AIBU to ask for your help in finding a wedding venue?!

[ConkerGame]

DP and I are struggling to find a venue for our wedding next Sept/Oct. So many places are booked up already! Can the MN hive mind help us in our quest?!

We live in London so don’t want anything crazy far away to avoid people having to travel too far but also wouldn’t want central London. Ideally it would be in Surrey/Berkshire/Middlesex/Buckinghamshire/Oxfordshire/Wiltshire/Somerset as these should be the easiest counties for our guests to travel to (none live east).

We are inviting 150 guests, are looking to have a sit down meal followed by dancing and want somewhere that at least immediate family and the bridal party could stay on site/very nearby.

We would also prefer a church wedding but don’t want to cart everyone for miles so ideally a pretty church would be nearby.

Our budget is £25k all in so I think venue hire, food and daytime drinks budget is around £17k. We are also only interested in a Saturday wedding (this seems to be the thing that is causing us difficulty atm but too many people would be annoyed if we put it on a week day!)

In terms of vibe, we are hoping for somewhere pretty but not too “grand”, although tbh my searching so far suggests that our budget removes us from most grand venues anyway. We would be happy with a marquee as long as the venue sorted food, drinks etc and we could stay onsite - we wouldn’t be up for just hiring a field and then having to find all suppliers separately.

Can anyone help?! Thanks very much in advance!

OR the Barn at Bury Court! That's gorgeous

Swallows Oast also is nice. Sorry for bombarding you! I'm a wedding photographer and trying to remember some faves!

Pennyhill Park Hotel in Bagshott is lovely, we looked at it for ours but did actually end up getting married in Central London.

Don't know why there is an extra t in Bagshot!

I’ve been to a lovely wedding at Sopley Mill near Christchurch, it’s just a venue so you can organise everything separately. There is a village church but didn’t go in there. Good luck!

Have a look at the ramster in Chiddingfold (Surrey) it's gorgeous!!

Brocket Hall in Herts?

Woburn Abbey has a couple of venues on site I think: the Sculpture Gallery, and maybe another one?

I recently went to a wedding at Grittleton House near Chippenham, which sounds like it may tick many of your boxes!

@eavers - DD is getting married at The Old Mill next August! It looks lovely, and I think it must be relatively cheap as DD's budget is about half of the OP's
theoldmillaldermaston.co.uk/weddings-and-receptions/

Hillfields farm outside of pangbourne is nice too. The barn for the reception is quite swanky with sunken seating area and huge fireplace.

Wow thanks so much everyone, we have a lot of places to look at now! If we can’t find a venue out of this lot then I give up!

I’ll let you all know if we book one of these!

Just looking at ones you’ve liked so far, sharing our shortlist as should tick a lot of your boxes:

Notley abbey (the most expensive on this list)
Cripps barn
Caswell house
Priston mill

And where we ended up getting married (but their people limit is 100) Almonry Barn and Muchelney Abbey next door

All very popular venues though so unsure if will have availability when you hope

Four Seasons Hampshire (it might be out of budget but it's lovely so worth a look!)

We got married at Missenden Abbey as needed somewhere with accommodation on site
The Dairy at Waddesdon Manor?

Priston Mill nr Bath is stunning

Manor by the Lake, Cheltenham is lovely too

Maunsel Estate in Somerset.

If you’d consider Sussex, Firle Place is beautiful firle.com/weddings-events/ and has a gorgeous church in the small village and a lovely local pub with rooms for guests.

We got married in Easthampstead Park with 120 for under your budget, it was gorgeous

www.eastpark.co.uk/

The royal Holloway university in egham is lovely and i have been to a few weddings there.

There are some lovely places in west Surrey, near Guildford and godalming. Gate Street Barn might be worth a look.

I would suggest speculatively emailing churches - many rural churches and even some city ones have land and halls so you could make a really bespoke event on budget as long as there was a suitable sized hotel/inn. Recently I went to such an event and it worked really well, all drinks were included too, rare these days, and she told me the total bill was £18k (not sure if this included her dress)

The oak barn in benenden, Kent. It's a new venue so they have lots of availability.

We got married on a Sunday. Most people were off work and it was a lot cheaper.

I know someone who got married at Pinewood Studios, no idea on the cost I'm afraid but it was gorgeous.

Hampden house in great Missenden is beautiful, has a lovely church a 1 minute walk away, rooms to stay in, a lovely light function room and separate bar / disco room.

Of the ones mentioned previously, I’ve been to weddings at Great Fosters and Stoke Place as well - also beautiful venues with stunning gardens and good food - and the stoke place bar is fantastic