"Our reasoning was the people who are important to us and we want there, will come. Those who we aren’t that fussed about will be the ones who might not be willing or able to travel/take time off work. I was worrying too much about other people but I’ve tried to remember that this is OUR wedding and we should do what WE want instead of trying to make everyone happy and there’s nothing we can do that will please everyone."
Sorry but that's rather arrogant. Your wedding is important to you, somewhat important perhaps to those VERY close to you but to many is likely neither here nor there. A wedding (contrary to many on mns opinion) is NOT only about the bride and groom unless you do a traditional elopement.
You're hosting an event to which the attendees are GUESTS which you do have to consider their needs to a degree.
Yes you can choose this venue on a Monday, and that is your choice BUT invitees do NOT have to attend and the reality is with this set up many will decline.
I'm wondering how fussy you're being with venues that you're finding most have a minimum number of guests for weekend dates, I'm guessing you're mainly if not exclusively looking at places like hotels that have very prescriptive ways of dealing with weddings. These aren't the only possible venues.
"There’s a lot of time to sort that with employers but is it a lot to ask of people?" Yes! Peoples annual leave is limited and those who don't get paid leave this is a huge ask! Even at minimum wage you're asking them to essentially "spend" approx £130 per person just on that to attend your wedding.
Plus hotel costs, plus possible childcare considerations...
All this is why Saturday in a venue local to the bride, groom and their loved ones is the traditional choice that many still opt for.
As has been said on here before about certain types of weddings your talk of your budget equates to really you're pushing the cost onto your guests rather than paying it yourselves.
What is your budget roughly? And location? Again roughly, in all likelihood an mner or even several will know of possible venues to suit.
I used to work in the industry and I've been to loads of all kinds of weddings.
Honestly the worst/least atmospheric was one in a very posh hotel that had been planned for 5 years to the nth degree, was very prescriptive and the majority of the mainly working class guests frankly felt out of place and judged by the staff! It just fell completely flat.
The best was a traditional church + village hall affair with a retro buffet and very cheesy disco, held on a Saturday on a bank holiday weekend. Absolute blast.
And it wasn't the posh v not posh that made the difference, it was the expectations of the couples, the first couple became overly concerned with details, everything being "picture perfect" and trying to impress a certain few guests (his work colleagues), the 2nd couple just wanted to celebrate their marriage with the people they loved and for everyone to have a good time and feel welcome.
Friday or even Thursday evening wedding would be better, and widen your ideas on possible venues.
I do think it's possible you basically "googled" "wedding venues in X location" and have been looking at those venues (and remember they pay to be higher up on the "hits" too, to be covered in magazines, online articles etc if not directly then by offering incentives to those writing the articles, it's an incredibly competitive business because frankly not as many couples marry now as in previous generations)
Think "outside the box" and consider other less obvious venues if you're on a tight budget.
And as pp have said consider out of peak wedding season (June - August) too which tends to be most expensive.
Is there a particular need for the wedding to occur soon? Can you delay and save more?
Weddings can be done very frugally or very expensively, makes little difference to the guests, length of marriage or how happy the day is.
That's another thing to remember, it's one day, that's all, it's not more important beyond that and it's essentially for the guests a party. You and your fiancé attach more importance to it for obvious reasons but it is just one day.
Expecting guests to use up more annual leave than is absolutely necessary, possibly lose pay, pay for overnight stays, childcare costs, then all the other associated costs of being a guest which isn't cheap is actually a pretty big ask.