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Your Wedding day will undoubtedly be the most important and happiest day of your life. You can ensure that everything goes well on this special occasion with proper planning. As your venue is an important part of your wedding, you will definitely want it to be perfect. Choosing a perfect wedding venue is one of the most important and difficult decisions you have to make. It should fit into your style, budget and many other requirements.

Factors to consider
Many couples, who start looking for venues often fall for the beauty of the place, ignoring more practical things. You should consider some crucial factors before making your selection. Some of the factors to consider when selecting a wedding venue are:

Budget
You should first set a budget aside for your wedding venue and stick to it. There are many different types of venues available to suit all different tastes and budgets. From Hotels to Castles, Barns to Stately Homes, and Sporting Venues to romantic seaside hotels. You do not always need to spend a fortune to get the venue of your dreams. There are enough venues that offer great facilities at reasonable prices. The only thing you need to do is to spend some time, use your imagination and research as many venues as possible before making your decision.

The Ceremony
Some couples get married in a church and then use their chosen venue for their reception. Others prefer the wedding ceremony and reception both at the same place. If you are planning to hold your wedding ceremony as well as your reception at the same place you should choose a venue licensed for civil marriage ceremonies (England and Wales). By having both the ceremony and reception in the same place, the time and effort involved for you and your guests in traveling from church to venue will be reduced greatly.

Venue size
The number of guests you are expecting for your wedding will be a deciding factor when selecting your venue. You will obviously require a larger venue if you intend to invite a lot of guests. With many country venues a Marquee is possible in the grounds to accommodate larger weddings. If you are going to have a smaller more intimate wedding with only a few guests some venues have specific rooms for this purpose after all, you and your guests don’t want to be ‘rattling’ around.

Wedding venue location
One of the factors that you need to consider is the location of your wedding venue. Make sure that if you are planning to get married at a Church, that your reception venue is not too far for guests to travel without getting lost. A good way to ensure against this is to provide transportation. Alternatively remember to provide maps to everyone.

Number of Guests
Check whether the venue you are hiring has the capacity for the number of guests you will be inviting for both the wedding breakfast and the evening reception. Check if the venue is suitable for disabled, elderly and young children. Ask the venue if they provide a complimentary room for the couple to change or relax? Check that the venue has ample parking or supply guests with details of the nearest place to park should the car park be full.

Wedding photos
Your wedding photography will capture the most important day of your life so now is not the time to cut costs. Although a favourite Uncle may be great with a camera, don’t take chances, use a professional photographer. Look for a photographer who has many years of experience and look at many examples of his/her work to ensure you are happy with their specific style. Check that you are happy with the locations offered by the venue for photographic opportunities. Outdoor locations are often popular to take good photographs as natural light helps when taking fantastic pictures.

Food and Drink
The Catering is a very important factor of any wedding. You need to select a menu taking into consideration your budget, but also what most of your guests would like to eat rather than chancing anything too spicy or too rare. Check if the venue has in-house catering or if they use recommended caterers and can supply you with a list of companies to contact. Many venues offer combined food and drink packages to suit different budgets, offering the best value for money.

Apart from the above mentioned factors, you need to consider the deposit required, any hidden costs and check any overtime charges. A good knowledge of what to ask will help you in finding your perfect wedding venue.

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Nate Rodnay – I am a Senior Web marketing specialist at Marvist WebMarketing. I manage articles to multiple authors who work in our team. Our authors have been …

If you are going to organize your wedding than I can understand that, it is really a tough task to decide your marriage venue. This article is written in order to provide essential help to decide your marriage venue. There are several issues, which require extra attention while organizing a wedding. One of the major issues is to decide wedding venue. Wedding venue has to chosen 2 or 3 month before the marriage. As we, all know that wedding venue have their own importance and significance. That is why wedding venues are decided with extra care. There are number of wedding venues you can choose them according to your convenience and budget. Some of the useful information regarding to wedding venues is provided below.

Perfect time to book your wedding venue

You have to book your marriage venue at certain time. This time should be two or three months before the marriage. Remember one thing that if you miss to book your wedding venue this will create a big problem to you. Marriage occurs once in a lifetime. It is the most important phase of human life. That is why everybody wants to make it memorable. If you unfortunately deprived of booking your desire venue, you will be disappointed.

