those are the ones worth doing.
Difficulty guide: ⭐ Foundational (5–10 min) · ⭐⭐ Intermediate (10–20 min) · ⭐⭐⭐ Challenging (20–40 min) · ⭐⭐⭐⭐ Advanced (40+ min)
Part A: Conceptual Understanding ⭐
A.1. Explain "a venue is a set of constraints wearing a pretty dress." Give four constraints and name the budget category each is paid from.
A.2. State the seven steps of the all-in pricing method, and explain why step 4 (constraint costs) is the one most often skipped.
A.3. Why does a raw site's cost disadvantage grow with guest count?
A.4. Why is the client's first visit not a survey? What are the planner's three jobs during it?
A.5. What is the scorecard actually for, given that clients override it?
A.6. State the venue sequence in nine steps, and explain why step 8 is the whole point.
A.7. Define without looking back: access window, weather contingency capacity, back of house, service path, infrastructure load.
A.8. Give the six walk-away conditions. Which two are non-negotiable by anyone?
Part B: Applied Analysis ⭐⭐
B.1. Price three venues all-in. For 150 guests in your market:
- (a) A hotel with a $16,000 F&B minimum, 21% service charge, 8.5% tax, everything included.
- (b) A historic house at $8,500: kitchen and restrooms yes, tables and chairs yes, linens and tableware no, lighting partial, access 2 p.m., out by midnight.
- (c) A field at $2,500: nothing at all, vehicle access to within 200 feet, no power, no water.
Use real local rental pricing. Show all seven steps. Then rank them, and say whether the ranking surprised you.
B.2. Convert constraints to costs. For each, name the affected budget category and estimate the cost at 150 guests:
- (i) Access from 2 p.m., ceremony at 5 p.m.
- (ii) All property removed same night
- (iii) No open flame
- (iv) Required caterer from a list of three
- (v) Amplified music ends at 10 p.m.
- (vi) No vehicles beyond the gate
- (vii) One event per day, but the venue's own staff leave at 11 p.m.
B.3. Measure a rain plan. A barn is 42 × 58 feet. The event is 165 guests, with a bar (60 sq ft plus 40 sq ft of queue), a band (200 sq ft), and a dance floor (256 sq ft). At 12 sq ft per seated guest including service circulation: how many does it seat? What is the shortfall, and what does fixing it cost?
B.4. Build a scorecard. Ten criteria, weighted from a ranking of: 1. Food · 2. Guest comfort · 3. Design. Most relaxed about: music. Score three venue types. Then change one weight and see whether the winner changes — that is the sensitivity check.
B.5. Sun analysis. For a 5:00 p.m. ceremony on the third Saturday in June, at 38° N, facing due west: where is the sun, what are the consequences, and what are the three fixes in order of cost?
B.6. The doorway problem. A venue's only door to the reception space is 30 inches. List every item in a standard 150-guest wedding that will not fit through it assembled, and state the consequence of each.
B.7. Read a venue contract. Take the Wildrye Farm provisions from Chapter 8 and add these:
"§17 Venue reserves the right to relocate the Event to the Meadow or the Barn at its sole discretion based on conditions. §19 A cleaning fee of $600 will be assessed. Additional charges may apply at Venue's determination. §21 Client shall be responsible for the conduct of all guests and vendors."
What does each add? Which would you redline, and what wording would you propose?
Part C: Real-World Application ⭐⭐–⭐⭐⭐
C.1. Run a survey visit. ⭐⭐⭐⭐ Find any venue that will let you look — many will, for a prospective planner. Run the full 34-question list, take every measurement in §10.4, and photograph systematically. Write the site visit report the same day. This is the chapter's primary deliverable.
C.2. Ask questions 33 and 34. ⭐⭐ At three different venues: "What do planners find hardest about working here?" and "What has gone wrong at an event here?" Record the answers verbatim. Write 400 words on what you learned that you could not have learned any other way.
