We have only recently got engaged and as we have to save to pay for the wedding we are not getting married until March 2015, I am not sure when we should start looking at venues with a view to book, is it too soon ????

yeah thats not too much of a problem, we went to see one last week and they weren't really interested as its 2 1/2 years away x

thanks, I think the problem for them is pricing the wedding so far in advance they only tend to have costs for up to 2014

thank you that was my plan but slightly put off and disapointed with the first venues reaction to the date xx

get out there, get looking and get booking! we booked a year before and it was close to being booked out!
if the venue says you cant just go somewhere else, unless its your dream venue
xxx

thank you ladies for all your help, I was just worried I was being premature. I thought the same as most of comments venues get booked up especialy as we live in a small town so there arent that many places to start with xx

I would get looking and then it's one thing ticked off when you find one, never to early x x

We started looking soon after we got engaged: nearly 3.5 years in advance lol.

I don't think it's too early to start looking: it took me AGES to short-list suitable venues, I trawled through literally hundreds online, which took ages, and got quotes from dozens. So I would start doing the ground-work early, to give you plenty of time.

We then viewed about a dozen; and of those, only 1 would not take a booking for our date, and only 2 (the one that wouldn't take a booking plus one other) couldn't give us a fixed price for our date; the majority were prepared to quote us a fixed price at a very slightly inflated rate from the current price, and several, including the venue we booked, agreed to fix their current prices for us.

A couple of words of advice if you plan to book this far out: first, research the venue, and it's background. We nearly came unstuck when the chain that our hotel was part of went bust. Thankfully, it is still operating, and standards have not dropped since we booked, plus it is busier than ever (so, we feel fairly confident it will be OK for our wedding in 2 years); but in the current economic climate this is something to be aware of. Second, get EVERYTHING written into your contract. We were massively demanding with ours, and insisted on having every single thing we were paying for written in: that include the drinks package, in detail, with the current price; the canapes we had selected; the menu for the wedding breakfast and evening buffet; and all the room prices (we have to book out the whole venue, so there was some room hire to pay, plus all bedrooms must be booked: we agreed prices on rooms, and these too have been written into the contract). If you don't get everything in writing, then you are at their mercy: they can put their prices up, change their packages etc, so, be aware of this.

I would also advise paying by credit card if possible for extra security. Most wedding insurance companies don't let you take out insurance until 2 years before, so this gives you a safety net should anything happen with the venue.

HTH

we booked ours 2 years ago and were getting married in 2 weeks, we looked around loads of diffrent venues but i new which one i wanted from the start. the sooner you book the more likely your going to get the date you want x

thanks again ladies another reason for booking early of course is the cost, so we can get it paid off as soon as possible xx