Nottingham wedding venue advice needed!!!

Hi I live in Nottingham. You seem to have identified the mainstream venues, although have you looked at Rufford Abbey?

I'm not clear about your budget - there are so many other expenses as well as the venue and food. Perhaps it would help you to look at the costs of the other things so that you can work out your total budget.

I got married at the council house in the market square. Obviously no outdoor space but it is an amazing venue providing a wonderful backdrop for photos. They are very helpful and it is surprisingly affordable. Google images and you'll get an idea. Our wedding cost approx £7k total. There was 129 of us.

One of the ways of reducing costs is by getting married later in the day so you only have to feed people once. Not all venues will be amenable to this though at they make a huge profit on food.

Another venue you could consider is Clawson Lodge, in Carrington. It is a beautiful building but the function room is a modern extension. The gardens and building would be great for photos and again is very affordable and flexible - you can use your own caterers.

At the end of the day you have to decide what is absolutely essential for you and what you're willing to compromise on. That along with deciding on your total budget will help you narrow your choices down. Good Luck.

We almost had our wedding at Rufford Mill, Rufford Abbey. Its a beautiful room set in the amazing park grounds. In the end when we did our list there were more cons than pros for us for this venue but it is lovely.

We were quoted £5k for all day incl food for £90 guests. A great price if you ask me.

Does it have to be in Nottingham? Could you look further afield to Derby (where I am from)?

Places like Alfreton Hall, Risley Hall, Ringwood Hall (my venue!) are all well within your budget and beautiful.

We too loved the look of Swan Carr, it was my first choice when we started looking, but similar to you it worked out far too expensive. We eventually decided on The Walled Garden at Beeston Fields, which for us was perfect for everything we wanted, the gardens are stunning. We got married on Friday, and I honestly cannot praise the staff enough, and the food was amazing! Our videographer does a lot of weddings at dodmoor house in Northampton, and has a lot of his highlight videos on his website if you want a look www.amazingdayz.co.uk. He's also done a wedding at swan Carr and the carriage hall, I know those videos are on there too.

I got married at Woodborough Hall and it was wonderful. They often have Groupon too and as a groupon bride I can wholeheartedly recommend it

The one that springs to mind for me is Castle Donington Park Farmhouse, on the Leicestershire Notts border.

I have a whole gallery of my past weddings there on my website.

If you are after a traditional barn, have you thought of contacting any farmers to hire one of their barns on a working farm for your wedding reception? Looking outside of what is already being advertised as a wedding venue may lower the cost. You would obviously have to do more of the work yourselves such as hiring caterers, tables and chairs, plates and cutlery, toilets and decorating from scratch but this is not different to if you were having a marquee on private land and will definitely be unique and allow you the outside space you are after and be able to create a day which is individual to you.

Thank you all so much :-) we originally said 10k in total! My sister is getting married at the town hall so want somewhere different. I just want a fab day that doesn't cost the earth. I think we are going to stick with the carriage hall and the Sunday you just have a min spend on food and drink and don't pay for the venue so would be 6500 for 80 guests what do you think about that? :-)

Id have a look at the farm house in castle donnington. ive just been to a wedding there and it was lovely.

my venue doesnt suite what your looking for but i think the farmhouse was really nice

It may sound super fussy but I didn't like the metal bars going along in the old pig sty x

That can be mostly overcome by fully including it in your colour scheme like these, the bar is over on the left just infront of the top table.

Hi! I'm Nottingham based too. We are getting married at Stubton Hall which isn't barn like at all! However one of my friends is getting married at Manorial Barn in Rotherham and it is very rustic as you described. A bit further north for you but may be worth a look? It has been VERY budget friendly for her (around £800 venue fee) and you can have any caterers you like so you have control over the budget!

http://www.manorialbarnwhiston.co.uk/

I would also say wherever you decide haggle! We managed to get our quote down quite a bit by haggling and swoppig things around a bit. I loved our venue so much i was willing to skip some things like canapes and the starter to get it in budget and they were more than happy to accommodate.

x

We have a date saved at the carriage hall! The venue hire is free on a Sunday with a minimum spend of 5500 on food and drink excluding the bar. I didn't haggle though?! Maybe we could have got a more expensive venue that we thought was out of price range and haggled?