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Hi, congratulations!

I know, I was the same, I'd never dreamt of my wedding etc but it doesn't take long to get in to it, believe me!

First off, have a sit down with your OH and discuss areas you would like to get married i.e near your home or near a special place you both share etc. I live in Birmingham but the Lake District has always been somewhere me and my OH have loved visiting and it is special to us, so we are getting married up there.

Then discuss types of venues you might like. You could have a bit of a Google together and have a look at things like barns, hotels, church's, village halls for reception, register offices etc to see what styles of venue you like. That might help to narrow the search down. Then google chosen types of venue in your chosen area (or multiple types of venue in multiple areas if undecided) and book to go visit them. Once you've been to a few, you are more likely to know what floats your boat and what doesn't. Hope this helps.

Hi!

We're in East London too, so here's my list of all the venues we considered (and some thoughts):

PS Elizabethan - a paddle steamer on the Thames - Love it! This is the one we booked
The Barbican Conservatory - this was our second favourite, we nearly booked it
The Orbit in the Olympic Park - we loved this but we felt the people running it weren't organised enough
Clissold House, Stoke Newington - lovely but a bit too small for us
Chandos House - bit too posh!
Devonshire Terrace - another nice one
The London Museum of Water & Steam - a bit far away (Kew)
HMS President - new paint job is ugly
HMS Belfast - fiance vetoed because of the guns
Kensington Roof Gardens - not available on Saturdays
Sutton House - lovely but too small
William Morris Gallery - lovely but too small
Devonport House - we decided we didn't want a hotel

I hope that helps! Maybe google some of these and see what you think. It might be that you don't like any, but if you think about why you don't like them it might point you in the direction of something that is right for you.

Thank you and yes, everyone we know (who is invited!) lives in the midlands so everyone will be travelling up. We thought long and hard about it and knew we'd have a bit of grumbling about it but we thought we would put ourselves first for once! If people want to be there, they will. And most people are treating it as a nice weekend away and are looking forward to it.

Hope you find a venue soon x

I used to live in E London, I would suggest looking at Canary Wharf - some lush venues there or even essex, they have tons of nice golf courses etc.

No problem! I'm glad it might help. Our wedding is the 10th September, this year. All we've arranged so far is the venue and the photographer - I thought we were doing ok but a lot of people on here are way further ahead!

This is probably obvious but don't necessarily book the first place you see - we viewed the Barbican Conservatory first, and loved it, and very, very nearly booked it without seeing anywhere else at all. We ended up going to view the boat because TLC Charters were having an open day, and we thought we'd check them out just in case. Well, we ended up loving the PS Elizabethan so much it jumped into first place. We didn't end up seeing anywhere else after that - all the rest of the opinions I gave above just come from viewing their websites (well, apart from the Orbit, I had a long email conversation with them and was unimpressed, which was a shame, as it would have been great).

Good luck with the search - and do let us know when you pick somewhere!

I wouldn't worry about the guests travelling aspect. Think of how many weddings you've probably had to travel for and I bet most of the time that's been part of the fun.

What I would say is we live in Surrey and weren't sure where to start in terms of location but I'm really glad we opted for a venue that is only half an hour's drive away from where we love. This has made visiting the venue really easy and sorting out things with suppliers like florists and hair and makeup etc. It's definitely avoided a bit of stress.

we just picked a few localish venues that caught our eye and visited them and it soon really helped us narrow down what we liked/didn't like and we booked the third venue we visited.

good luck and enjoy! X

Firstly congratulations!!

i would ask both of you these questions before deciding where

1. how far did you want the venue to be from most of your guests? if they all live all over the country choose how far from the closest family eg grandparents or parents

2. What type of wedding are you after? Church, stately home, barn, hotel or something more quirky eg zoo

3. A realistic budget

once you have decided those things start your search, book a few viewings, write a list of qus to take with you and when you get home write pros and cons per venue and before booking anything have a second viewing unless your 100% set

i would ask qus such as wheelchair access if you have anyone in a wheelchair, where toilets are, can you use your own suppliers or do they have set caterers etc, do they have a supplier recommendations list (always handy), do they know where nearest hotel is if required for guests etc etc. I would take a list as it's easy to walk into a venue and fall in love without asking anything! We did this but ended up marrying abroad but we got a lot of this advice from bridal magazines, websites and hitched as well as personal experience. Enjoy every second! Also if your venue has wedding fairs go to them as they often have their recommended suppliers there

Yay, congratulations and welcome to the world of wedding planning! Budgeting is very tricky at the beginning because you have no idea how much everything costs and it can all start to look a bit scary. Try to work up a rough budget based on what the average costs of things are and then see which venues might fall into your budget. A website that I used to book my venue was: www.wedding-venues.co.uk It has lots of different types of venues on there, barns and country houses, castles and river side places. There's so many options these days so it can get a bit overwhelming. Before you go to see any venues, work up a quick guest list of how many people you'd like for the day and evening, and just have a figure in mind before you start visiting the venues. This becomes important when booking the venues, because sometimes they can't accommodate all the guests you'd like, or actually they're not licensed for over X amount of guests (for the ceremony). In addition, some venues have minimum numbers too! So having a figure in mind is very important. Also, if you have a date in mind, be flexible and it could save you lots of money. If you're willing to have an off peak (often wintery months) or mid-week wedding, you could halve your venue and catering costs. So just keep that in mind! Hope that helps.

Hi J! Welcome to the wedding planning forum!

You know what? It's not as hard as you think! Even B2Bs who have been thinking about their wedding day since they were about 15 struggle when they're faced with, "it's actually going to happen".

Getting the venue is defiantly the first step, as booking it will obviously give you the date of your wedding! This is where you need to use your weekends wisely, get a shortlist of all the venues in your area that tickle your fancy and give them a call! Speaking to their event planner over the phone will reveal much more to you about the place and their hospitality than any e-mail ever could.

You can visit two or three venues in one day if you group them by location! It feels like you don't know what you want now, but you'll be an expert in no time once you get looking around!

I just wrote a little blog article yesterday about starting to plan a wedding: http://www.clickclackphoto.co.uk/planning-your-dream-wedding-in-surrey/

Here's another post about finding your identity as a bride: http://www.clickclackphoto.co.uk/unique-wedding/

I hope they are of use to you!

All the best, Mark.

Like the others have said work out what is important for your special day and your budget then work out venues e.g. a relaxed country feel wedding tends to lean towards barn or marquee in the countryside.

Don't forget to take into account if having a non C of E wedding then you will need to be "resident" in that county/location for 8 days prior to giving notice and you need to provide proof of this either a letter or hotel/accommodation book form.

Are you sure about that? I think you just have to be in the country, not the county. You just have to contact the registrars in both the area you live and the one you're marrying in.

I didn't have to do this... I'm getting married literally just over the border of the county next to mine, and I had to give notice in the county where I live, and then book the registrar in the county where I'm getting married.

Which reminds me, just before you book your venue, make sure you book the registrar! This was recommended to us by two venues that we tried to book, they both said hold the venue, then get in touch with the registrar to make sure they have your date available, then book the venue. Otherwise you'll have a venue but no registrar

More info about how to give notice etc at the gov.uk website here: https://www.gov.uk/marriages-civil-partnerships/what-you-need-to-do

Ah sorry guys yes we live in Scotland but married in England so both had to reside for 8 days in England!