Anyone not instantly loved their reception venue?

[Forthewedding]

We have only recently started looking for venues for our reception however I have trawled the internet for hours and pretty much know what the options are in my area.

I've tried to be realistic from the start. My dream would be a countryside setting in a building with lots of character and pretty grounds. The reality is that those types of venues are unaffordable without a big loan. We don't want to get into debt.

I have been really open minded and would consider anything. However everything i've looked at has felt a compromise in some way whether it be the location, decor etc.

We have found somewhere that DP loves but which I wasnt wowed by at first. However having revisited I feel more excited about it, have had a good think about how we could make it out own etc. However I suppose I feel that i've grown to like it rather than the instant love that I thought i'd feel when I found my wedding venue. Had anyone felt like this and ended up either absolutely loving it or alternatively regretting it/feeling theyd made the wrong decision?

[maggiethemagpie]

Nope, I loved my venue from the minute I saw it and can't wait to get married there. Are you sure you aren't trying to make yourself love it because it's easier than starting over?

[Forthewedding]

I think I have tried to like it but more in the way that I tried to be more open minded and loo k at the good point the second time I went. I've started to imagine my wedding day there and am excited when I think about it now.

The thing is that we cant physically afford what my dream venue would be which would be a stately home/country house/barn venue.

What would you have done if you couldnt afford your ideal venue?

[BoboBunnyH0p]

Does your ideal venue offer any mid week package deals or out of season deals. A lot of wedding venues are often cheaper if you get married Monday to Thursday or during the winter months.

[annandale]

My venue was a large basketball court in the community centre I didn't love it but I certainly loved the price and location. It looked beautiful after it was decorated but unfortunately I'd spent £3,000 on the decoration so farewell budget...

If you're getting excited about the venue that you can afford I think that's a great sign. I'd look for at least one of the things that you'd like, e.g. the setting, the location. Then commit. Don't let anyone hear you say in future years 'Well of course it wasn't what I really wanted...'

[Forthewedding]

Thanks Bobo it does offer a discount but we are certain that we want a saturday date and we have good reasons for choosing the time of year, we have thought hard about what time of year to go for and it is an important factor for us.

Thanks anna that is exactly what I needed to hear I think and good advice. We have tried to prioritise in order of what we are prepared to compromise on. I think this place fits the bill in that respect as it's the decor im not keen on but I have my date, day, time of year, location, and setting. I think it's just that I always imagined that my wedding venue would be absolutely perfect and i'd get it somehow so it's a shock that I may have to actually compromise. We also have DC and a house that needs work so I think the other aspect is that life has happened a bit differently than I had thought it would and I just cant imagine spending tens of thousands on one day.

[annandale]

Can you do anything about the decoration? Do they have any pictures of how other couples have decorated it?

[Forthewedding]

It's hard to explain but the main room and actual building are great. The other couple of rooms it's mainly the material build of it which is old fashioned in places. Think 1970s style brick work and woodwork. However the actual building itself is lovely. The inside just sort of lacks the character inside that youd expect it to have when you went inside. Far from awful or anything though, just not my dream!

[Forthewedding]

Sorry I meant that when you look at the outside you expect it to have lovely or characterful interiors but it doesnt really.

[MyBreadIsEggy]

My venue was exactly what I wanted.....but then we started measuring up with the venue dresser, and I realised something I had never realised before about the room (after years of family parties there)......the bottom half of the walls were a vile green Everyone said "that won't be noticeable once all the tables are in and decorated, and all the decorations are on the walls" - I wasn't convinced. I wanted to cover the green half of the walls with a sheet or something, but in the end it was pretty much hidden by the beautiful table cloths and decorations

[CharlieSierra]

DD is getting married this summer and the reception is in a barn in amazing grounds and only costs £1500 to hire. It's then entirely up to the hirer what they do with it and how much they spend. I know some people have it and do their own catering, have BBQ etc. Could you find something more diy like that? A nice place to do your own thing?

[Donthaveaclueaboutanyofthis]

I didn't love my reception venue but we were on a limited budget and we had to choose either a fantastic flashy venue with a very basic menu and guests buying their own drinks or a less fantastic venue with great food and us supplying all the drinks. I decided that what people ate and drank was more important to me than the venue. Everyone had a great time and nobody left hungry or thirsty.

[wispaxmas]

I think things like this matter so much when you're planning, but you can do so much with relatively little in terms of venue that I think not being 'wowed' by it at first won't matter in the end.

That said, I'm someone who spent a ridiculous sum on a countryside castle wedding in the summer. I kind of regret the amount we spent as it could have gone towards a house deposit and made a dent in our mortgage. I would say maybe try to focus more on the smaller elements of the wedding to get the wow factor you're after.

[Dolly80]

We're having our wedding reception in a pub. We looked round a few before deciding on the one we've chosen. Since deciding, I've constantly wondered if we've picked the 'right' one. Logically, I know it is - has outside space, good food choices, reasonably priced drinks and has recently been refurbed. I think it's wedding planning nerves that have made me question it.

Planning a party is stressful enough but once you chuck the word wedding into the mix it seems to ramp everything up (including the prices!)

[bakeoffcake]

Dd is getting married next year and they've decided to go for the local village hall, which looks beautiful outside but is rather dreary inside. However having spoken to a local florist who has done many weddings there and has lots of ideas on how to make it look less austere, they are now really pleased with the village hall. It does have s lovely garden too.

It costs a grand total of £350 so they are saving several thousand pounds. Most other local venues charge 4000-5000, just for the venue!! They've very sensibly decided to save that money and put it towards a deposit on a house.

So I'd say go for it and spend a bit extra on flowers and decoration.

[Roseberrry]

Our dream venue was an absolutely gorgeous hotel with its own chapel, amazing service, everything very vip feeling. However there was no way we could afford that so we found a nice little hotel near the sea in my hometown. It was nothing amazing but it felt right being back home and had some good views.
We had a lovely day and I wouldn't change a bit about it. I can't tell you how fast the day goes by, really not worth being thousands in debt over.

[bakeoffcake]

I also think that it's the people who are at the wedding which is the most important thing, not where you have the reception. Because my dds is going to be so much cheaper than we originally thought, they are having about 20 more day guests.

[maggiethemagpie]

For the wedding, when we were initially quoted for a summer, saturday wedding, we balked as couldn't afford it. We got the venue for half price by going for a sunday wedding the last week of their off peak season (late April as peak starts in May). There are some downsides to a Sunday wedding but we have enough people staying over (it's a hotel) that there'll still be a crowd on the dancefloor at midnight!
If we still hadn't been able to afford it we'd have looked around some more, but it was important to us to have a hotel venue as we have small children as do many of our friends/family so wanted to be able to put them to bed (with babysitter!) and then carry on the party, this would not be possible at a non hotel venue.

For a hotel venue I think it is hard to get anything for less than £8k, ours came in just over if we'd had the wedding just six days later (on a saturday in peak season ) it woul have been 12k for the venue /reception costs alone.