Page 6 | Would you enjoy this wedding?

BlackCat14 · 07/01/2026 09:11

I’d love it! I like the layer start. I’ve been to too many weddings that start at 12, ceremony finishes at 1, have to go to another venue and stand around for hoooours whilst the couple have all their photos etc. Yours sounds great!

DappledThings · 07/01/2026 09:17

OhDear111 · 07/01/2026 09:11

It is about guests enjoying it. The OP’s DP is paying for them! Why have something no one enjoys?

@toastand You need to factor in when guests can actually check in at hotels. This might not be until 3. Where will
they get changed and dump bags? As a matter of urgency, check any check-in times! If guests need to come the day before, it adds a lot of cost to them.

Not sure how great the food will be for the price. Also after Crans Montana, basement bars are not a good look. Getting guests to pay for booze in the evening looks cheap so consider what you want. A glass of bubbly on the bus followed by another glass and canapés at the venue works.

I frequently see weddings at Marylebone Town hall. Seems to have a big through-put. My DD wants a chapel wedding in London so I’m interested in the bus idea after!

I have been to more weddings than I can count and never expected anyone to consider my accommodation requirements. That's up to me.

Also a paid bar in the evening is completely standard and expected at a wedding in England. It is not cheap or unreasonable in any way and I will die on that hill.

ZoeyBartlett · 07/01/2026 09:24

I went to a wedding v like the Marylebone, vintage bus, restaurant. It worked really well. One thing, the wedding I went to, the bus stopped at various tourist points - London Eye etc, and we all got off and the couple had wedding photos- some alone, some with all etc. Thus meant they got lots of photos without taking time to go off on their own.

have a lovely day - sounds fab!

Starlight1984 · 07/01/2026 09:29

MindaBelinda · 07/01/2026 02:00

It sounds exactly like my favourite kind of wedding.

Same here! If anyone drops out then let me know 😉

Starlight1984 · 07/01/2026 09:34

HeddaGarbled · 07/01/2026 01:45

You’re doubling up a bit with the drinks on the bus and then another hour of drinks before dinner.

What's wrong with this?!?!

Starlight1984 · 07/01/2026 09:37

Bellavida99 · 07/01/2026 05:16

I think you’re confusing Marylebone town hall and a vintage London bus with Lewisham registry office and a school bus

Edited

Show quote history

😂

Christmaseree · 07/01/2026 09:45

toastand · 07/01/2026 01:22

DP & I have decided to get married and we’ve spent the past week pricing up different days. DP is keen on a larger wedding, ceremony & reception all weekend type do. Manor House/Barn type thing. I was happy to marry just us and the kids in a nice registry office. I’d rather not get into debt and marry sooner.

3:30pm - Ceremony in London town hall
4:00pm - Photos & confetti throw
4:30pm - Chilled Prosecco & Beers on hired out bus.
5:00pm - Arrive at reception, welcome drinks and canapés. Singer or saxophonist.
6:00pm - 3 course sit down meal, plenty of wine & beer.
8:00pm - DJ
9:00ish: Evening Food
12:00am: Home

The reception is a lovely restaurant, exclusive hire, meal upstairs then into basement for party. We’d be spending at least 6 thousand on catering & venue, I’m wincing at this but it’s one of the cheaper options I’ve found.

All rough timings for now but would you attend this? My parents, siblings and nieces/nephews alone is 22. Both mine and DP’s family and friends are in London, he has a few family members who’d be travelling from Wales & up North.

Weve managed to compromise on about 60 guests for the entire day. I’m of course doing most the leg work in researching and enquiring, and to be honest I’m not sure he understood what weddings cost until I sat him down today and ran through the quotes.

Does this sound okay or do I need to go back to the drawing board?

I’d love it!

christmassytimeagain · 07/01/2026 10:01

DappledThings · 07/01/2026 09:17

I have been to more weddings than I can count and never expected anyone to consider my accommodation requirements. That's up to me.

Also a paid bar in the evening is completely standard and expected at a wedding in England. It is not cheap or unreasonable in any way and I will die on that hill.

Show quote history

And I completely disagree and will die on that hill. I have only ever been to one wedding with a pay bar and having a free bar is an absolute non negotiable for me. I think it’s reasonable to limit it to beer, wine and soft drinks but I absolutely would not under any circumstances expect my guests to put their hands in their pockets at any event I invited them to .

