Wedding venues in Belgium: choosing and comparing

Count first, per part of the day

A venue does not have one capacity. It has at least three: how many people sit at the tables, how many stand at a reception, and how many still fit once there is a dance floor. A venue that advertises "up to 200 guests" may mean the reception. At round tables with a dance floor and a spot for the DJ, it can be far fewer. Always ask for the number per layout, not the biggest number.

So set up your guest list per part of the day before you visit a venue. Who comes to the ceremony, who to the reception, who stays for dinner, who only joins the evening party. A colleague who only comes to the reception does not count for dinner. Children count separately when they get their own menu or table. With those four numbers you know which layout the venue has to handle, and when it is busiest.

Leave some margin. The number who say yes is only fixed weeks before the wedding. A venue that sits exactly on your number leaves no room for an extra table or a buffet that takes more space than planned. Also ask whether the seated number is with or without a dance floor, and where the band or DJ goes.

The count also drives the money. What grows per guest and what stays fixed is on the page about the cost of a wedding party for 100 guests. Working it out with your own quotes happens in the wedding budget.

In-house kitchen, free choice or an approved list

How a venue handles food decides half of your quotes. Broadly there are three set-ups. The venue has its own kitchen and cooks itself. The venue lets you choose any caterer. Or the venue works with a list of caterers, and you pick from it.

An in-house kitchen means one contact and one invoice, but you choose from their menus. With free choice you pick yourselves, so ask what the venue provides on site: a full kitchen or only a washing-up area, cold storage, power, who clears and washes up. With a list, ask for it in the first conversation, and whether one of those caterers still has your date free.

Drinks need their own question. Do the drinks come from the venue, may you bring your own wine or cava, and does the venue then charge per bottle? Who pours, and until what time do the drinks run? A quote that says "drinks included" without hours or types cannot be compared.

One wedding per day, or more

Ask whether you are the only wedding that day. Some places have several rooms and rent them out at the same time. That is not wrong, but it changes the day: two receptions in one car park, two couples on the same steps for photos, a shared garden.

Also ask what "exclusive" covers. Only the room, or also the garden, the terraces and the bedrooms? From what time may suppliers come in to set up, and when must everything be out? If there is a wedding the day before or after, there is less time for decorating and clearing. Have the access time and the leaving time written into the contract.

End time and sound: what VLAREM asks

In Flanders, electronically amplified music falls under the environmental rules of VLAREM II, writes the Flemish Department of Environment ↗. That covers a DJ, a playlist and also a band that plays amplified. According to the flowchart of the Flemish Department of Environment, a party venue that is rented out to others is a public establishment, even if only invited guests can come in. A wedding party in your own garden is a private activity: there is no limit on the party itself, but the sound limits at the neighbours still apply (flowchart ↗).

In a venue, the maximum depends on how often there is music and what the venue has applied for. Up to 85 dB(A) LAeq,15min the venue needs nothing for the music. If louder music plays more than twelve times a year, the venue is a classified establishment. Up to 95 dB(A) LAeq,15min it is a third-class establishment, with at least a notification to the municipal executive. Up to 100 dB(A) LAeq,60min it is second class, with an environmental permit. A venue with louder music less often asks the municipality for permission per party, with a maximum of 100 dB(A) LAeq,60min (flowchart ↗).

Above 85 dB(A) the venue must measure the sound for the whole evening or use a sound limiter. Whoever controls the volume must see the measured level, the maximum is displayed in the room, and when it is exceeded the volume goes down at once. Above 95 dB(A) the level is also recorded, unless there is a limiter, and guests get free earplugs (flowchart ↗).

Then there are the neighbours. For a venue above 85 dB(A), the limits in the surroundings differ for day (7 am to 7 pm), evening (7 pm to 10 pm) and night (10 pm to 7 am), and are stricter in the evening and at night. So the music may have to go down after 10 pm, even if the venue stays within the same indoor maximum. The municipality can impose stricter conditions, and a local police regulation can also say something about noise (FAQ ↗). A party in a tent or outdoors, outside your own garden, is limited to 85 dB(A) LAeq,15min unless the municipality gives permission. VLAREM II explicitly lists a wedding party among the "special occasions" for which that is possible (FAQ ↗).

This is the venue's responsibility, not yours. Your question is concrete: which maximum applies here, is there a sound limiter, must the DJ or band connect to it, and until what time may the music play. If you rent a field or a barn and put up a tent yourselves, you are the organiser. Then ask the municipality early what it needs. These rules apply in Flanders. Brussels and Wallonia have their own (FAQ ↗).

Music and Unisono

Apart from the sound level, there is the licence for the music. According to Unisono ↗, you need no licence if the party is free, is not advertised, stays within the family and takes place at your home. Explicitly not in a party venue or multipurpose hall. So a wedding party in a rented venue falls under Unisono.

If the venue has its own licence, ask which one. Unisono writes that a "multipurpose hall" licence only covers the equitable remuneration for artists, musicians and producers, not the copyright. The organiser always has to arrange that. Agree who does it: you, the DJ or the venue. Unisono's tariff list ↗ asks you to arrange the licence at least five days before the music is used. What amounts Unisono publishes, and what they do and do not cover, is on the page about what a wedding costs.

