How to find the one.

Searching for the perfect wedding venue is without a doubt one of the most important decisions that you will make throughout your entire engagement. Not only will it dictate the feel for the entire day, but it will also determine other factors such as guest numbers, ceremony type, timings, catering and ultimately your budget.

So, where do you start in your search for the perfect venue? I have decided to share a few suggestions to help you find the one.

1. Budget – Before you do anything you need to first ascertain what you and your partner can afford.
2. Basic Requirements – Decide what you both want. Do you want a traditional church wedding or do you want a more relaxed affair?
3. Location, Location, Location – How far are you prepared to travel? Do you have family who will need to travel down to you? What time do you want your wedding to start? These are all things that will have an impact on where you decided to get married.
4. Size? Discuss your potential guest list with your partner/Parents as this will determine what type of venue you should go for.
5. Alcohol/ Entertainment – Do you have you heart set on fireworks? Do you want to serve alcohol at your wedding? Remember not all venues have an alcohol license or permit fireworks.
6. Catering – what type of food and drink do you want to serve your guests? Do you want a formal sit down meal or perhaps a relaxed garden BBQ and Hog Roast. Are you planning on sourcing your own suppliers or alcohol? Some venues charge Corkage or an additional fee for this and other’s have very strict limitations in place that prevent you from even entertaining this idea all together.

Now you should have a good idea of what both of your basic requirements are and what you can realistically afford. The next step is to start doing your research. This may be online or you may decide to attend a few wedding fairs. Don’t forget to consider talking to friends and family who may be able to recommend potential suppliers or venues.

When I was searching for our venue I made a note of mine and Al’s requirements and tried to match this up to venues that were within our budget.Here is an example of what your requirements may look like:

• Budget £15,000 – £20,000
• Capacity up to 100 guests
• Within a 40 mile radius
• Civil Ceremony License
• Relaxing atmosphere
• Don’t charge corkage
• Allow external suppliers
• Child friendly
• Allow Fireworks/ Lanterns
• Grounds for external Marquee

Unless you are very lucky, then the chances are your dream venue probably won’t have everything that you dreamt off. So you will almost certainly have to decided what factors you are prepared to compromise on.

Once you have a list of potential venues, you need to make a shortlist of three or four venues that you really love and book an appointment to go view them.

Have you found this post useful? I am thinking of doing more ‘how to’ guides, is this something you would like to see more of? Don’t forget to come back next week for more ‘wedding wednesday’.

Love Emma

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