Hello all,
We had our wedding booked for early April 2020 which got cancelled due to YOU KNOW WHAT. The venue we had booked into wasn't licensed so we always needed to do the legal bit in a registry office. It all got complicated when family members insisted the legal bit was the actual wedding and wanted x, y and z there, so we got married with just witnesses in a registry office to move it as far away as possible from the April wedding and put it more on 'our terms'. It was before the pandemic took off and very much a low-key affair (in jeans, no food/drink celebration after etc). We saw it as just a signing of the papers, so it was a tad gutting (and awkward) when the April wedding got cancelled and we had to reveal to friends we were actually technically married already! We did get our insurance payout through a bit of tears, sweat and pressure from the press, so we're very fortunate to be able to re-plan again.
Silver lining for planning 2.0 is that we can technically have a ceremony anywhere we want, and so we can really think outside of the box, which is where we'd love to pick your wise and well-informed brains please...
Wedding 1.0 was very much DIY, which became stressful - liaising with different suppliers, having to make our own event run sheet, intending to rely on the kindness of the groomsmen and bridesmaids for stuff on the day, hoping to do a fair bit ourselves on the day etc etc. We want to avoid that for this one. That said, the vibe we keep leaning towards lends itself to DIY (unless there are venues that have this set-up!) We would therefore be interested in having a wedding planner to manage the day, if there are no staff on site.
The vibes we are most inspired by are:
- woodland (we both love woodlands)
- camping
- yurts
- beaches
- the end of Mamma Mia style, with vine pergolas, being bare foot...
- a quirky hotel with good outdoors, a light and bright setting
Obviously a rainy weather option is needed just in case.
Food:
We'd want canapes followed by street food trucks / buffet or tapas style sharing, long tables and chairs rather than round tables. Eat The Street probably fits the bill most for this, but there is also a paella company which would work. Paella will be around £25 pp, and Eat the Street a bit less, depending on what we go for with them, We'd probably do a McDonald's deliveroo order for the late night food.
Relaxed and informal is basically the idea (although some comforts for more senior family members do need to be considered).
Location:
We live in Hampshire, but happy to go to East Sussex, West Sussex, Dorset, Devon, Somerset, outskirts of London and Wales (the last being the furthest we'd go). Maybe Cornwall, but only if there is nothing like it in any of these areas.
Budget:
Budget is absolute maximum £15,000, but looking for less, ideally. £2500 of that is already dedicated to bands which we have chosen and are a must. We have a fair bit of booze already too, plus dress and suit and lots of decorations. Obviously a venue which has accommodation can have some of the cost offset by guests staying. The 'ceremony' area is quite key as, given we played down our actual legal signing, we do want to make it quite special with readings and a more tailored celebrant's blessing.
Guest numbers and timings:
85 - 90 (there all day and night. Happy with either a one-dayer and night party or a longer wedding over a couple of days/weekend).
Venues we've looked at so far are:
Rushmere farm (Hambledon), Gilbert Oate (Selborne), Blacknest Golf (Alton), Plush Yurts (Chichester), Hayhouse Farm (Dorset), Hinton Mary Estate (North Dorset), Chidham Barn (West Sussex), East Afton (Isle of Wight - a bit of a winner but very booked up for next year), The Great Barn (Titchfield - has to stop at 11pm, but would be happy to go to a pub after and hire the upstairs, say), Victorian Barn (Dorset), Wild Whitty (Taunton) and The White Horse (Chilgrove). We have a whole spreadsheet detailing whether we'd need to hire toilets, what facilities there are, dry hire vs licensed bar etc to help compare. If we're allowed to, we're happy to put the spreadsheet up for other people looking at this sort of vibe.
(We've also looked at The Gallivant - amazing, but way out of budget, Soarmill Cove, HDV Brighton, Grand Hotel in Dorset, Seldern Barns, The Party Field, Rookesbury , Homewood Hotel and more - all out of budget and/or something not quite right for us. We've probably overwhelmed ourselves a bit in truth!)
I've seen a similar thread from 2013 about these kinds of weddings in Essex, and have reached out to the venues listed there that are still open. Hoping that some of you may know of less obvious venues that could tick. We're teachers, so needs to be school holidays (we don't really fancy going into a classroom of Year 7s on a Monday morning with a two-day hangover). Ideally during summer, but we also have the added complication of OH's family living abroad (France and Australia...!) and YOU KNOW WHAT's consequent travel restrictions. That, and everywhere getting booked up super fast.
Thank you for reading this far - peace out! x