Ideal venue locations

Marriage venue should be according to your comfort. Make sure that marriage venue decided by you should be according to your convenience. Marriage venue should belong to your native city. This will be comfortable for you. A lot of work has that you have to look after by yourself. If you marriage venue will be in your city it will be great help for you. You can easily manage your home, office and work place.

Types of marriage venues

1. Luxury wedding venues:

Under this category, there come five star hotels and big expensive lawns. These are expensive venue but in spite of their expensiveness, they provide many unique facilities. You can book individual room for every guest as well as you can provide sumptuousness food and luxury environment to impress your spouse and guests.

2. Outdoor wedding locale

If you are looking for a spaces than outdoor wedding locale are the best choice for you. These venues are designed to handle big crowed. They also provide enough space for the accommodation of guests.

3. Church and temples

If you want to celebrate your precious moments with simplicity, you can choose a church or temple for your wedding locale. Churches and temples are easily available within your budget.

If you are planning to decide your marriage venue, than you should read this article once. It will surly provide you some essential tips so that your marriage could become engraved memory for you.

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Amanda Eaddy – hi my name is Amanda Eaddy I love to travel and photography.

A wedding is often a very special and memorable moment of one’s life. For every couple, their wedding ceremony has to be grand, unique, memorable and beautiful. Everyone wishes his or her wedding ceremony to be luxurious, extravagant and within their means at the same time. To make it possible, people use several methods to save their time as well as money without compromising on the wedding services.

For the wedding day one has to make several considerations and one of them is choosing a venue. People often choose a church, a civil venue or a religious venue, to say ‘I do’; and arrange a separate venue for the wedding reception. However, a growing trend towards cost reduction when it comes to venues is that many people choose a single wedding venue for both the civil ceremony and the reception.

If you are planning to have your wedding in UK then there are many wedding-venues that offer both the services of a civil ceremony venue and reception venue. Such venues are very much in demand and have to be booked several months prior to the wedding date.

Such venues are available at some of the finest locations in UK; you can have your civil ceremony and reception at sport clubs, country houses, hotels, country clubs, art centres, outdoor gardens and estates etc. The selection of a wedding-venue for both civil ceremony and reception will depend on many factors and one of them is, whether you want the function to be held outdoor or indoor.

One such wedding venue that can be booked for civil ceremony as well as wedding reception is the Charlotte House in UK. The wedding-venue is located in Lincoln’s historic area opposite to the Lincoln Castle. The hotel offers stunning landscaped gardens spread over 8 acres that are ideal for both the civil ceremony and the reception. The management of the hotel is also very friendly and can help create a very personal atmosphere for your wedding.

Another option that one has, for arranging a single venue for both the civil ceremony and reception in UK, is the network of Country House Wedding-Venues. They cater for individuals as well as unique weddings with a large venue portfolio including chic wedding barns, manor house wedding venues, marquee wedding venues and venues in country estates etc.

The Bennetts Water Gardens in Dorset and the UK, are also providers of beautiful wedding venues that can be used for both the civil ceremony and reception. Most of the times, weddings are arranged in Gazebos that stands in the centre of the stunning gardens. The civil ceremony and then the reception can be held at the venue with a background of water lily ponds and Monet style Japanese Bridge. This is the best, any wedding venue can offer within the current laws in the UK.

Therefore, if you want to save your time, money and effort then you should go for a wedding venue that offers complete services for all wedding services. With a little research and planning you can have an extravagant wedding ceremony within your limited budget.

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By Anonymous

A wedding is positively the finest occasion and a very charming event that a person may get in their life. Everybody wants his wedding to be thought of for a long time and wants it to be exclusive in a range of aspects. If you are setting up your wedding in a large city, you need to get a good quality wedding venue.

Before arranging the wedding venue, you need to think of an ideal setting. In the very initial moment, make a comprehensible exploration throughout the area to find the most romantic and the just right place to direct your wedding. It is your accountability to find a place that is very idyllic and easy to find. The perfect spot is essential for planning the wedding.

