NICE dry hire/BYOB wedding venue SE England help!

Have you looked at Bury Court Barn (a couple of miles from Northbrook)? They let you bring your own alcohol and will probably be within budget towards the start of the year. Seems like it ticks all of the boxes for the other things you're looking for too. They have tied caterers (Jacaranda), but they're really flexible on what they can do, so sure a hog roast wouldn't be a problem.

Thank you so much, I have emailed them. I did consider Bury Court Barn as someone I know is getting married there this year. However, the catering costs did put us off somewhat. I'm going to bite the bullet and email Jacaranda as well though, to see how flexible they could be.

We have a £10k budget for everything, which can't be extended and, preferably, we'd like to come in under since any pennies saved go towards our safari honeymoon. Therefore, cutting food costs somewhere/somehow are key!

I know the feeling! We are in a similar position ... But it all seems so expensive and stressful and I just feel fed up of looking and enquiring about non package weddings ... It's frustrating that venues cater for a cookie cutter style do ... which are lovely but just not what im after!

I think you have a bigger budget than us ... What sort of south east area are you looking for as I feel I know every venue in my area! X

Well, we live in Surrey, but anywhere in the South East would be considered at this point in time!

I know exactly what you mean; everywhere offers a full package, which isn't something we want. It's nice but, like you, not what we're after!

Have you looked at gate street barn just outside of Guildford? I'm a surrey girl too, but getting married in Hampshire!

I also vote for Barn at Bury Court - this was definitely my second choice, but decided against it as they didn't have any saturdays left!

Also, there's also Rivervale Barn, which is in Hampshire but on the Surrey border really!! I've known a few people get married there and they've all said it was amazing!

Duplicate

Maybe a village hall option would be good for you then? You can have it as formal/informal as you'd like and can bring in your own suppliers. We are doing this, and the hire for the hall is probably going to be a few hundred quid, so we have budgeted 2k for food - the caterers have all their own staff so they are serving all our drinks (we are supplying the booze) and I've also hired a wedding co-ordinator to oversee everything on the day. We're pretty much sorted for having enough staff to keep everything going.

I don't really know any village halls in the south east (we're south west) but I'm sure there's loads of folks on here who could help.

Marks Hall estate in Essex. Just hire venue and the rest is up to you x

We're looking at getting "a hog roast" rather than a hog roast package, if you see what I mean. You can buy a hog roast for 200 people for £1,000 with salads and rolls. We are more than happy with this more informal approach. Cake will be pudding, with some people providing them instead of a present (we don't have a gift list). For the evening, we'll bring stuff for a buffet and a sweetie table, as will some other family members, so we'll just store it in the kitchens. With alcohol, we'll take our own and buy it gradually over the next few months out of our 'monthly salary' rather than our wedding budget (we have the wedding money in an account, so anything we can take from our normal salaries will be extra. x

EDIT:
Fortunately, there are things we can cut back on - we know a photographer, so that will be cheaper. A friend's band said they could do about and do the evening set and DJ set for £350-£400! Mum's doing our flowers, and mostly wild ones, so that will be a minimal cost. The bridesmaids are all putting in for half of their dresses and getting their own shoes. I know a singer for the ceremony who's doing it for expenses only. Only have a small 'official cutting cake' made by a friend who owns a bakery, with other cakes being brought as gifts. So, there are loads of places we're cutting back. I really do believe it's do-able if we get a venue where we have free rein.

Meant to reply to this in my other message! Just looked and Reid Rooms looks lovely!! I sent it across to my OH since everything about it looks good. I think he's hoping we can get married within Surrey, Sussex or Hampshire, but it's definitely a possibility and I'm going to save all the details. x

Gate Street Barn and the Barn at Bury Court are both absolutely lovely, but out of our price range!

Rivervale is gorgeous, we went to a wedding there earlier in the year. From what the groom hinted, I don't think it's somewhere we could afford unfortunately.

There's Taplins Place in Hampshire? Not sure of prices though I'm afraid, being Hartley Wintney there's a chance it'll be dear!

Quite a quirky suggestion, but there's a place called the 'Departure Lounge Cafe' which does weddings - though not the actual wedding on site I'm afraid, it's a cafe made into an old plane, so hardly traditional but quite a good chunk of land! I used to drive past it all the time when I was younger and living around there!

We had our reception at the Landmark Arts Centre. You can't actually have the ceremony there (we did it at Wandsworth Register Office and put on buses for our guests) but otherwise it ticks the boxes... plenty of space (we had 200 guests), room for a band, venue hire was £2.5k when we did it two years ago so is probably still just about under £3k. You can bring in your own caterers and booze. I would guess it's cheaper to hire people in to do the hog roast, than find a venue who would put it on for you.

https://www.landmarkartscentre.org/venue-hire/weddings/

Thank you so much for all your tips!! I am looking into all of your options to see if any of them might work. I'm feeling more hopeful, so thank you for all the advice so far.

I spotted the Landmark Arts Centre a couple of days ago and keep returning to the website, it looks so lovely! Thanks to your advice, I have it to my OH and hope that he thinks it's a viable option. Thank you x

There is a church next to it if you wanted a church wedding, or Richmond register office is not too far away and quite pretty (not sure how well you know the area). We went for Wandsworth due to family connections (my parents married there) plus we really like the building. Personally I wasn't keen on the register office in Norbiton.

The London rowing club in Putney has very reasonable corkage for a London venue and you can bring your own caterer for a small fee. You could definitely have a nice wedding there within your budget.

Stayed at this place few years back and owner has a big barn which can be hired out. Don't know if they cater for wedding but worth contacting them - Taylors Farm Retreat

Wow Scully you are getting a good deal! I am getting married at the reid rooms too! ( I think we have spoken on here before). Can I ask what caterer you are using? Is it one of their recommended suppliers?

The Reid Rooms has an open day tomorrow- you can just turn up for a viewing I think

I am getting married on the 26th of July.

I had a look on Amaze in tastes website, but am struggling to find wedding menus? Just lots about canapes.

Magpies is expensive and I completely agree with you about Chicks - I didnt fancy anything on their sample menus- I think that we want a 3 course affair, possibly with a buffet in the middle.

Last week I went to a wedding fayre and met a lady from the "golden whisk" she seemed lovely and quite reasonable.

Absolutely gutted that the Landmark Arts Centre is fully booked next year. It looked perfect for us and the woman who responded said they could have catered for our requirements. I've asked her to let me know if any dates come free (postponements, etc).

Back to the drawing board and feeling really disheartened with it all. x

Hi! Not sure if you ever found anywhere but there's a stunning new marquee venue in Petersfield, Hampshire.. sounds idea!