C.3. Build the all-in worksheet. ⭐⭐ Seven steps, as a reusable document. Test it on two venues in your market.
C.4. The rain plan survey. ⭐⭐⭐ Visit three outdoor or partly-outdoor venues in your market and measure their rain plans. For each, compute the seated capacity with a bar, a band, and a dance floor. Report how many of the three hold their advertised guest count.
C.5. Doorways and panels. ⭐⭐ For the three venues you expect to work at most, record every doorway width and every electrical panel rating. Add it to your venue files. You will use these for years.
C.6. Get a contract early. ⭐⭐⭐ Ask three venues for their full contract before any commitment. Record who sends it, who resists, and what they say. What does the pattern tell you?
Part D: Synthesis and Critical Thinking ⭐⭐⭐
D.1. Cross-chapter integration. Chapters 5, 6, 8, 9, and 10 all bear on the venue decision. Build the single one-page venue evaluation document a planner would use: guest count constraints, all-in cost, contract absences, insurance and permit implications, and the scorecard. What is on it, and what did you leave off?
D.2. Critique the threshold concept. "A venue is a set of constraints wearing a pretty dress" is presented as clarifying. Construct the case that it is reductive — that it treats an emotional and aesthetic decision as a logistics problem, that clients who choose with their hearts are not making an error, and that a planner who leads with constraints will talk people out of the venue they will be happiest with. Then respond. Where is the line between informing and steering?
D.3. The scorecard override. A client scores a venue lowest and books it. The chapter says that is legitimate. Construct the case that a planner who lets this happen without stronger objection has failed professionally. Then answer: what would make you object a second time, and what would make you decline the engagement?
D.4. Transfer. Apply the all-in method to a domain where a headline price systematically excludes required complements: buying a house, leasing commercial space, buying a printer, adopting enterprise software. Which domain hides the most? What does its industry do about it, and would that work in events?
D.5. Design the missing service. Chapter 2 §2.7 discussed à la carte offerings. Design "venue evaluation" as a standalone product: what it includes, what it costs, how long it takes, and which client buys it. Then say honestly whether anyone would.
Part M: Mixed Practice (Interleaved) ⭐⭐–⭐⭐⭐
M.1. (Ch.5 + Ch.10) A venue's permitted occupancy for a seated dinner with a dance floor is 140. Your client has invited 172 and expects 145. What are the options, and which is cheapest?
M.2. (Ch.6) A venue quotes a $20,000 F&B minimum. A second quotes a $12,000 site fee with open catering. At a $105 loaded rate and 140 guests, which is cheaper? Show the work.
M.3. (Ch.9) A venue requires $2M aggregate from all vendors and a waiver of subrogation. One of your client's preferred vendors carries $1M/$1M. What are the options?
M.4. (Looks like one thing, is another) A venue says "we're very flexible — you can bring in whoever you like." What are the three things this might mean, and which question distinguishes them?
M.5. (Ch.1 + Ch.4 + Ch.10) The client's vision document says the wedding should feel "like a very good dinner party that got out of hand." Which venue type serves that best, and which worst? Argue it from the vision, not from cost.
Part E: Research and Extension ⭐⭐⭐⭐
E.1. Survey ten venues in your market. Build a table of: type, site fee or minimum, what is included, access window, curfew, exclusivity rules, and stated capacity. Then compute all-in cost for a standard 140-guest wedding at each. Write 700 words on what your market's venue landscape actually looks like — this is a genuine market asset and few planners have it.
E.2. Investigate how venue pricing models differ internationally. Where are F&B minimums standard and where are they unknown? Where is exclusivity normal? Interview one planner working outside your country. (Chapter 33 will use this.)
E.3. Find a venue that has closed or changed hands in your market in the last three years, and research what happened to couples with bookings. What protections existed? What does this suggest about deposits and about event cancellation insurance? (Chapters 8 and 9.)
Solutions
Selected solutions: appendices/answers-to-selected.md.
Rubrics for open-ended items: instructor-guide/additional-assessments/all-assessments.md.