I’m excited that it’s now only just under TWO years until I get married. LOL, I’m so sad. But one thing that I’ve taken away from the many weddings I’ve attended in the past few years is that I definitely want someone to style my wedding venue. So when WeddingBooker.com reached out, it got me thinking about how I came to pick my own wedding venue. If you’re currently shopping for a venue or you’ve only just got engaged, here are five tips that might help when picking out your wedding venue.
This is a sponsored post.
I have this fear that on the day before my wedding I’m going to look at my wedding venue and find that I’ve forgotten a load of stuff or I’ve just dressed it really poorly. I’m not the type of person to just throw caution to the wind, I like things organised and I’m never happy with my end result. I’m a perfectionist that never gets things perfect and it’s SO frustrating. So I was looking for a wedding venue that would have most of what I wanted in regards to the basics.
When it comes to wedding venues, South Wales and places near our university town of Aberystwyth was somewhere that I would have loved to have gotten married. However, for us, we need somewhere a little more central to everyone and that’s the reason for choosing somewhere close to our hometown. Having a site like WeddingBooker.com, which is a big database of UK licensed wedding venues is handy for newly engaged couples who don’t have a clue about what they’re doing. And let’s be honest, wedding planning is not something that appears on the school curriculum.
One of my best friends has very kindly accepted the offer of being a wedding co-ordinator on the day. She’s experienced in weddings and big events and so she’ll keep everything moving forward as it should so myself and Sam don’t need to worry about any logistics. But what five tips would I give to you about choosing a wedding venue?
Use A Site Like WeddingBooker.com
I didn’t use WeddingBooker.com personally when I was hunting for mine but I did use a similar website where all the venues around our area were laid out like this one in a format that was easy to navigate and presented well. Just like comparison sites, using just the one site is so much better than having to trawl through multiple ones and getting lost down the rabbit hole that is the internet.
Know Your Budget
I’ll never forget when myself and two friends went to a local wedding fair and I got very involved in a conversation with a representative from St Pancras Renaissance Hotel. Don’t get me wrong, it’s a beautiful venue but when the hire cost is as much as a deposit on a property in London, I thought ‘ahhh maybe not.’ And that’s why you need a budget when it comes to wedding venue shopping. WeddingBooker.com gives you the price and availability which you can think about and then discuss in detail once you view the venue. Know your budget down to the last penny before you start so that you avoid getting yourself in debt over just one day.
Narrow Your Search Down To Three Venues
This is something that I didn’t stick to, in fact, we only saw the one venue and fell in love. When shopping around for venues, try to have a criteria in your head of what’s required. Perhaps you need a lot of accommodation on site for guests or you want a lot of picturesque settings for the wedding photographer to take advantage of. If you have a strict set of requirements, you’ll end up narrowing your search down to just a few, three venues being the ideal amount to view. Two should be ones that you really think are suited to what you’re after and the third should be a wild card.
Ask Questions
When it comes to viewing the wedding venues, ask questions. Don’t just nod and agree with everything that’s being said by the person showing you around. If you need to know more about the things that come with the venue, ask. Even if it’s something small and you think it’s likely to be included or you believe it’s silly, ask! You’re going to be spending a large amount of money regardless of how much you budget so don’t be afraid to ask questions.
Keep An Open Mind
Just like having a wildcard venue, it’s important to keep an open mind when it comes to viewing wedding venues. Don’t judge it by first glance as it may surprise you. For me, I had one or two reservations about our venue on first impressions but the cottages onsite are what sealed the deal for me.
Are you wedding venue hunting at the moment? Let me know what your plans are in the comments below.
*Disclaimer – This is a collaborative post with WeddingBooker.com. All words are my own.
