Have these four things ready
The ceremony you are planning, or the occasion if you are not sure which ritual applies. The date, or the window you are working within. The location, including whether it is a house, a flat, a hall or a plot. And the rough number of people attending.
Book earlier than feels necessary
Auspicious dates cluster into a handful of days each month, and every family in the city is reading the same panchangam. Ancestor rituals are worse, because those fall on days fixed by the calendar rather than chosen, so the whole city needs a priest on the same morning.
Questions worth asking before you confirm
What exactly is included, and what is optional. How long it will actually run, so you can tell guests a realistic time. What the family needs to keep ready, and what is being arranged for you. Whether a homam is part of it, and what that needs from the venue. And what the arrangement costs, in full, before anything is confirmed.
If you are in an apartment
Raise it at the enquiry stage rather than on the day. A homam needs ventilation and, in most buildings, the association's agreement. Some families move it to a balcony; others leave it out and keep the rest of the ceremony intact. Either is workable if it is decided in advance.
If you are not sure which ceremony you need
Describe the occasion instead. Most families arrive knowing they are moving house or welcoming a child rather than knowing the name of the ritual, and that is a perfectly good place to start.
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