While looking around Berkshire areas for wedding venues, you must also bear in mind to look for the venues in the limited financial statement so that they cost you less. You may also think about some other gorgeous locations in the city that would be eye catching but not cheap enough to go for them. Some scenic and distinctive wedding venues could help in making the wedding a dream occasion.

You may also make the widespread search to find the precise venue for the wedding in Berkshire. The wedding venues in Berkshire vary from the setting in urban areas from the settings around the rural areas. Now, hitting upon a good wedding venue depends completely on your financial condition and the figure of people you are going to invite.

Berkshire is well known for its heritage sites and historical venues. You can plan your wedding at one of these venues by contacting the local council or a venue organiser. There are numerous hotels, estates, and wedding halls that you can consider. In addition, if you have enough finances, you may as well plan it at the Ascot Racecourse or close to Windsor Castle.

One very significant and critical thing you need to judge while choosing a wedding venue in Berkshire is to think about the ambiance and the locality of the wedding venue you are going to find for your dream marriage ceremony. Following are some fine ways that will assist you to decide on a good quality venue for your wedding.

First you would want to slim down what kind of space is accurate for your wedding. Then try getting in touch with your local tourism board, who can give you a catalogue of these types of places close to you. You also utilise the Internet; there are lots of huge web resources. Many wedding magazines, which include brides and the knot, issue local versions of their magazine that include lists of local places. In addition, venues are a field where a wedding planner can be of huge assistance. If you appoint someone just for the job of finding a wedding venue for you, it should not be too high-priced, and they possibly will have resources and ideas that you may never have considered.

Last but not the least, when finalising your wedding venue, always remember to ask important questions regarding the venue, room, catering, financial aspects, etc., because missing out on a key question could possibly mean that the venue is missing an element you might require. So, do inquire to fullest content of your heart. Best of luck with your wedding plans!

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By Anonymous

Looking at various wedding venues when looking for the right venue for your wedding day can be frustrating and exhausting, particularly if you don’t have a clear idea of which features to think about. Prior to beginning your search, take the time to list the most important things you need to have in place for the venue to be right for you. Also it’s a good idea to make a ‘wish list’ that is a list of all the things you would really love, things that would make the wedding venue not just good, but perfect.

For most people these are the 7 key features to look at.

1. Venue Size

Ideally, it’s great to have a good idea of how many people will be attending your wedding, before you start searching. Knowing this one thing will save you a lot of searching time by immediately ruling out wedding venues that are either way too big or too small. You’ll find that all experienced venues will have a very precise number relating to the number of people they can take – though this will differ depending on whether you intend a sit-down dinner or a stand-up cocktail party.

2. Wedding Venue Location

Where you hold the wedding can be determined by a number of things. For example, if most of your guests are coming from interstate, or out of town, it may not be an issue as long as there is somewhere nearby for them to stay. Some couples love the idea of keeping it all close to home, so as to avoid to much driving around on the day. On the other hand, if you have decided on a particular type of wedding venue, such as a beach wedding, then this will reduce the number of possible locations immediately.

3. Does the Venue have Accommodation?

Some couples have found it desirable to find a wedding venue that can accommodate the wedding guests for the night. This is a great alternative, as it makes it easier for guests to relax and also not have to worry about how much they are drinking because they don’t have to drive.

4. Ceremony possibilities at venue

Do you want a church wedding or will you be looking for wedding venues that can accommodate a civil ceremony as well as a reception? When you are visiting wedding venues make sure you look at the room where the ceremony will take place as well as the reception area. You may fall in love with the venue as a whole, but the ceremony room needs to feel really special for the perfect wedding day.

5. Catering

It’s important to make sure you ask the right questions about catering. For example;

Do you have to use the venues caterers or can you bring in your own?
If it’s a requirement to use the venues own caterers, what is the pricing structure?
What is included in the price?
Do they cater for people with allergies and for special eating needs, like vegetarians?
What about drinks? Can they be included or does it have to be a cash bar?
What drinks do they serve?
How much are the drinks packages, and what do they include?

