To be upset about my wedding venue?

[IfIDontKnowAndYouDontKnow]

Name changed
Basically have a tiny budget. We were going to cut our guest list but we don't want to. We love everyone on it.
Have been offered The British Legion as a venue for free. Best man works evenings there.
We have decided to take it so we can afford to give everyone a nice time. Its bloody ugly inside. Has lovely big field though/n pretty outside etc.
I know I chose this, and I am not wanting to save up for few years as I just want to marry dp and have all our friends and family there. And would be stupid to not accept such a generous offer.
Just venting I guess... and wondering what to do about the fading carpet, chipped paint, arcade machine...

Oh and we also had scampi and chips on the menu. It went down very well I can tell you!

Ooh afternoon tea and chip vans .. what clever ideas
I adore afternoon tea
newgirl I have terracotta pots, quite a few..

I went to a wedding at the ugliest British Legion, they hung bunting across the roon ehich distracted from ugly curtains and their tables looked amazing, white linen and flower decorations the bride did but they looked like a florist had done them as she taught herself from youtube videos, no one looked at the carpets and walls, the tabes wowed when we waled in and the night was amazing.
So much better than the fancy wedding a week later where it was £7 for a vodka and coke and a £50 taxi ride home, people were wishing themselves back to the legion!

You can do a lot with balloons tbh. You don't even need helium ones. The slightly pearlised ones look great if you get a bunch in lovely colours.

Ok so have just reread through all the posts. Regarding food how does this sound: Change things around timings etc, will have to work it out. Have a slightly earlier service, followed by a tea at the church(?) (they have a little back room used for the children's service) ie sandwiches, scones, cakes tea and fizz as newgirl suggests.
Then all on to the legion for the band, cheap plonk and a delivery of fish and chips in the evening?
Is it a bad idea to stay at the church for tea? Would it be better at the legion? They are not too far from each other.. about 5minutes in car.
'Tis a beautiful church.

No - not a bad idea at all, it sounds fab!! Can I come please?!!

You could have photos outside the church too - if it's a beautiful church then it makes sense to do it there. Forget a formal photographer though, you could give a few people disposable cameras or get people to take photos on their digital cameras and then upload them to a website or Wedding FB page.

DNiece had afternoon tea, (vintage style) and a ice cream van in the afternoon, with a chip van at abut 8.30 in the evening, it was brilliant.

The afternoon tea, was done on blankets outside on the green in front of the village hall the reception was held in.

Also - just having a look on ebay and there are quite a few dresses on there with a 99p-few quid starting price. Maybe worth having a look? Limit to 'auction only' though as someone has cleverly posted a whole load of dresses from her shop on there, but they link though to gloves when you click on them

SirChejin the more the merrier!
I always wonder with these sort of threads... you know- if one of you are actually on my guest list.

SirChejin could you link please?

What about a hog roast in the evening? They can be incredibly good value for lots of people and often come with lovely salads, sauces and bread.

Does this link work?

If not, you go to ebay and type in 'wedding dresses size 14' then click the 'auction only' option on the left hand side of the page and 'sort by P&P and price lowest first' - and then all theses dresses come up. I love this one and this one - am very jealous of you!!

How much are hog roasts then? has anyone had one recently for rough price ideas?

Oh OP, don't worry, it sounds like it's going to be lovely! I had my reception in a municipal hall near my house and it was pretty shabby but we dolled it up a treat! And it was completely me and DH's kind of place. He's DJed for years and has always put his nights on in working men's clubs, ex-servicemen's clubs and miners' welfares, mainly because the drinks are cheap, the staff are always kind and helpful and it's nice to bring a bit of extra cash into these places which are disappearing these days and are often used by the elderly.

We had lots of tealights in glass ramekins (100 free tealights when you sign up for an Ikea family card!). Most of the ramekins were saved from desserts!

We had white metal flower pots from Ikea with lovely white cabbage roses we got cheap from the trade market. The hall (as such places often do) had a glitterball, which sounds naff but actually created a lovely effect. And we put Tunnocks teacakes on every table!

If the Monsoon sale's still on, they had gorgeous dresses, some around £40-60.

Honestly, if you do it with heart, it will be lovely. And check Freecycle for any wee bits and bobs you could use.

Yes link works.. they are beautiful and even better they aren't strapless, self concious

If any of those ebay dresses are near me - I'd happily pick it up and post it to you (I'm in south east Wales).

On the other hand if you are near me, please ask if there's anything that I might be able to lend or help you to source.

It sounds like you're going to have a great day whatever you choose.

Afternoon tea and chip van sounds fab. I bet it will be the best wedding your guests will have been to. My friend had a cream tea in the church hall after the service and later we crammed into a big gazebo in her back garden, all covered with fairy lights, and ate food delivered from the local Thai restaurant. It was really lovely.

I'm in Edinburgh - so ditto from me

Church hall tea sounds great. you can do tea and cake for LOTS of people for not much money, every one ( of any age) who rocks up to see you get married can join in weather they are invited to the evening do or not. Then on to the legion for a fun evening party with invited guests.

Do you know any teenagers who can be persuaded to waitress the tea and cake?

friends did tea n cake n short speeches at the church after the wedding then onto a small family dinner , skint students, it was a lovely afternoon.

I think it sounds lovely. Everyone will feel comfortable and if you make the tables nice and stick up balloons no one will notice any chipped paint. Go at night before and make sure the lighting isn't too harsh.

As long as the loos work, they don't run out of booze, and its happy, it will be perfect:)

Go one evening, take a pad and write down what you think. An arcade machine could be retro you know- put some balloons round it.

People are going to celebrate your marriage and future together, not working undercover for the wedding venue police. And if any one makes any comments or like my dsis won't go as its not posh enough- they don't deserve to be there. Could you do a wartime theme? Which would sit nicely with a tight budget, in a nice way, i dont mean that badly- And maybe do a collection for the legion?

Some of the old music hall songs are great, my dm knew them all, knees up mother brown, my old man etc. and you could have daisy daisy as your first dance!

Some great ideas on here. Congrats OP. I also have a wedding dress I'd be happy to donate. It's red though (pics on profile). Appreciate most people prefer white but would love it to get some use

It's going to be wonderful, don't worry!

Few ideas from mine:

My mom and sister made all my flowers from paper and cloth as I did not have the budget for centerpieces (quotes were seriously in the thousands hahahaha). Instead of vases I saved all our espresso cans for a year (they are pretty bright cans, that's my style) and we stuck frogs in the bottom of the cans and anchored the stems in. Super cheap. They were beautiful and I still have them all.

My mother and I went to a discount fabric place and found several different partial rolls of lovely semi-opaque lacy cloth in complementary tones. Super cheap. She cut them out, didn't even hem as who would notice, they looked amazing.

I got about a thousand tea lights and put them all over the place. Again, super cheap.

We had an area of flat wall so brought a laptop in and projected a movie onto it -- just a cool old vintage movie played silently for background color. I forget what it was, DH chose it.

I did not do this but other brides who used the same space hung white Xmas lights around not just against wall, but looped down from ceiling across the room this creates a canopy of fairy lights.

And my dress cost $85 (which is what, around 140 pounds?) in a vintage store and everyone loved it. You'll make it work. If you're into vintage and DIY charm this is a great blog for ideas. ruffledblog.com/