Finding the perfect wedding venue for your special day is not an easy task. In fact, this part of the wedding planning is the most difficult part to finalize because there are tons of beautiful wedding venues in the UK and you can get overwhelmed with the possibilities out there. But you will be happy to know that after you find the ideal setting for your special day, then everything will be as easy as 1-2-3…

We have narrowed down and made a list of the top and most important things you have to consider when choosing your perfect wedding venue and we hope you find it useful.

1. Wedding Budget – make sure that you and your husband-to-be have set a clear budget before searching for your dream wedding venue. This will save you time and help you focus on the type of venue to look out for since wedding venue fees can vary considerably from £1500.00 to £30,000.00.

2. Availability – confirm and finalize your wedding date before contacting the wedding venue. This will help them check availability more effectively. We also suggest having 2-3 alternative dates just incase the first choice is already taken. Also remember that most wedding venues require a minimum of 6months advance booking.

3. Wedding Style – there are tons of beautiful UK wedding venues but in order to help you find the perfect venue easier, we highly suggest that you have a clear idea of what you want. For example, decide whether you want to have a castle wedding, church wedding, marquee wedding or a destination wedding etc. The other alternative is to perhaps look in to it based on the season like winter wedding, spring wedding, summer wedding or autumn wedding. Figuring this out will help you find the perfect wedding venue and see if they can offer this kind of experience for your special day.

4. Number of Guests – intimate wedding of 20 or a big wedding of 300 – this factor will greatly influence the choice of your wedding venue and it is advisable to have a good indication of the number of guests you are expecting to have so that you can find wedding venues that can cater for this important requirement.

5. Civil or Church Ceremony – check with the wedding venue if they are licensed to hold civil ceremony or a religious ceremony. This will help you figure out whether or not you have to include this task of visiting local registrars or churches on your wedding venue search. Distance between marriage ceremony venue and the wedding reception venue will be important to take in to account. In-house wedding coordinators are usually very helpful and they can give you a list of registrars, churches or list of other vendors within close proximity to their venue.

6. Vendors – all b2b and h2b have different requirements on what they need on their special day and it is just understandable that each wedding venue may or may not answer all of these. Some wedding venues can only offer the ceremony venue and reception venue but not the accommodation, catering and other wedding extras. This means that you have to look for your own wedding vendors or you will have to contact the venue’s recommended vendors. All these issues will affect your wedding planning and wedding budget so always know all the important facts when you start liaising with the venue so you get all information as early as possible and plan accordingly

7. Child Friendly – if you are expecting to have lots of kiddies on your wedding day, it is also good to find out from the wedding venue whether they can accommodate children. Some venues like castles or stately homes can be quite strict about this and can also impose age restrictions due to some of their fine arts and antique collections.

8. Do’s and Dont’s– check with the venue if they have will impose certain limitations or do’s and dont’s on your wedding day. Some venues have rules like no load music after midnight, no confetti, no candles, no high-heels due to floor damage, no red-wine  and more. This might not affect you if you are head-over-heels in love with the wedding venue but it is still good to set everything clear from the beginning to avoid any surprises.

9. Accommodation – not all wedding venues have accommodation for you and your guests. But make sure to ask if they can give you a list of recommended hotels and B&B around the area so that you do not have to do your research about this. Ask if they can also give you a map to show the location of each hotel in relation to the wedding venue. For everyone’s convenience and ease of transport, you certainly would want your family and friends to be within close proximity to the beautiful wedding venue where you will be getting married.

10. Wedding Photography Considerations – dolceSPOSA places a great emphasis on wedding photography and we think that this is  an important consideration when you are looking for your perfect wedding venue. An ideal venue will also provide breathtaking spots at the venue for both indoor and outdoor photography. One golden rule is to have ample natural light as it will give you sharper wedding photographs but if the venue is slightly on the darker side (e.g. gothic, medieval castle wedding venues or simply most winter weddings), this means you will have to find wedding photographers who can capture images even in lowlight conditions. You only get married once so you want to ensure that you will have great wedding photographs. So we feel that this is an important factor to also add on the list.

That makes up our Top 10 Tips in Choosing a Wedding Venue and we are certain that following these points can help you make the wedding search fun, easy and enjoyable. Good luck and enjoy the search for your perfect UK wedding venue.

Happy wedding planning!! You only get married once and plan for this special occasion once so you have to make sure that you enjoy every minute of it!

Photo of Garden Wedding courtesy of Xander Casey

Related posts:

1. Ashford Castle, Ireland – Romantic Wedding Venue
2. Planning a Wedding on a Budget
3. Leeds Castle, Kent

Xander Casey is an internationally renowned lifestyle and wedding photographer with A-list clients and a favourite amongst some of London’s most prestigious wedding venues like the The Ritz Hotel, Claridges and The Berkeley to name a few.

At a Glance

• Style – reportage, contemporary and stylish
• Wedding album – Queensberry
• Production time – 6 weeks
• Camera  – Canon1D MKIII Prime lenses 24-70, 70-200,24,85
• Wedding photography package starts at £1,895 based on all-day coverage
• Destination wedding  will have extra incremental costs

He has a very good reputation of making clients completely comfortable with him and his camera from start to finish. This I think is great as it will allow him to capture the very essence of your wedding day, your character and the overall atmosphere. If you think about it, a wedding photographer will be with you from the time you get ready and will be really close so it will surely make a big difference if he is a nice person that you can be comfy with and this will surely guarantee you great wedding photographs.

Here are some of our favourites:

Tip: It is important to go with reputable wedding photographers but it is also crucial to get to know them first and to find out if they are the type of people you would like to work with on your wedding day. We also recommend reading our article ‘Guide to Finding a Wedding Photographer‘.

Wedding Photographer – Xander Casey

Email: xander(a)xandercasey.co.uk
Tel: +44 (0) 1372 842 522

Photos courtesy of Xander Casey

Related posts:

1. CKP Weddings
2. Mark Wallis
3. David Pullum