6. Wedding Venue Layout

As you start going to various wedding venues, think about the type of layout that will best suit what you have in mind. There are several options. Would you like to have the tables placed around the dance floor so that the dancing can start early and continue throughout the reception or do you prefer to have it all cleared away so that dancing can start after the formalities and food are finished with?

7. Wedding Photo’s

Wedding photographs are an important way to record and remember your special day. Many people choose wedding venues with great photographic areas so that the wedding photo’s can be taken in situ, without having to go elsewhere. There are many wedding venues that have special areas created specifically for this purpose, so make sure you check them out!

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Kristin Long – I love everything girly, particularly weddings.

Planning a wedding can be a daunting experience. Most people won’t have organised a large event before, so it can be difficult to know where to begin.

Once you’ve decided on a date for the big day and booked the venue for your wedding or civil ceremony, the very next thing you need to do is book your reception venue.

The more popular wedding get booked up as far ahead as 3 years in advance; so to guarantee the fairytale wedding venue that you’ve always dreamed of it’s best to make this a priority from the start. In many cases you’ll find that if you’re not overly particular about the exact date you enter in to married life, then 6 months is often plenty of time to book the venue of your choice.

The majority of wedding venues will ask for a deposit as soon as you book and for the balance of the hire fee well in advance of your wedding day. The venue hire fee, which often includes many other costs for your wedding such as catering and entertainment, is often one of the largest investments of your day and people can feel uncomfortable parting with such a large sum of money so far in advance of the big day.

This is where wedding insurance is important. From the moment you start spending money on your wedding you should have a good wedding insurance policy in place. Wedding insurance doesn’t just cover financial losses incurred on the big day itself, but can help protect many costs incurred in the run up to your wedding including Wedding Dress cover , Wedding Rings and Transport cover and importantly Failure of Suppliers cover.

Specifically thinking about your venue, wedding insurance can help protect you in a number of ways in the run up to your wedding and on the day itself, including:

Cancellation Cover and Rearrangement Cover – Could help protect you from some of the significant costs that could be incurred if for instance your venue was unable to hold your wedding reception due to damage to the venue or if perhaps an important supplier such as your caterer didn’t turn up on the day. The Cancellation Cover in your wedding insurance could even help with some irrecoverable costs, such as deposits, in the event that yourself or your partner were made redundant before your wedding day.

Personal Liability and optional Public Liability Cover – With a large number of people gathered together to celebrate with you on your wedding day, accidents can sometimes happen. In today’s litigious environment it is wise to protect yourself against the cost of civil claims, for example, accidental loss or damage to a 3rd party’s property at the Wedding or reception venue. Wedding insurance can help protect you against such costs.

When they first start the search for their venue, many couples head straight for the big hotels. These hotels often offer a variety of packages for your big day covering everything from the catering and of course accommodation to flowers and even wedding cars. These packages can offer good savings compared to booking all the elements separately yourself. Often good value and undoubtedly convenient, be aware that some hotels run more than one wedding a day, so you could find yourself bumping in to another equally blushing bride in Reception, potentially taking some of the shine off your wedding

For something a little different, have a look at stately homes and historical buildings. Many of these venues allow you to hire them exclusively giving you a more intimate feel to the day. Some people are put off by the fact you often need to book the catering etc yourself, but more and more of these potentially beautiful wedding venues will offer to help you plan your big day for those brides who would prefer someone else to take the strain.

Stately homes and historical buildings often come with beautiful grounds and therefore the opportunity for a romantic marquee wedding. Marquees come in all shapes and sizes, but for 200 people you could be looking at around £10,000 to hire a marquee that included everything you’d need such as carpets furniture, power and heating.

Although very pretty you must remember that marquee’s are only temporary structures so it is not unheard of for marquees to suffer damage while they are being hired out. Some marquee companies will expect you to cover all the costs of any damage, which could turn out to be considerable so it would be prudent to have in place wedding insurance with the additional Marquee cover option if a marquee is your ideal choice for you wedding venue.

Also don’t forget to check out local society buildings and halls as potential wedding venues; these can often offer far more interesting and memorable surroundings than a hotel or a stately home as they often hold special personal memories for couples and families alike and can be more convenient for friends and family travelling to your big day.

