Our Top Tips for Choosing Your Perfect Wedding Venue
Choosing your wedding venue will be one of the most significant decisions you’ll make as an engaged couple, so it’s good to start considering your options right away. If you’re not sure where to hold your wedding, we’ve got some top tips to help you decide. The wedding venue will influence your vendors, budget, décor, and even attire. Here, we break down everything you need to know when weighing different options.
If you’re just beginning to plan your wedding, then you’ll have figured out that your to-do list has gone stratospheric. Rings, cars, flowers: they all need organising. But there’s no point even starting on the smaller details until you’ve got your venue sorted. So many people start thinking about the cake and the band, and they don’t even have a venue; you really need a venue and a date before you can get anything else sorted. Since not all places can accommodate a wide variety of wedding sizes, nearly every venue will have a guest count minimum: Be sure to aim low in your numbers; it’s easier to add guests than to deduct.
Next, it’s time to do your homework and determine the going rates. Determining how much you can afford will help you avoid the heartache of falling in love with a place that’s well out of your price range.
You don’t want to spend more than 50% of your total wedding budget on your venue. Rushing into contracts before you have all of the figures in front of you may not leave a lot left in your budget, and you’ll have to figure out what to cut out to compensate for overspending.
Have you dreamed about this day your whole life, and can’t imagine getting married without everyone you know watching it? If so, then start looking at country house wedding venues with large capacities if you’d prefer a wedding more intimate and low-key. Just surrounded by close friends and family. Then perhaps a garden marquee is more your thing? Once you know what best suits you as a couple. You can then start writing your guest list and begin searching for places to suit your requirements.
It also pays to think about the date. Wedding dates can be significant for a variety of reasons; some couples choose to wed on the day they met. Their parents’ or grandparents’ anniversary date. Others may pick a specific time of year and season but not a particular day if you can be flexible with your date and choose an off-season month. You’ll often be able to secure the venue of your dreams at a lower rate. For example, you’d likely pay less for a Friday wedding in January than you would for a Saturday in July. Time of year, day of the week, and engagement length will all impact how much a discount you can get.
When considering a location, most couples pick somewhere that is either near to where they currently live. Or a place where either the bride or groom grew up. This is especially important to remember if you want a church wedding. Because you will need to either still be living within the Parish or have a family connection to that church.
