Shortlist three Fiji venues, send all three the same twenty questions on the same day, and score the answers on the same grid. That is the whole method. It works because it removes the thing that actually decides most venue choices - which coordinator wrote the warmest email.
Why score venues at all?
Because Fiji venues answer selectively. Some publish ceremony packages with prices; most do not. Some will tell you the wet-weather plan unprompted; others will not mention it until the week of the wedding. Comparing three venues on whatever each chose to volunteer is comparing three different documents.
A grid forces the gaps into view. A blank cell is the finding.
The twenty questions, weighted
Score each answer 0 to 3: 0 for no answer or an unacceptable one, 1 for a weak answer, 2 for acceptable, 3 for genuinely good. Multiply by the weight. The maximum is 150.
| # | Question | Weight | A | B | C |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | What is the maximum ceremony capacity in your preferred setting? | 3 | |||
| 2 | What is the maximum seated reception capacity? | 3 | |||
| 3 | If it rains at ceremony time, exactly where do we go - and does it have a view? | 3 | |||
| 4 | What is the real transfer time from Nadi International, and who operates it? | 3 | |||
| 5 | What does the transfer cost per person each way, including surcharges? | 2 | |||
| 6 | Can we bring outside suppliers, and is there a fee or an exclusivity clause? | 3 | |||
| 7 | Is catering per head, a minimum spend, or a package? | 3 | |||
| 8 | Does your quote include Fiji government taxes, or are they added? | 3 | |||
| 9 | How many rooms do you have, and how many can you hold for us? | 2 | |||
| 10 | Until what date is the room block held before it releases? | 2 | |||
| 11 | What is the deposit, and what is the cancellation schedule? | 3 | |||
| 12 | Do you handle the marriage licence, including the special licence application? | 2 | |||
| 13 | How many weddings do you run on one day? | 2 | |||
| 14 | Are there days you do not hold weddings? | 1 | |||
| 15 | What time is sunset in our month, and what ceremony time do you recommend? | 1 | |||
| 16 | Is there a bridal preparation room, and is it charged? | 1 | |||
| 17 | What is the noise curfew for the reception? | 2 | |||
| 18 | Which cultural elements do you provide, and how are the performers engaged and paid? | 2 | |||
| 19 | What is your generator and water backup? | 1 | |||
| 20 | Who will be our coordinator on the day, and will we meet them before? | 1 |
Which answers should change your mind?
Question 3 is the one. A venue with a covered pavilion overlooking the water has a plan. A venue offering a windowless function room has a fallback. A venue that says it rarely rains has neither. The Remote Resort, for example, publishes that it can move a ceremony to the covered deck of its main pavilion - that is a specific, checkable answer, and it is the shape of answer you want.
Question 6 decides your whole supplier list. If the venue holds exclusivity on photography, florals and catering, then your budget is their price list and the comparison between venues is really a comparison between supplier packages you have not seen. See outside-vendor-friendly venues.
Question 13 is the quiet one. The Remote Resort states it performs only one wedding a day. A venue running three is running a production line, which is fine at the right price - but you should know which you have bought.
Questions 1 and 2 are where published data and venue answers most often diverge. Musket Cove Island Resort & Marina has a chapel recorded at 80 for a ceremony and an offshore cay at 100; Tropica Island Resort publishes a 60-guest maximum on a full resort charter. If a venue's answer differs from a published figure, ask which is current and get it in the contract rather than assuming either is wrong.
How to read your totals
Do not simply take the highest score. Look at the zeros first. A venue scoring 118 with a zero on wet weather is a worse bet than one scoring 104 with no zeros, because the zero is the thing that can ruin the day. Rule out any venue with a zero on questions 3, 6, 8 or 11, then choose on total.
If two venues finish within five points of each other, the tiebreaker is question 20. The coordinator who will actually be standing there on the day matters more than any other single factor, and a venue that cannot name them eight months out is telling you something.
Next steps
Send the grid with the supplier brief template so venues quote against the same scope, pre-fill capacities from the Fiji wedding venue capacity chart and the live capacity charts, then take the winner through the Fiji wedding contract checklist before any money moves. The full sequence sits in the Fiji wedding planning checklist and the toolkit hub is Fiji Wedding Tools & Templates.
To build the shortlist itself, start from Fiji Wedding Venues, or look at specific properties such as Outrigger Fiji Beach Resort and The Remote Resort.