Start the search for your wedding venue online. There are a whole host of websites that allow you to search for the venue by area, by price and type of venue. An excellent feature of many of these sites is reviews of the venues by couples and guests that have experienced them first-hand. Make sure you read these reviews; a venue can give a really good impression when you go to have a look around, but it may be a very different story on your wedding day or vice-versa.

So remember, start looking early to make sure you find the venue that’s right for you, listen to what other people say and of course, make sure you have a good wedding insurance policy in place before you start spending a thing as you never know what will happen before your big day.

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By Anonymous

Wedding is the most important day in a person’s life, so everyone tries to make the wedding day unforgettable. Although all arrangements for the wedding play an important role for making the event successful, but the importance of venues is greater as compared to all other arrangements. Venue is a place that is specified and designed to hold wedding ceremonies.

A venue has all the required facilities and provides enough space to a large number of people effectively. Most of other wedding arrangements are dependent and influenced by the venue, so it can be said that venue is an important factor for making the wedding event successful or unsuccessful.

There are many venues all over the world that are known because of providing facilities to the guests that make their stay over there comfortable. Before hiring wedding venues, people must keep few things in mind so that the venue is perfect for the event.

There is no doubt that people have to consider their budget before selecting a wedding venue, but it must be considered that the wedding venue provides enough space for the number of guests invited in a wedding. A wedding venue that is very small or too large for the number of guests is not suitable for making the event wonderful, but it can destroy all wedding arrangements.

While looking for wedding venues to hire in the UK, people can search different websites that are aimed at providing details of wedding venues in different areas of the world. There are so many cheap and luxurious venues in the UK that can be hired to make the wedding ceremony exclusive. To make the wedding ceremony hassle free, people can use directories that provide lists of venues. In the UK, there are many hotels, restaurants, clubs and other types of venues like castles, historic buildings and churches.

Some famous wedding venues to hire in the UK include Ramada Maidstone, Winslowe house, Hilton bath city, Ramada London Gatwick, Menzies flitwick manor, rookery hall and spa, Ramada Glasgow city and Ramada Bowden hall. Some other wedding venues available in the UK are Alea Casino Leeds, Abode Manchester, Apex City Quay Hotel and Apa, Chesford Grange Hotel and Hendon Hall Hotel. All these wedding venues have many advanced facilities that can play an important role in making the wedding ceremony a memorable one. There are many other venues available in the UK as well that can be selected according to requirements.

There are many companies that can be very helpful for making the decision of the venue selection. Wedding services finder and directories can be very helpful for searching the most appropriate wedding venue easily. By completing the search criteria, a list of available venues can be found that can be very helpful for selection of the best venue. The comparison of different venues can make the decision easier. Internet can be the best source of finding not only the best venues but available facilities in these venues as well.

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By Anonymous

Once you have a rough idea of when you’d like to get married, the next stage is to spend time visiting different wedding venues to see which of them suits your wedding plans and most importantly your wedding budget. The idea of finding the most romantic castle to hold your wedding may be everyone’s dream, but if it is well and truly out of your price range, then you need to think again. There are more then enough wedding venues for you to find the perfect one for you, so don’t rush, take your time and find somewhere that you can both agree on.

When you visit a wedding venue, don’t just turn up unannounced, not only may there be a wedding or another function already on, but the staff won’t be prepared to show you around properly. Telephone them first, make a proper appointment for one of their staff to meet you, they can then show you around the venue, answer all the questions you have and discuss your wedding plans. They will also be able to tell you whether or not the wedding venue is available for your chosen wedding date.

Unless you’re planning a wedding in a hurry, then take your time to visit a few different venues, ask them how many guests they can seat for the wedding ceremony, ensure this fits with your plans. There is little point looking at a venue that can only sit 40 people for the ceremony if you are planning on inviting 150 guests to your special day. The other thing to check is whether or not the wedding venue is yours solely for the day, or whether other weddings are planned. You may not want to have your photos rushed because the next bride is arriving any moment. A lot of wedding venues in offer either the entire venue or an area where no other visitors will be able to access – determine what you want on your wedding day and make sure you plan this accordingly.

