What should I be looking for in a wedding venue?
There are a vast range of venues to choose from when deciding on where to have your wedding. You may think about going abroad for a small and intimate event with just a few friends and family or you may decide that you’ll be having your wedding in your own home. However, most people decide on venues like farms, manor houses, town halls or marquees in country pubs.
Location location location
If you don’t want to be too disappointed in the response from your guest list then you may want to think about having your wedding in a place that is located around most of your guests. OK that is unless you are set on having your wedding abroad. You’ll probably find after making your exhaustive list of and family and friends that they cluster around specific areas. You could try to find a nice venue around there as a reasonable starting point.
Out in the country
For some couples it is important to get married in a scenic area. You’ll find many wonderful venues in the Cotswolds including some wonderful pubs with gardens that can house a marquee. Maybe it is not such an obvious advantage of weddings out in the sticks, but the fact is, you will be less likely to encounter strict early deadlines on loud live or recorded music beyond midnight. The disadvantage is the rather costly taxi fares for guests to a suitable place to sleep.
A few things to look out for
– Late music licence
–Late bar licence
–Local places where your guests can stay
–Taxi firms willing to travel a little further
–Friendly experienced staff
–Good online reviews
–Good management
On the last few points, it is those around you who play a big part in making or breaking your wedding day. By that I mean that you should really be conscious of who will be ‘at work’ on your wedding day. You should ask the venue about the staff, their attitude, experience and mention that you expect them to look like they are enjoying working on that day. Far too many weddings have been the workplace of staff who really don’t want to be there.
Presentation of the staff is as important as the venue
Too many wedding venues forget that their staff should not only work hard but that they are representing the couple getting married. I’ve seen weddings in which the manager of the staff has been wearing dirty clothes and look like they have just woken from a deep sleep. It would be a good idea to visit the venue during someone else’s wedding and just popping by to see for yourself the general conduct of the staff.
