By Rachel Smith
Rachel Smith is a 2019 bride and a copywriter and social media manager. She runs her own freelance business, Rachel Smith Blogs, helping small businesses keep on top of their online content.
If you are recently engaged, the chances are you are starting to look at booking a date for the big day. With that, comes finding your perfect wedding venue - which is not an easy task.
The venue is the fundamental part (other than the married couple) of the day, and the decision should not be made lightly. I have put together some of my top tips as a recent bride, to help you find your dream wedding venue.
Set a budget
Before you begin doing any sort of wedding planning, the first thing you should do is set a budget. You should have a basic idea of how much you have to spend on the wedding as a whole, then break this down into the different aspects of the day. On average, a modern wedding day in the UK costs around £25,000.
The venue will take up a significant percentage of this, so be very aware of how much you have to spend. For example, the majority of people wouldn’t have a budget that would allow exclusive use of a grand castle or stately home. It is important to have realistic expectations of what type of venue would suit your wedding day, as well as how much that may cost. Do your research.
Read the reviews
You wouldn’t book a holiday without reading the reviews - don’t book a wedding either. Your wedding will be one of the most important days of your life, you want it to be as perfect as possible.
Before deciding on whether you want to have a look around a potential wedding venue, you should have a read through their reviews. Try to avoid reading the reviews that the venue have chosen to display themselves on their website or in their brochure. Instead, look out for reviews left by couples that have actually had their wedding there recently. Facebook, TripAdvisor and Hitched.co.uk are great places to do this.
Decide on your involvement level
This is an important aspect of wedding planning. Some brides and grooms want to be able to control every little aspect of their day, while others would prefer to hand everything over to someone else to look after.
For myself, I wanted a happy medium - a venue where they were happy for us to add our own unique touches to the day, but also they were happy to take control if needed. Some venues around Shropshire are what are known as ‘DIY’ and this is quite literally you do and organise everything yourself.
You should decide how much involvement you would like in the planning and co-ordination of your special day, and make sure you enquire about how much will be expected from you.
Amount of guests
This may seem like an obvious point, but make sure that the venue you choose can accommodate the amount of guests that you need. Each venue will be able to host a particular amount of guests, and they legally have to abide by this restriction due to health and safety regulations. Have a rough idea of how many guests you would expect to invite to your wedding (both for the ceremony and the reception) and make sure they will be accommodated for before booking the venue.
Why did I choose The Hundred House Hotel, Telford?
My husband and I knew The Hundred House Hotel was our dream wedding venue the moment we arrived there at a wedding fayre. We loved everything about it and it was definitely worth travelling an hour from our home for. The staff were knowledgeable and friendly, and we loved that we could make the venue our own, but still keeping the essence of its individuality. The combination of the traditional thatched rooves and the pretty gardens just make for a quirky vibe for a country and woodland style wedding like ours.