TwinklyBird · 07/01/2026 10:21

AliasGrape · 07/01/2026 07:59

Travelling down the morning of is not fine. Most hotels don’t let you check in till 3pm. So you’re having to travel 3 hours in your nice wedding clothes, nowhere to freshen up etc, having to cart around bags or trying to find a way to go back to the hotel and check in amidst the wedding/ planned activities. You’ll also be expecting them to eat lunch en route for a 3 pm wedding

That said, it’s not necessarily for the bride and groom to arrange and pay for - but if you are sorting it I’d definitely allow for them to stay the night before too. Even if you only offer to pay for one of the nights. They might say they’re find travelling on the day but I’d hate it honestly.

Also, don’t let everyone talk you out of all the food! Mumsnet is not representative of normal eating. A lot of people might not have had time for a substantial lunch between getting ready and travelling across London for the wedding, a few canapés is not going to spoil their dinner. Maybe make the evening food later or go with something smaller/ more informal but also if you’re expecting people to drink it’s not a bad idea to provide extra food. Depends on the portion size for the wedding meal as well - I’ve seen some very stingy ones. The worse weddings I’ve been to have been tight with the food and drink, I’d always rather over cater honestly. If people aren’t hungry again they don’t have to partake but I’d rather have it on offer than not - maybe it could be cheese boards, or bacon sandwiches as suggested, but have something.

Overall plans sound lovely!

This post summed up my thoughts.

The plan sounds lovely, but never ever listen to mumsnetters about food. They don’t eat like normal people! Definitely still have some canapés and some sort of evening food.

Make sure you consider those travelling. Travelling down on the morning is a pain if they can’t check in until 3. They’ll be in their nice clothes all day, have luggage to sort out, need to get food/freshen up etc. Anything you can do to help with this would be useful (even if it’s just providing information about hotels, check in times, distances, taxi details, recommendations for lunch!)

Also, a few posed photos are useful to make sure you get key family/friendship groups. I only wanted reportage style at my wedding, but my mum insisted on some traditional ones and 13 years on I’m so glad she did, some guests have died now and I’m glad I have a picture of me with them on my wedding day. People can get missed with reportage.

Endofyear · 07/01/2026 10:26

Sounds like a lovely wedding to me, I'd definitely come! ☺️

Christmaseree · 07/01/2026 10:27

toastand · 07/01/2026 01:45

We’ve decided on Marylebone Town Hall and they seem to have a ceremony every 30 minutes at the weekend so you only have about 20 minutes for the photos. We’d be doing candid/documentary style rather than posed but definitely something to think about, thank you.

We’ve got two lots of guests from outside of London & think we’ll offer to arrange a hotel for the wedding night. I’m not sure how they’ll feel about travelling down on the day though? DP thinks it’s too much to ask for them to travel down on the day. It’s about 3 hours for each.

Show quote history

I had a similar situation , we found older guests tended to travel down the day before and stay an extra night at the hotel and younger guests got up early and travelled on the day.

Justmadesourkraut · 07/01/2026 10:49

toastand · 07/01/2026 02:10

Will everyone be pissed The canapés seem quite substantial. I do love the idea of sipping on some Prosecco and a few tunes on the old bus.

When are you supposed to serve canapés? I feel it’d be strange to go straight into the sit down meal. Unless we had one small welcome drink and then cordials? Venue isn’t booked yet, this is just the one we like the look of so I could speak to them about timings.

I don’t like the idea of people waiting around hungry, especially those who’ve been travelling all morning so may not have fit in lunch. Unless I move the ceremony back to 4ish?

Show quote history

I agree that prosecco on the bus is lovely. Your whole set up sounds like a wedding we went to last year and loved. Just don't serve the mini bottles of prosecco with straws as our hosts did. (Straws have a dramatic effect on prosecco!?)

MostlyGhostly · 07/01/2026 10:54

I’d go, it sounds fab to me. It sounds very similar to our wedding but without the bus and everyone seemed to enjoy it.

Original poster

toastand · 07/01/2026 10:58

IroncladMonkey · 07/01/2026 07:08

This day sounds amazing!! I'd be so pleased to be a guest here. Because of that, I'm going to be extra cheeky and ask if you can give a clue as to where the reception is 😅 I've just started planning a wedding at Marylebone and any reception suggestions are welcome. No worries if not though.

I say yes to the saxophonist, I love a good saxophone at the wedding.

Not sure what hot food you were planning after the dinner but I think thinks like chips, sausage/bacon butties, slice of pizza are always welcome (this is what I've had around 10pm at weddings). Don't think you need the extra food for drinks as sounds like everyone will have plenty!! Sounds great honestly.

I’ll pm you x I’ve made a little list of venues, how many do you have coming?

