The Wedding Series #4: Viewing A Venue

I've really been enjoying writing these wedding panning posts and they have had a great response from all of you so a huge thankyou for that! This week, we viewed our first potential venue to hold our wedding so I thought that now that we have been, I would share with you our experience of that and potentially answer any questions or queries that other couples might have.

The venue that we visited was exactly the sort of place that I had pictured my dream wedding. A large country house with beautiful grounds for pictures and plenty of accommodation for our guests. When we got there, I really was taken a back by how stunning it was and I was feeling pretty positive. Both us went to tell the reception staff that we were there for a viewing and along with my mum and dad, we were ushered into the bar and told that the wedding coordinator would be with us shortly. I was thinking of plenty of questions to ask and when she joined us and showed us the packages available, it was time for a tour. Pretty much everything I had wanted in a venue was there, to me it was perfect. Olly however, felt differently and thought that it was a little old fashioned and a lot more money than expected. I think that I had also

got my hopes up a little bit too much and thought that we were going to fall in love with it right away and that would be our chosen venue. Despite the fact that we have decided that because both of didn't like it, it would not be our wedding venue, we still asked plenty of questions so I thought that I would share my top three questions with you...

Check if they do an all-inclusive package. If they do what does it include?

This is one the thing that I think every couple viewing a wedding venue should ask. Most of the time, a venue will give you a price for the venue, the menu, the drinks package, and the evening food all as separate prices. Once you add all of this up, then the price can be extortionate. However, some venues will have an all-inclusive package available which will be one cost for everything that you need and that will be it. Just don't forget that this means that there will not be an open bar and the cost of bedrooms for the quests will still incur a charge.

Do they offer exclusivity?

This usually means that there will be no other functions going on in the venue on the same date as your wedding. This was important to me as some venues that we have seen online have stated that they do not offer exclusivity and therefore there may be another wedding on the same day. This was a no go for me as I want to be the only bride and groom there on our chosen date. For some venues it means that they will only ever have one wedding on any given day but by having an exclusive package, there will be no other people other than your wedding guests and staff. Exclusivity normally means that there will be an extra charge.

Do they have accommodation?

This might not be hugely important to some couples, but to us it is a major part of the day. Ollys side of the family will be travelling from Kent and so will need to stay the night before and the night of the wedding. Then some more of our friends and family will need to stay over too, and those who would like to have a little drink won't be able to drive home. This means that it is important to find somewhere that has enough accommodation for everyone who needs it, and that it is a decent price for everyone.

I hope that this post has helped those of you who are planning a wedding, or those who are interested in the planning process. I'm hoping that now that we have been to seen one venue, the rest will be a little easier and we will know a little bit more about what we are actually looking for.

Have you got any tips for finding the perfect venue?