How To Start a Wedding Venue in 10 Steps

Where you have your wedding determines how many people you can invite, what kind of food you can serve, and what kind of ceremony you’ll have. It makes sense then that, as of 2024, 82% of couples choose their wedding venue ahead of any other vendor.

When it comes to the typical wedding spend, the venue alone averages $12,200—a sign there’s room to run a venue that brings a couple’s imaginative ideas to life.

If you love details, people, and event planning, the wedding venue business might be a great fit for you. Learn more about how to begin hosting one of the most joyous days of people’s lives.

How to start a wedding venue

1. Invest in a location
2. Do market research and determine your niche
3. Decide what services to offer
4. Create a business plan
5. Register your business
6. Obtain licenses, permits, and insurance
7. Create a website
8. Build a network
9. Begin marketing to potential clients
10. Gather feedback and reviews

The venue sets the atmosphere of the event and dictates what activities and moments can take place. To get it right, think through the following steps before starting your own wedding venue:

1. Invest in a location

Venue location, style, price point, and facilities are all part of a couple’s decision to choose a venue. Before you buy or rent a venue, consider whether it has the essentials your target audience is looking for. Think of your niche as well—is your goal to host luxury weddings with five-star amenities or provide an affordable but beautiful location for couples with smaller budgets?

If you already have a space you’re planning to repurpose into a wedding venue, think about these same criteria. Can you build the amenities and atmosphere your target audience will be looking for?

When you find a wedding venue location you like, check if this space ticks all the boxes: 

• Is there space for guests to mingle before the ceremony and between the ceremony and reception? 

• Is there a bridal suite available for getting ready? 

• Are there enough bathrooms for the wedding size you plan to host? Are they accessible? 

• Is there adequate parking for vendors and guests? 

• Is the location easy to find? 

• Are there local curfews or noise regulations?

Here are a few examples of potential venue types:

Warehouses or industrial spaces

These big, airy spaces offer creative freedom for designing the feel of a wedding and space for dancing, dining, and extra activities like photo booths or children’s areas. However, they may be more expensive to furnish and decorate because of their large size. 

Historic homes

When you use a historic home as a venue, you get built-in charm and character. However, there may be restrictions when it comes to curfew, catering facilities, and decorations because of the size and care needed to preserve historic properties.

City-center venues

Venues in larger towns and cities are easy to get to and there are plenty of activities for traveling guests to do outside of the wedding and places for them to stay nearby. On the flip side, parking and transport might be difficult, and central locations may come with higher rent, although you can build this into your pricing.

Outdoor venues

Outside spaces come with the beauty and challenges of a natural setting. They’re ideal for making the most of summer (the ultimate wedding season) with beautiful views and built-in, natural décor. Conversely, the weather forecast is often unpredictable, so it’s important to have a backup plan for cover during unexpected weather. You’ll also need a plan for income during the off-season when it’s typically too cold or wet for outdoor parties.

Barn wedding venue

Some barns are the real deal—repurposed to host weddings; others are built specifically to function as venues, capitalizing on the barn look. They lend a rustic, casual atmosphere, and there’s often both an indoor and outdoor space for events, photos, and dining. That said, true barn venues often need major renovations before they’re fit for weddings, including bathrooms, cooking facilities, and lighting.

Hotels or bed-and-breakfasts

This is a great option if you’re looking to run a larger-scale business that provides an all-inclusive experience, hosting the wedding party and guests on-site. However, it's a more costly and logistically complex business to run.

2. Do market research and determine your niche

This goes hand in hand with finding a venue. Research what engaged couples look for in a wedding venue and what a typical venue in your area provides for the total rental cost.

Consider:

• What do most wedding venues in my area offer?

• Is there an opportunity to offer something different?

• What’s the average cost to book a wedding venue in my area?

Your unique selling proposition helps your venue stand out from your competitors. To find your niche, look for gaps in the market that you can fill.

Your niche can be location-specific, such as catering to couples seeking spaces for outdoor weddings or all-inclusive glamping weekend weddings. Or you can appeal to a certain style of wedding. Popular wedding styles include garden-inspired, modern, rustic, minimalist, classic, and whimsical. A barn wedding venue might speak to couples after a rustic theme, for instance, whereas an old historic home might align with couples who want a wedding with a vintage vibe.

Eco-friendly weddings are one unique niche that’s trending up. According to a Zola trend report, 17% of couples prioritize sustainable event practices. This looks like low-waste event planning, highlighting the natural surroundings of the venue rather than single-use décor, and catering with sustainable or regenerative farming ingredients. 

3. Decide what services to offer

Once you have your venue and niche figured out, it’s time to decide what services you can offer.

Some venues offer comprehensive packages including catering services, an on-site event coordinator, bride and groom suites, a florist, musicians or DJs, and furniture packages. Many people look for spaces that can host both the ceremony and reception; some look for guest accommodations as well.

Your choice of venue will determine some of your offerings—it’s hard to build accommodation out of thin air, for instance—but you can build out a network of service providers to work with. These can be exclusive contracts, where guests have to choose one of the vendors you partner with, or optional add-ons.

4. Create a business plan

Your wedding venue business plan is a comprehensive document covering every aspect of your business. It includes market research and analysis, a company description, the services offered, an overview of your financial projections and funding sources, and day-to-day operations. This can help you stay on track, outline your goals and the actions you need to take before launching your venue.

