Should I worry about having a venue which is strictly no-smoking?

If you and OH like it, book it and put the info on the invites. Smokers can then choose to do the walk or stick on a patch. Maybe some of them might even use it as an incentive to quit by! Those who really matter to you will make sure they are around at the important moments, or you could even jokingly mention it during speeches about seeing the first dance and so on.

As long as you give advance clear warning i dont think it should be a problem, the only risk as you have pointed out is that people who do may walk to designated area and be gone for a while poss missing bits of your wedding you have put a lot of work into, like the first dance, speeches, cake cutting etc especially when drinking, but why should you compromise on your wedding venue because of that, if they need it that bad or cant cope without then they will either not come or make a note of where to go, the day is about what you and h2b want and we worry far too much about other people, good luck xx

I agree - if you love it, let them sort themselves out just be sure and givethem the info in advance.

I would also get a mentuion in to remind people during speeches to try and keep it fresh in their mind as the drink starts to flow!

This thread reminded me to check the state of play at our venue - I think smoking in the gardens is OK, but wanted tio check that they had ashtrays we could take out to where we are having the afternoon for people to put the butts in!

I pErsonally wouldn't I'm a non smoker and oh is at any party we go to he's outside puffing away and I'm inside and he seems to stay outside with the rest of the smokers all night!

If it's your dream venue then I'd have it. I never considered anything about whether the venue was non-smoking or not... in fact I doubt our reception venue allowed smoking.

It might be an idea to put it on your info sheet in your invitations though, just so people are aware and can't claim that you never told them. It sounds like they may well smoke inside the grounds anyway so I'd put some ashtrays out for them, so at least there are facilities available and the ashtrays can be quickly cleared up after the day (more easily than butts on the ground).

Are the smokers the type of people to totally disregard rules when they're drunk?

OH has a few mates who would be fine with the rule till they'd had a few and then end up smoking right outside while shouting about the daft no smoking rule.

I went to a wedding in a museum a few years back, when you could still smoke indoors in pubs and stuff. Obviously the museum was non-smoking, but by around 10pm after too much alcohol I spotted a good few people smoking inside the building and getting escorted outside. The smokers I know would sneak off somewhere on the grounds and smoke, none of them would do a fifteen minute walk - especially after a bit of booze.

This is what I'm worried about!! :-/ But it honestly is sooo perfect - they don't advertise or have a website, they are just one of the listed places you can get married in in my county, so you have to do a lot of legwork to find details, and they only have 6 weddings a year there, as the castle is lived in etc, and it is just so rare and a unique venue, that I would never get anything else like it and I don't want to have to let it get away because of a few rowdy drunk smokers :/ They also have never given permission for an evening reception there before, so our wedding is going to be the first that they are allowing to carry on past 6pm and it's just such a rare opportunity to have an amazing venue.... I would just hope and pray that they wouldnt want to ruin my wedding/lose me my deposit etc, all for the sake of a few fags, but just don't know...

I am thinking of specifically speaking to a few of OH's mates who I fear could be the smoker problems, and I think they will respect everything, but it is more his uncles and people that I could not speak to and probably even OH saying something to would not make a massive difference... hopefully the behaviour of all our other family and friends will lead them into behaving correctly too but just don't know..

I'm a non smoker as is my OH, however I would have concerns about having a totally Non Smoking Venue, as some of our key people ie FMIL and FOB both smoke, previous experience of going out with them tells me that they spend most of their time outside. If the people in your party who smoke are close to your or OH I would be afraid that a group of people will spend the majority of their time 15 minutes away up the drive. I know that people have said about nicotine patches and things but for smokers I think it is more a case of habit - they have a drink and like a cigarette to go with it. I think it really depends how important the people who smoke are to your wedding - I'm sure that you would still want them to enjoy the day too. I'm not advocating smoking - personally I think its a filthy habit, but I know that if we had a venue that didn't allow smoking in the grounds MIL would miss three quarters of the day - Difficult situation, I hope you find a solution

It is awful that you are worrying over this and how some of your friends & extended family may behave. We had worries too about a few of our guests and true to form, one of them fell asleep at the public bar by 9pm...

Back to your point though. Both my OH and I are smokers and our venue was non smoking and it didn't pose us a problem. It was clearly marked around the venue and we expected everyone else to fall in line. If people want to smoke they will, there is very little you can do about it but with any luck they will act in accordance to the venues non smoking policy. At the end of the day your guests are responsible adults and therefore are responsible for their own behaviour - it should not be a reflection on you.

Unfortunately some of your guests may miss out on key aspects of your day, this is just the way it is when you have a crowd of folk and alcohol is flowing. One of our bridesmaids disappeared throughout the speeches to nip to the loo and she had a key role to play in one of them!

Please do not spend too much time worrying about this, it is your day and if people are going to spoil it for you perhaps you should reconsider their invite!

Good luck x

Personally I wouldn't book a non smoking venue it is quite odd to have non smoking grounds too. I wouldn't want people outside all evening. I think people will go without during the day but as soon as people get a few drinks down them and the evenings party vibe kicks in it will become an issue.

The refundable deposit is £500...which I suppose we can deal with losing if it comes to it.. I just really hope it doesn't :-/ I am mainly thinking about people who would smoke more after a few drinks and them possibly causing problems...I guess I'd just have to keep my fingers crossed that if they did go and do it then they would be subtle and clever enough to not get caught and put their fag ends in a beer bottle or something... I don't see how they could justify charging the £500 for fag ends on the garden though if it came to it..

It's because it is not really a 'wedding venue' as such - essentially it is a stunning castle that is owned and lived in by a man and his wife, whose caretaker and other staff all live on site too. To raise money to presumably fund the running costs, they have recently started allowing weddings when the owners are away..and ours is going to be the first wedding allowed with an evening reception... I can only presume it is the worry of the ends in the grounds that they worry about when they say no smoking all around..