Venue Viewing and Honeymoon Suite

Hey, I don’t know if there is a real norm with weddings, it’s about what you and your partner want! Personally I’ve not heard of people bringing others to the initial viewings, but if it’s something you want to do then just check with the venues in advance in case they have any rules. I would imagine with something as important as venue choice, you might want to avoid giving too many people an opportunity to give their opinion before you two make your choice, unless you’re really torn between a couple of places and really want someone else to help you focus on something specific, like the practicalities or the design elements.

Regarding the honeymoon suite, again that has to be up to you - how important is that aspect of the day for you? Our venue doesn’t have accommodation so we’ve booked a room at a nearby hotel which isn’t particularly fancy but is close, so for us the logistics are more important as we know we won’t be spending much time there (less than 12 hours in fact, as we’ll be getting there late after the wedding and leaving early the next morning to get home and feed our cat!)

If we were planning on staying there for a couple of days and making more of a thing of it, it would have become more important to us and we’d have perhaps chosen somewhere a bit fancier.

We only visited one venue and my parents came along for the first visit. We did, in all fairness, need them to drive us there due to car related issues but we would have asked them to come anyway. I feel having bridesmaids there as well could be a logistical nightmare or add too many opinions to the mix - I would probably only ask them along to a second visit if I was completely unsure where to pick!

I don't think the honeymoon suite really matters if you are only in it on the night of the wedding. If you will be staying in it the night before (I will be, then my new husband will join me after the wedding) you may just want to check that it has enough space for everyone to get ready, decent lighting for the makeup artist and the photographer etc. If it isn't suitable, but you really love the venue, you could look into other places nearby to stay.

Thanks ladies! We had a chat and definitely don't want to be muddying the waters with too many opinions, though at least the two of us seem to be on similar wavelengths with the thoughts on each venue. Regarding the hineymoon suite, after viewing another place at weekend which had a lovely honeymoon suite, I realised that we can't have it all, and as said above, we won't be in it much longer!

Much more important would be the venue itself and a decent bride/groom prep room. A nice honeymoon suite can always be somewhere else as a treat after the big day.....any excuse to keep the celebration going ha!