If you decide to seek investment to grow your venue or open up additional spaces, you’ll have all the necessary documents in one place to share with investors and banks. You can use Shopify’s business plan template to ensure you’re planning all key areas of your business operations.

A significant part of your business plan should focus on financing. Purchasing, leasing, or building a wedding venue isn’t cheap, so having a good grasp on your finances and how you plan to fund your business is key. Start-up costs tend to be high since property is involved. Property prices differ drastically by location. You’ll find smaller locations starting at $100,000 up to multimillion-dollar estates. Commercial properties also cost more than residential ones.

Profit margins for a wedding venue will depend on your pricing, the cost to acquire your venue, and how many events you host throughout the year. Calculate how much it costs to run your space, including rent or mortgage payments, utilities, licenses, staff, furniture you purchase to keep on-site, and branding and marketing costs. Once you know this, figure out what you need to charge clients to make a profit.

Wedding venues often use seasonal pricing, raising prices during high-demand seasons like summer and autumn, with lower prices for weekday or winter weddings.

5. Register your business

Come up with a name for your new wedding venue business. Your name should reflect the type of venue you’re offering, whether it’s a historic mansion or a modern warehouse. Try Shopify’s Wedding Business Name Generator for inspiration.

As for your business structure, decide whether you want to incorporate. Sole proprietorships and general partnerships are unincorporated entities, meaning that there’s no legal distinction between the owner(s) and the business. Without this distinction, the owner is personally responsible for the business’s losses, debts, and liabilities.

Limited liability companies (LLCs) and corporations are incorporated business entities. Forming an LLC is much simpler than forming a corporation, and it enjoys pass-through taxation. Corporations are subject to two levels of taxation—first, there are corporate taxes on profits, and then shareholders must also pay tax on their dividends. The advantage of a corporation is that you can sell shares to raise capital.

Attorneys or tax professionals can help you decide what business structure suits your needs as a wedding venue owner. Once you’ve decided, register through your state’s secretary of state office or business division.

6. Obtain licenses, permits, and insurance

As the owner (or leaseholder) of an event venue, there are a handful of licenses, permit requirements, zoning laws, and insurance policies to look into:

• Business license

• Building permits (existing or the correct permits if you’re constructing a new space)

• License for selling and serving alcohol (or this can be covered by caterers)

• Food handling permits (can also be covered by caterers)

• Certificate of occupancy

• Zoning permits (if you’re building a new space or changing the purpose of an existing space, you’ll need a commercial zoning permit)

• Business and liability insurance

• Special event permits, which vary by state

7. Create a website

Websites are essential for wedding venue management and selling your services. It’s a way for potential clients to find you and a place for you to share photos of the venue and service details and gather inquiries from interested parties.

Your website should include the following information:

• Details (and photos) of the venue, including the different spaces and capacities

• Services and vendors

• A form for inquiries and requesting quotes

• A price range

You can also have an appointment booking section for tours (bookings for the actual event are typically not made on the website), an FAQ section, and a cancellation policy.

It helps to solidify your brand identity and make a branding guide before building your website. This ensures you’re creating a cohesive aesthetic you can use across all of your marketing materials.

8. Build a network

An important part of building a wedding event business is forming connections with other people in the wedding industry. One of the ways couples find wedding venues is through word of mouth, often through other vendors, friends, or wedding planners. Connect with local businesses, such as photographers, floral designers, and caterers, as they can add you to their recommended vendor lists and help spread the word about your space.

It’s also possible to partner with other vendors to create collaborations and package deals to benefit both businesses. If you’re running an all-inclusive venue, you can develop a shortlist of house vendors your clients can choose from.

9. Begin marketing to potential clients

A great low-cost marketing tactic when you’re getting started is organic social media. Posts take a little creative effort on your part, but they don’t come with the costs of paid social ads. Share videos and photos of the venue and answer FAQs on social media in a way that reflects your brand and shows clients what it’s like to work with you.

Many couples use wedding portals such as Zola, The Knot, or WeddingWire to look for venues. Creating a high-quality listing with photos and detailed descriptions can get your venue noticed by many prospective clients.

There are plenty of other low-cost but effective marketing ideas to try, too. Attend and network at local wedding expos and events so you and other vendors can collaborate and recommend one another. Create a solid search engine optimization (SEO) strategy to ensure your business shows up in search results for your target audience. Include keywords in your website copy that your ideal couple would include in their search for their perfect venue. These could be location-focused keywords or words representing your venue’s aesthetic, like “rustic wedding venue” or “modern wedding venue.”

Continue your marketing mindset when you meet with prospective clients. It’s important to highlight the best parts of the venue, but you should have answers prepared for common questions couples will have. Creating a good relationship and offering exceptional service from the start helps secure bookings and great reviews.

10. Gather feedback and reviews

Once you start hosting events, collect positive reviews and testimonials on your venue’s website to draw in new clients. It’s one type of impactful social proof, a phenomenon where people look to and are heavily influenced by others’ opinions of a service, product, or business. Aside from collecting customer feedback for your website, encourage the couples you host to leave reviews on public platforms, including Yelp and Google, as well as wedding-specific platforms like Zola and The Knot.