Island Nights · 06

The Finca Check: seven questions before you book your venue in Mallorca

The short answer: a finca in Mallorca always looks like a good party in the photographs. Whether it can carry one comes down to seven things no photograph shows: the curfew, a limiter, the indoor space, the power supply, the wind, the access and the neighbours. I ask every venue these questions before you sign. And if you wish, I drive out and look at it first.

What the photographs leave out

The pictures a finca uses to present itself are taken in the afternoon: olive trees, stone walls, a pool, a view of the sea. All of it is real. But your party happens after dark, and then other things count. How far the dancefloor is from the nearest house. Whether the room the music moves into at midnight holds eighty people or forty. Whether the circuit on the terrace will carry a sound system or only the fairy lights.

None of these questions appears on a finca's website. Most couples never ask them, because nobody told them they should. I ask, because otherwise I find out the answer on the night of your wedding, and by then it is too late for a plan B.

How quiet hours work in Mallorca, and how a party survives the move indoors, is covered in detail in How loud can a finca wedding be? This piece is about what comes before: choosing the house.

The seven questions

1. Until when is music allowed outdoors?
The answer is in the venue's licence, not in its brochure. In Mallorca the outdoor limit usually falls between 10 pm and midnight, depending on the municipality and the permit. Ask for the time, and ask whether it applies to amplified music or to any music at all.

2. Is there a limiter or a decibel limit?
A limiter measures the level and cuts the power to the sound system when it is exceeded. In the middle of the first dance, that is a hard way to find out. With the number from the permit, I can position and tune the system so the limiter never trips. Without the number, I am guessing.

3. Which indoor space is available after the curfew?
Size, ceiling height, floor, doors to the outside. A vaulted room with a stone floor sounds nothing like a hall with a timber ceiling, and each needs a different setup. At fincas I know, a second system is ready indoors before the last song plays outside. The move then takes minutes, not an hour.

4. What is the power supply like?
A sound system, the lighting and the kitchen on the same circuit work fine until the moment the coffee machine starts. I ask for a dedicated circuit for the equipment and for the fuse rating. If the supply is not enough, we plan a generator in advance. In advance means weeks before the wedding, not that afternoon.

5. Where does the wind come from?
A sea view means wind. For microphones at the ceremony, for stands, for the disco ball. A finca facing west often has a steady breeze in the early evening that drops after sunset. That can be planned for, once you know.

6. How far is it from the car to the dancefloor?
Gravel, steps, a gate you can only pass on foot: every one of those metres changes when I arrive, not whether the evening works. But a setup that runs into the drinks reception because of a long carry is exactly what nobody wants. For a finca in the south-west, I am about ten minutes from my storage near Andratx; the rest of the island is within an hour.

7. Who lives next door?
A neighbouring house within earshot, hotel guests in the next building, a village in the valley. That decides which way the speakers face and where the dancefloor sits. A complaint at 11 pm is the most common reason a finca party ends earlier than planned. The direction of the speakers is the cheapest protection against it.

The site visit: what I do at the finca

For houses I know, a phone call with the management is enough. For all others, I drive out if you wish. I walk the route from the car park to the dancefloor, look at the sockets and the fuse box, stand on the terrace and listen to where the sound travels. I confirm questions one to three with the management in writing. And I check where the sun sets on the day of your wedding, because that decides where the drinks reception goes and where the booth stands.

What you receive afterwards is one page in your running-order PDF: the times, the conditions, the indoor space, the plan for power and rain, the position of the equipment. Your planner and the venue receive the same version. On the night, nobody has to think about it any more.

If you are still deciding between two houses, give me both. The answers to the seven questions often make the decision for you.

Three things you can send me

1. The name of your finca, or of the two houses you are deciding between.
2. Your date, even if it is not fixed yet.
3. Whether you want to celebrate outdoors, indoors, or first one and then the other.

The enquiry form is all it takes; the field for the venue is already there.

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