The ceremony on site

A symbolic ceremony can happen wherever the venue allows: in the garden, under a tree, in a barn. In law it is not a marriage, and it does not replace the civil wedding. Ask whether the ceremony is part of the hire or costs extra, who sets out and clears the chairs, whether there is a microphone for speeches, and where the ceremony moves if it rains. Plan the time between ceremony and reception too: who turns the space around while the guests have a drink?

The civil wedding is something else. It is conducted by a registrar, at the town hall, or at another public place with a neutral character if the municipal council has designated it (Vlaanderen.be ↗). A party venue you rent yourselves is not automatically one of those places. What counts is the municipality's list.

Ghent is an example. The city of Ghent ↗ lists four places to marry legally: the city hall, the Gravensteen (on Fridays, one couple each time), the garden of St Peter's Abbey (on Fridays, between 1 May and 30 September) and the service centre (on Wednesdays, except in August). A site visit beforehand is required for the Gravensteen and the abbey. The abbey also has rooms where you can hold a reception or evening party. According to the city, the cost of a wedding at one of these locations is paid at the counter when you file the declaration (city of Ghent ↗). A private venue is not on that list.

Bruges offers three places: the Gothic Hall of the city hall, the community centre in Zeebrugge and the beach at Zeebrugge, the last on one Friday morning a month from April to September (city of Bruges ↗). Other towns have a castle, a park or no outdoor option at all. You marry in the municipality where one of you is registered, so it is that municipality's list that counts, not the one where the venue is. It is set out per city under town hall weddings, city by city.

Staying over and accessibility

If guests come from far, or nobody wants to drive after the party, ask whether there are rooms on site and how many. Do guests book themselves, or do you reserve a block of rooms? Until when does the venue hold those rooms, and what happens to rooms nobody takes? Is there breakfast or a brunch the next day, and when must rooms be free? Without rooms on site, look at hotels nearby, the last public transport and a taxi or shuttle bus.

Think of guests who are less mobile too. Can the entrance be reached without steps, including the ceremony spot in the garden? Is there an accessible toilet? Can a car drive up to the door? Are the room, the toilets and the tables on the same level? A quiet corner away from the speakers is welcome for older guests and for parents with a baby. Check it yourselves on the visit, even if the website says the venue is accessible.

Deposit, cancellation and what to get in writing

Many venues ask for a deposit to hold the date. Only pay it once the date is confirmed in writing, to the same company that signs the contract. Ask when the balance is due and put that date in your planning straight away. The last month before the wedding is expensive when all the balances fall together.

Read the cancellation terms before you sign, both ways. What do you lose if you cancel or move the date, and does that depend on how far ahead? And what happens if the venue cancels, closes or is sold? Ask too what happens in case of force majeure, and whether a new date is then possible without a new deposit.

Have the contract say what is still only a spoken agreement. The date, the times of access, of the end of the music and of leaving. Which spaces you have, and whether you are the only wedding. The number of guests the price is for, and whether there is a minimum number or minimum spend. What is included: tables, chairs, linen, staff, heating, cleaning. Whether the price includes VAT. How catering works, including any corkage. Which decorations are not allowed, such as candles, confetti or nails in the wall. The sound maximum and who arranges the Unisono licence. Who is liable for damage, and whether you need insurance for it.

A quote that leaves out one of these points is not cheaper or more expensive. It is incomplete. Ask and have it completed, so you can put two venues side by side.

Questions to ask on a visit

Try to visit at a moment that resembles your wedding: the same time of day, and if possible the same season. A room that is bright at ten in the morning can be dark at nine in the evening. Bring your numbers per part of the day, and your preferred date. Whether you already have one, and how fixed it needs to be, is covered in setting a wedding date.

About the day: is our date free, and are we the only wedding? How many guests sit here at tables with a dance floor, and how many fit standing at the reception? Where does everything happen if it rains? From when can we come in, and until when may the music play?

About food and drink: does the venue cook, do we choose freely or from a list? What does the venue provide in kitchen, cooling and staff? May we bring our own drinks?

About sound and music: which sound maximum applies here, is there a limiter, and where does the DJ or band stand? Which Unisono licence does the venue have, and what does it cover?

About the rest: are there rooms, and for how many people? Can everything be reached without steps? How many parking spaces are there? Are there rules for the photographer, for a drone or for flash? How to choose the photographer is in choosing a wedding photographer. And last: what is in the contract, and can we take it home to read in peace?

The wedding checklist puts date and venue first, because the rest depends on them: the town hall, the caterer and the photographer follow once the venue is fixed.

How the province pages were made

This guide covers all ten Belgian provinces and Brussels. Brussels and each Walloon province start with one checked venue; the Flemish selections are broader. It is an editorial selection, not an exhaustive directory or ranking. Sound rules vary by region: the explanation above applies only to Flanders.

Every fact about a venue comes from that venue's own website: how many guests at tables and at a reception, how catering works, whether guests can stay over and whether a ceremony on site is possible. If the site does not say, there is a dash, not an estimate. Each province shows the date we checked the sites. Venues change what they offer, so always check with them yourselves.

No venue pays to be on those pages, and Ringske has no partnership or commission with any venue. If something is no longer correct, or you want to suggest a venue, let us know through the contact page.

In Ringske you add the venues you visit under suppliers, per category, with status, price and stars from each of you. A booked supplier goes straight into the budget.