Ideal Bride Magazine | May 2012 |
The Venue
You've announced your engagement, agreed your budget, sent save the date cards, tried on an abundance of dresses and started that dreaded diet! You may find yourself asking, what do I need to do next?
You need to choose your venue. The venue is one of the most important details of your day. Your choice in venue could dictate the entire theme for your wedding. Your wedding colour scheme and theme should compliment your venue. If your venue is an old country cottage, consider a rustic wedding theme featuring plenty of 'shabby chic' details or a vintage floral theme.
Not sure what to ask your prospective venue or what you need to consider when visiting venues? At Ideal Bride we have asked the experts on behalf of our readers. The questions we put to each venue were;
My best tip to brides and grooms would be to not leave the table plan until the last minute, arranging family and friends is not as easy as you think!
When viewing venues consider:-
Consideration should be given to arrangements for the end of the evening, should guests wish to continue the celebrations. Also if there are any special events happening that day in the world or specifically to the area surrounding the venue. (Often popular sporting events can distract the groom!)
My top tip is to suggest couples ask themselves 5 questions:-
If the answer is yes, then it's the best starting point possible when considering booking a venue.
When couples come to look round Hoscote, we try very much to establish first the sort of feel they are looking for their wedding weekend. Most couples are looking for the highest standards coupled with a lovely informal feel to the weekend celebrations. Hoscote attracts very similar clients in that they want to get away from it all with closest friends and family in a beautiful and immaculately presented venue with a discreet and rock solid service provided by the team of staff.
We try very hard to cover as much as possible at the initial viewing and try to cover the hidden factors such as ball-park prices of other suppliers. It's really important to try and give couples an over-all feel for how much their weekend will cost. By trimming numbers to 40, they can often spend more on food, wine and the honeymoon. We also stress the importance of Hoscote's flexibility when it comes to elements such as timings and catering. Some clients budgets stretch to full catering over a wedding weekend and some prefer to self cater either side of the wedding day itself. Our aim is to try and help the client achieve their ideal weekend on the budget they have available.
Our best tips and advice for brides and grooms:-
As for 'hidden' factors, couples should consider:-
Communication - Remember it's not just the brides wedding! Does the groom have any ideas about theme, colour and most importantly location? Sit down and chat about what you both had in mind before you start looking for a venue; mood boards are really helpful so you can collaborate on the perfect venue. Does the venue fit in with the theme?
Location - Don't forget your guests fair enough your paying for the meal and wedding but don't forget they have to travel to the location, pay for accommodation; buy a new outfit and presents. It might be your big day but not everyone is prepared to fork out quite as much as the bride and groom so don't make them feel like they have to. Do you have exclusivity of the venue? Will there be other weddings the same day as yours?
Packages - When looking round venues you will more then likely be offered a number of packages to choose from don't always go with the cheapest you might think it's cheaper but once you have forked out for flowers, entertainment and added extras it can work out cheaper to go with an more expensive package. Think about the capacity of the venue – is it too big, too small?
With everything else going through your mind when choosing a venue, there may be factors which you have over looked. Think about:-
We would like to thank all contributors for sharing their expertise and knowledge and hope the information provided is of great use to all you brides and grooms out their looking for help and advice. Everyone at Ideal Bride wishes brides and grooms to be, the best of luck with finding the perfect venue. If you are interested in any of the venues featured, please contact the venue directly, see contact details.
St Michael's manor
Fishpool Street, St Albans, Hertfordshire, AL3 4RY
01727 864 444
Hoscote Estate
Roberton, Roxburghshire, Scottish borders, TD9 7PN
08445 616 887
Altitude 360
29th floor, Millbank tower, 21-24 millbank, London, SW1P 4QP
0845 500 29 29
Marmadukes boutique hotel
4-5 St Peters Grove, Bootham, York, YO30 6AQ
01904 640 1010
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