Most wedding venues in Essex not only hold the wedding ceremony, but also allow you to hold your wedding breakfast and of course your evening reception. Again, consider how many guests you will be inviting, and check with the wedding venue how many people they can comfortably seat for the meal. You certainly don’t want your wedding guests crammed in, nor do you want guests shoved somewhere at the back of the venue too far away from the top table. Check with the wedding venue if they have their own caterers or whether you need to look for wedding caterers yourself. This will have a significant impact on the costs of hiring the wedding venue.

When it comes to the evening reception, ask the venue if they provide any entertainment, many wedding venues in Essex have their own resident DJ. Check whether this means you have to use their DJ or whether you can hire your own. Again this may make a difference in the cost of hiring the particular venue.

Once you’re happy you’ve found the right choice for you, place a provisional booking with them, and if necessary pay a small deposit to secure the date. You’ll want to ensure your key family members can make it to Essex for your special day, so phone around and make sure everyone is available, there is nothing worse then booking your wedding only to find someone special is away on holiday and will miss your big day.

As mentioned earlier, the beautiful green countryside of Essex has over 100 wedding venues, ranging from castles, to country mansions, deluxe hotels and manor farm houses. Whatever kind of wedding you’re planning, take a look at Essex Wedding Services who have a fully comprehensive list of venues for weddings in Essex amongst 60 other different categories of wedding services in Essex.

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By Anonymous

Size is an issue

Whoever says size doesn’t matter is wrong. If you have 60 people attended your wedding reception, you want to find a wedding venue that accommodates around 60-80 people. Why get a great venue that holds 150 people then not even half fill it, your wedding guests will be rattling around inside, and all atmosphere will be lost.

Assuming you’re planning a DJ or Band for the evening’s entertainment for your wedding guests, then ensure they have enough space to set up their equipment, consider where you can visualise the wedding party dancing and see if there is room for the entertainment to set up.

If you are planning a big wedding breakfast at the venue, speak to you wedding venue and ask how they will arrange all the tables, they may say they can accommodate hundreds of wedding guests but if they are sticking tables down the corridor, your guests will feel left out.

In short, when searching for the perfect venue, ensure you visit the venue, don’t just choose it from photos or the internet, and try to visualise your wedding party being held there.

Costs

Lets face facts, the wedding venue and reception can easily be the most expensive part of your big day, but only if you want it to be.

Depending on what your personal choice is, whether it’s a grand Victorian house you’ve rented for the day, or the local church hall, ensure you set your budget and stick to it.

Large wedding venues sometimes offer set packages, which include a single price per head for their meal, wine, toast drink and evening buffet. All venues should provide you with a price list before you book anything, check if there is a cost for hiring the venue, on top of the consumables. Some wedding venues charge less for Sunday – Thursday weddings, whilst Fridays and Saturdays are more popular wedding days and may cost more.

If you book a wedding venue that does not arrange your catering needs or is simply a hall hire, consider the costs of what else you may need to make it a perfect wedding venue, food, drinks, crockery & cutlery, decorations, DJ, service staff – they all add up.

Spend time working out your figures and decide what suits your wedding budget.

Coordination

Once you’re happy you’ve found your perfect wedding venue, pay your deposit, get a receipt and ensure it’s fully booked for you on your wedding day.

Try and take a few family members or close friends to see the wedding venue before your big day. Not only does it make them feel more involved you can get their opinions and ideas.

Make sure you visit the wedding venue a month or two before your big day to discuss with the management of the venue what you can and can’t do.

Find out the times you can access it from, what time you need to be out by. Speak to the caterers and ensure the dining that you need is properly organised. Check what things the wedding venue will provide, and what you’re expected to organise. Things like a large silver knife or cake stand, if these are not provided by the wedding venue, you’ll need to organise them yourself of face an awkward moment when it comes to cutting your wedding cake. Find out when your wedding DJ can get it to set up, all the little things need consideration, make a list and ask all the questions of your wedding venue.

Book Early

Finally, once you’ve spent time searching for your perfect wedding venue, and you’re happy you’ve found your dream day, most places get booked well in advance, often years in advance. Don’t get disappointed, book your wedding venue early, or at least get yourself pencilled in their diary and ask that they call you immediately if any other wedding couple enquires about YOUR date !