OP posts:

momahoho1 · 07/01/2026 11:02

Sounds great, not that different to what we did (no bus though, we had a church wedding followed by Prosecco in the church hall before heading to the venue, upstairs in a restaurant)

JaneIves · 07/01/2026 11:07

Sounds very much like my wedding - I also got married at Old Marylebone Town Hall! Lovely venue, photos on the steps by the pillars. We also travelled down to the Italian gardens at Hyde Park to have some photos taken.
We decided on central London primarily because we lived in London at the time, and we had people from all over the UK attend. We put a few up at our reception venue (victory services club) but left it up to others to decide to stay or travel back home due to all the transport options, so no tying in to stay somewhere.

I hope you have a wonderful wedding day!

Original poster

toastand · 07/01/2026 11:10

TubeScreamer · 07/01/2026 08:17

I wouldn’t be keen on the drinks on a bus but wouid do it to be polite or would skip that bit if I could find another way to get to the venue for the later stages. That reeks of drunken hen parties to me, and buses make me feel sick.

i would ditch the saxophonist or replace with something less intrusive - piano, harp?

Interesting thank you. I know that both of our immediate family and friends would enjoy the bus but unsure on DPs extended family.

I wasn’t sure if a harp would be slightly too formal in comparison to the rest of the day, I’d like something more special than a Spotify playlist but not a big noisy band.

OP posts:

Wayk · 07/01/2026 11:10

I would absolutely love to go to a wedding like yours. It sounds absolutely perfect.

TittyGajillions · 07/01/2026 11:12

I wouldn't want drinks on a bus, it's going to get spilt on lovely outfits, it's hard to drink while bobbing around.

JaneIves · 07/01/2026 11:13

IroncladMonkey · 07/01/2026 07:08

This day sounds amazing!! I'd be so pleased to be a guest here. Because of that, I'm going to be extra cheeky and ask if you can give a clue as to where the reception is 😅 I've just started planning a wedding at Marylebone and any reception suggestions are welcome. No worries if not though.

I say yes to the saxophonist, I love a good saxophone at the wedding.

Not sure what hot food you were planning after the dinner but I think thinks like chips, sausage/bacon butties, slice of pizza are always welcome (this is what I've had around 10pm at weddings). Don't think you need the extra food for drinks as sounds like everyone will have plenty!! Sounds great honestly.

I got married at Old Marylebone town hall and some of our reception venue considerations were city pubs that don’t necessarily get a huge footfall over the weekends, a quick google search could help you. Other considerations were the Battersea Barge which is quirky and lively. Ultimately, we had our reception at the Victory Services Club, which is for serving and ex armed forces.

Original poster

toastand · 07/01/2026 11:15

MrsMitford3 · 07/01/2026 08:54

I was also coming on to suggest bacon sandwiches for the late food.

I think it sounds fab.

I love the bus idea-was wracking my brain to think how to add a bit of food here.
Is there a bar on the bus/how are the drinks being served?
Could you have something on each seat?
Crisps not exactly right but maybe popcorn in old fashioned holders or something?

Overall sounds a really nice day and I would like to come!

Show quote history

Popcorn is a good shout, thank you!

OP posts:

SalmonOnFinnCrisp · 07/01/2026 11:19

I got married in rlthe big room (i forget the name but its the one all the slebs use) in Marylebone Town Hall it was stunning...

They had incredible flowers too

ViciousCurrentBun · 07/01/2026 11:23

I have attended 36 weddings, some 3 day ones as my heritage on Dads side is Asian. A one day event if preferable, it gets expensive for guests. Three good outfits, we spent a few thousand to attend my nieces weddings overseas

Your schedule sounds great, my only bugbear is ‘that London’ is so expensive as we joke, my Mum was from London. I just paid £150 for a nights stay in a really lovely spa hotel in Yorkshire for 2. My mate pops down to London often and is paying much more for pokey but nice hotels. I get it’s all geographical though.

If you have any relatives or friends that play an instrument well ask them to play if they are the sort that likes attention. DS cousin plays the harp.

Congratulations have a lovely day.

MrsMitford3 · 07/01/2026 12:54

Think I am on too many wedding threads I am getting them confused...

OhDear111 · 07/01/2026 13:01

@DappledThings I am English and I can assure you many hosts pay for the bar! Depends on funds.

This sounds like a wedding where there’s not a huge amount of money and some people will grumble at London hotel prices for 2 nights. Absolutely can guarantee that! However op doesn’t need to pay for everyone but it will add a lot to the cost of guests attending. It’s inevitable.

Would you enjoy this wedding?

Interested in this thread?