Choosing your dream wedding venue

If you’ve recently got engaged, firstly congratulations, secondly I am guessing you are spending a lot of time researching the all-important venue. I am going to break this guide up into two sections. One on choosing a venue and then the questions you should have for the venues you go to see. You may already have loads of questions on your mind to ask the wedding co-ordinator at the venue, but it’s usually when you come away you realise that you now have a million more that you should have asked!

You’ve probably already been asked by lots of people, when and where, but this is not always easy to answer. The days are long gone now of simply selecting the local venue and booking a date. The list of wedding venues is off the scale now. You have Castles, historic manor houses, high end hotel chains, farms, barns, locals Inns and even on a classic steam train; the list is endless. It’s essential to think about a wide variety of questions before you start making appointments, let alone booking. There’s way more to consider than simply booking a space, so here are a few pointers to help you.

Historic wedding venue

Cranage Hall

Understand The Logistics

The excitement and emotion early on in the stages of wedding planning makes it too easy to see a venue and jump straight in. Whilst it may seem a little boring, just try to remember a few logistics to save problems later.

• Will you be having the ceremony at a Church?
• Make sure you understand the distance and travelling times between the church and the venue, taking into account the time of day.
• How many guests?
• The season?
• The time of day you would like your wedding.

So here’s the question? Should you pick your venue before you have your guest list? It’s not easy to have a guest count two weeks in the planning your wedding, but if you don’t have at least an idea of the number you’re not going to be able to pick a venue confidently. You don’t need a firm count to look at venues, but one of the first questions they will ask you id how many guests do you have? So having a rough idea, 60, 100, 150 etc will help.

You probably have a good idea of which season you want your special day and this too can have an influence on your venue search. But bear this in mind when you’re searching on websites. Many venues may only showcase beautiful seasonal weddings like summer so make sure you seek out images from the season you’re interested in.  Again the time of year could influence the time of day you get married. 3pm in December is perhaps not the best time due to it going dark pretty soon after. However, you may be asked to come and see the venue at the same time of day you would like your wedding, however, don’t get to hung up on this. A venue can look different from day to day at the same time due to lots of variations in light and the time of year.

Deciding the style of wedding you want.

A romantic country house, urban industrial building, beautiful elegant barn, castle, manor house, pub, all of these places may sound appealing, but you may be trying to fit a square peg in a round hole. Planning a specific-styled wedding won’t be easy at all venues. Is there a style of wedding you have in mind? If it’s an ultra-modern minimalist you may want to stay away from country house venues and if you want something rustic and vintage then a modern hotel isn’t for you. A lot of couples think it’s not that important to decide on this early, but it’s a really important decision, one that will have a big influence on your venue.

So, that’s my advice on your venue. In my next article I will share advice on what to do when you are going to view a venue.