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By Anonymous

Is the wedding venue available on our wedding day?

Sounds like an obvious first question doesn’t it, but you really need to ask it first. There is no point visiting a potential wedding venue, falling in love with the idea of getting married there and not being able to make your dreams happen because another bride and groom got there first.

If you’ve already chosen your special date, then we suggest you telephone the wedding venue ahead of the visit and state you can only make that date, if they are already booked up then get back to the list and find another fantastic wedding venue.

How many guests can be seated for a meal at the wedding venue?

This is fairly crucial, you don’t want to book a wedding venue that have a seating area for 250 people if you’re only inviting 60 to a sit down meal.

In turn you also want to ensure your guests can sit comfortably without being crammed into a small venue, or even worse, being left to feel as if they’re shoved in at the back, and can barely see the top table. Once you’ve got a rough idea of how many wedding guests are being invited, you need to make sure your chosen wedding venue suits your requirements.

Request to see a sample seating plan, ask about whether they have round tables, maybe even ask to see photos of previous wedding meals and how the tables are laid out. This will give you a good indication of whether you can seat your wedding party and ensure everyone is happy.

How many guests can the wedding venue accommodate for the wedding reception?

Some couples prefer to have a small and intimate wedding ceremony, and then follow that with the mother of all parties in the evening. If this is your plan, be sure that the wedding venue can accommodate this. You don’t want to have 200 evening guests descend on your wedding and find them all squeezed in, or unable to get to the bar. Again, the flip-side is that you don’t want to find out your wedding venue has a separate dance floor and bar area that resembles a barn – the single easiest way to have zero-atmosphere at your wedding reception is to find the wedding DJ or band playing to a half empty hall, with your wedding guests sitting around the edges not mingling.

What time can we access the wedding venue?

“Exclusively yours for the entire day!” …..says their website. But what does that mean exactly ? Each wedding venue will have their own rules of when you can access the building on your wedding day.

Simply confirm what time you can arrive ahead of the wedding, you don’t want to be left standing outside waiting for the cleaner to turn up.

Can the bridal party get ready at the wedding venue?

Maybe this is something the bride would prefer, instead of rushing around in the morning, why not ask the venue if they have the facilities for the bride to prepare for her wedding day in the comfort of her wedding venue.

Obviously you’ll want something nicer then a conference room, or a ladies changing room at a golf club, but if the wedding venue has a nice quiet comfortable room for the bride to arrive and perhaps have her hairdresser, make-up artist and the rest of her entourage help her prepare for her wedding day then all the easier.

Can we give you a CD of our wedding music for the bride’s entrance?

If you’re having a civil ceremony performed in an approved premises you won’t be able to use any music that has religious references in the song at all. By this we mean, terms like : Angels, Heaven, God etc etc. So no Robbie Williams ballads. The wedding venue will be fully aware of this and may have a CD of acceptable music, which is fine. However, if you want to make your wedding entrance to music of your choice you need to ensure that the wedding venue does actually allow this.

Assuming they are ok with you bringing along your own CD with your favourite song on it to play at the bridal entrance, it’s well worth dropping it off a day or two in advance to the wedding venue and asking them to test the CD on their player. You don’t want for them to try and play it as you’re nervously standing there only to find out your old CD is scratched or your CD-R won’t work on their machine.

The registrar will have to approve the songs you’ve chosen ahead of the wedding, but they should clarify all of this when you meet them.

Can we agree a timetable of the day, or are we set to your times?

Obviously a good wedding venue will suggest times to you, they’ll know how long each stage of the day will take. Ensure you can discuss the day’s timetable, agree when the ceremony will start (you’ll also need to approve that time with the registrar), plan how long the photos will take, agree the start time of the meal, decide what time to invite the evening wedding guests, and when the cutting of the cake and first dance will take place.

Can we bring our own drinks to the wedding venue, if not can we see the bar prices?

This is an interesting one, and well worth asking the question. Even if a wedding venue has a licensed bar available they still may agree that you could bring your own drinks along – even if it’s just fruit juices for the kids, it could save you money.

