So this week we have been looking at venues. Two of them were so not us but the other two are. I love both of them and the both have very little to complain about. The first on eis in Edinburgh where we stay. This would involve almost all of our guests travelling from the west coast for our wedding and the venue is coming in at £1000 more than the second we really like. THe venue is stunning, is finished to a really high standard and really spacious without feeling that there would be too much space and the guests feeling a bit lost.
The second venue is obviously £1000 cheaper and again gorgeous but the ceremony room is really just a room, nothing special about it. It is however on the west coast and so almost all of our guests are close by. The reception suite is absolutly stunning though and again there is enough space to not feel crammed in but not feel lost in a huge room.
I am really torn between the 2 and can't decide what I want never mind convince h2b to pick what I want lol.
How did you all make up your mind on your venue xx
CommentAuthorsarah
You have time so that's a really good thing. I'd want to see the venues set up for an actual wedding, preferably see how they cope with an actual wedding on. I might crash a wedding to see that happen, but I'm cheeky like that. In all seriousness - If you think that you've narrowed it down to the two you want I'd book a room & do a wedding menu tasting. Preferably, during a busy time so you can see how they cope with a lot of guests, stress, etc.
CommentAuthorValentinaK
You and your guests will not remember the venue as much as the time you had... Go for the cheaper option and spend the difference making it one hell of a celebration!
I'd go with the cheaper one because its closer for your guests. Travelling to a wedding is a pain for guests IMO.
We decided on our venue by looking around at all the places in our town that do weddings. The one we chose had a great package deal so we chose it because of that.
The greatest thing you'll ever learn
is just to love and be loved in return
<3
Choosing our venue was dictated by our low budget. To be honest it is beautiful, it has a massive pond and fountain which is a fantastic photo opportunity. The inside is a little dated but when the place is decorated it shall be fine :)
CommentAuthorTotallyLovedUp
If you love them both, go for the closer and cheaper one! Remember you are going to be in the ceremony room for minutes, the reception room for hours. Plus, you can make the ceremony room nicer by adding decorations or flowers. I think your guests would appreciate the venue being closer and you can spend that £1000 on other things. If however, you are readig this thinking yeah but the other one is nicer etc, then that tells you how you really feel!
CommentAuthorMrsThomson2B
You are all great here guys. Funny thing is that initially I had my heart set on the cheaper one. Now I kinda really love the other one closer to where I live. We spoke about how we would pay for the difference in cost and if it was the one closer to us then I would just stay in the venue the night before so eliminating the need for cars as it is only a 5 minute drive away.
The cheaper of the two I would want a car and leave from my mum and dad's house so realistically the money spent is gonna end up being the same. I guess we are gonna have to make a lsit of pro's and cons about each venue and see where we go from there xx
CommentAuthorElizabethP8
I'd got with the closer cheaper one and spend some of your savings on making the room look amazing xx
CommentAuthorGlitterfairy
I would say go for the cheaper one. That way you are more likely to have the guests you want turn up. If they have to travel they may be inclined not to bother coming, so yep, go cheaper and if you wanted to you could use that extra money towards something else to make it even more special.
Our wedding day - 6 October 2012
CommentAuthorbarbie86
Have you considered searching to see if there are any suitable ceremony venues near the cheaper one?
We fell in love with our venue the moment we saw it, BUT, while the ceremony room was beautiful, it just isn't big enough; it holds 52 people, at a squeeze, and we're having 52 guests, plus we REALLY want a string quartet. So, I looked to see if there were any venues close-by where we could have the ceremony, and lo and behold, the Town Hall was a 2 minute walk away and perfect: much bigger room, I'll get a proper aisle, there'll be loads of space for the string quartet, and it will feel like more of an occasion. So, could that be something you might consider? We looked at a LOT of venues, and none were absolutely 'perfect'.
Also, you have a long time until your day, so maybe have a look round another few venues. When I was venue hunting I looked at about 100 plus online very briefly (I used a venue search engine and clicked through the photos on there), and then viewed the website of about 60, getting quotes and more details from maybe 30-40. We viewed 14 that we'd shortlisted. So, a lot of time and effort, but for us it paid off; you just might find something that suits you more.
I do also think that location is important: we limited our search to no more than 45-50 minutes drive from where most of our guests live, as we felt this was a reasonable distance to travel. I think upwards of 1 hour is pushing it.
CommentAuthorFinally Susan B
I'd go for the closer one, bonus that it's cheaper. Travelling often means added overnight stays for guests and puts some off coming. The ceremony room will be jam packed with your guests in all of their pretty outfits and hats - you could add a few flowers in there. From the experience of most brides on here, the ceremony seems to be quite a blur and wizz by so the ceremony room would be lower on my list x
CommentAuthorMrsThomson2B
All of your advie is really good. H2B wants to look at more venues and we have another 2 veiwings this weekend. We both have a slight preference towards the more expensive of the 2 particularly since the wedding co-ordinater said she could be flexible on the price so we should be able to get some money off of the printed prices.
Both venues will include people travelling but it is less than an hour away and to be honest the one closer to us we have family lives fairly close by but they will be a 40 minute drive which is not much quicker than the ones further away.
I have always thought too that the bride and groom should choose the venue they want but to some degree consider their guests. Both locations have plenty of accomodation on site or near by and at varying tarriffs. But with 3 years notice people will jhave plenty of time to consider if they want to come and if they want to stay overnight xx