If you’re hiring a marquee at a venue, they will have a temporary bar for your guests – ask if you can stock the bar yourself, maybe even do a deal with someone who’ll buy all the booze for you and manage the bar for the night.

Should the wedding venue insist that you must use their bar facilities, ensure you ask to see the bar prices first, whether you or your guests are paying, no one wants a huge bar bill. Also check about wine served at the meal, and champagne for toasts.

Do we have to use your caterers, or can we instruct our own?

Some wedding venues insist that you must use their caters. This may be a restriction, however their own caters obviously have the knowledge of the venue and their kitchens, and would of catered for many weddings before – so maybe it’s not a bad thing.

However, it’s worth asking the question as if you are not committed to their caters you can shop around, and enjoy plenty of food tasting along the way.

If it’s raining, where would be the best spot to take our photos?

It won’t rain on your wedding day, surely not. Hopefully not. Maybe.

If the sun lets you down on the most important day of your life, you need a back-up plan. Have a good look around the wedding venue and ask where photos are normally taken during rainy days.

You really want to avoid having an awful backdrop indoors, when you were planning lovely photos out on the lawn. Most wedding venues are beautiful places anyhow, so they’ll be used to the British weather letting down brides before, and no doubt have a proffered beauty spot indoors to act as the back-drop for your wedding photographers to take your photos.

Is there a sound limiter on our wedding DJ or band?

Not a question most brides or grooms would consider asking, hence we threw it in the mix.

The thought is that if you’ve paid up to £500 for a wedding DJ, or potentially even more for a wedding band, then you want to be able to hear them at the back.

Unfortunately a lot of wedding venues in residential areas will be restricted to acceptable noise levels – this may mean your live entertainment loses some atmosphere on the dance floor. If you are planning a huge party for your wedding – check this first.

Do we need to order the full amount of guests for the buffet?

If you have 100 wedding guests in the evening, do you need to book a buffet for 100 people ? You know that your mates will be more interested in the bar, most people who ate the wedding breakfast won’t be too hungry, so why not ask the wedding venue if you can just pay for 80% of the expected guests.

This way you’re saving some more money, and potentially saving wasted food at the end of the night.

Is there accommodation available at the wedding venue?

Maybe the wedding venue has a honeymoon suite available ? A lot of weddings have visiting relatives from far afield, this means they’ll need somewhere to stay. You need to check in advance where you are going to spend your first night as a married couple, and if the venue has accommodation available then this could be your best option.

Even if you chosen wedding venue happens to be part of a hotel complex, you’ll still need to book accommodation for those who need it, so get your bookings in early.

Do you have a wedding cake stand we can use?

Your wedding cake needs to sit on something, it’s a focal point of your wedding day, and will set you back a fair few quid. No doubt the wedding cake maker will offer you a cake stand and knife for hire, but quite often the wedding venue will have a top quality cake stand ready for you.

If they do, it’s another little saving and one less thing to worry about.

Will there be any other weddings on at the same venue?

Why have we left this one so late ? Well, it’s a personal choice whether you want a wedding venue entirely to yourself for the day, or whether you mind having another wedding party on the same day.

Whether it makes much difference or not depends on the size of the wedding venue. A small wedding venue may not have the space, or the different rooms for two large weddings.

You may find yourself sharing facilities, do you mind bumping into another bride ?

Large hotels or golf clubs or private manor houses are often designed in a way that they can easily accommodate more then one wedding. Lets face it, weddings are big business so they want to attract as many as possible. If your chosen wedding venue will be playing host to more then one wedding on YOUR wedding day, ask to see where the two parties take place and ensure you’re comfortable with the idea.

What time does the bar shut, and what time do we have to leave?

Surely the most important question, what time can we party until ? A good wedding venue will not go around at the end of the night throwing guests out of the door, however they will expect your wedding guests to leave at an appropriate time. Clarify with the venue what time is last orders at the bar, and what time does the music have to be finished by.

You’ll want one big farewell and send-off at the end of the night, so ensure your DJ is aware of the closing time and that he is prepared for the last dance and farewell to the new Mr & Mrs!

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By Anonymous