Venue Visit Order

I would go with the fave first as if you do the other one first you won't be objective as the fave will be in the back of your mind

Try and see them as close together as you can, within a few days, and write pro and con lists on each visit but as excited as you may be for your fave, keep a clear head. Make sure you ask questions about what is and isn't included as the costs can add up when you have to pay for extras like decor, tables, chairs, plates, cutlery, cake stand food, drink, DJ etc.
If looking at food and drink packages for set numbers be sure it is the right sized package for you and you willeet the minimum guest numbers or you could pay for more than you need and also see what happens he costs are for each element as it can be cheaper to build your own package. Same for additional guests numbers, get the pricing and work out the costs for your numbers.
Take a week to weigh it all up and sit down and methodically go through your list, think of logistics for the day for you and your guests if travel is involved and if they need hotels are there good selection near by.
Once you have formed the one and have a date in mind ask the venue to hold your date for a couple of weeks as you will need to check the registrar is available for your date and time and reserve them before you book and sign for a venue or you could end up with a venue but not actually be able to marry if no registrar available.
Good luck, am sure you will make the best decision, from experience though makes sure it is a considered one and don't rush

I agree with everything Charlotte has said and it’s certainly a decision not to rush. Enjoy the process as they say, as this is the fun bit.


I would get your favourite seen to first, but any others lined up shortly after. We managed to do 5 venues in 2 days, but it was quite mentally taxing as they were a little spread out, so lots of driving in between.
We prepped by writing out every question we could think of (Hitched has a good list for a starting point) and then after we saw each venue (literally sat in the car in the car park), I wrote out all the answers before I forgot them.
My favourite beforehand was almost an instant no when we got there, so be prepared to see more venues. The one we chose felt completely right when we saw it, answered all our questions and when we reviewed them all as comparisons after the 2 days of touring them all, stood out as the best choice, so we were triply certain that’s where we wanted to get married.
Hope you have fun with it, and remember to enjoy the experience! Best of luck!

Excellent advice above! If you can, I'd suggest having a good chat and writing down what's really important to you before going anywhere - it can be easy to be dazzled by a beautiful venue, but it's important to consider whether it meets your practical and priority needs as you walk around. One of the key things that formed our decision was to meet as many staff as you can and see staff in action (it's the people who work there who make a venue run smoothly no matter how attractive it may be). We actually stayed overnight in 2 of our 3 considered venues and went for a meal at the restaurant in the 3rd choice. It was the staff and then the quality of service they gave us during our visit that made our minds up in the end, everyone from the cleaners, bar staff and onsite coordinator were so welcoming, flexible and couldn't do enough at our chosen venue - knowing the right people will look after you is a big consideration. Enjoy finding your venue! x

I think always go in open minded! I wrote a long list of venues, and didn’t exactly rule any out except the ones way out of our budget or not our style (like hotels or halls). I wrote them down based on distance. We viewed the ones closest to us that we liked and extended out gradually. Funnily enough, the one venue I had my heart set on way before we was even engaged, we actually hated!


We both loved two separately but could found faults in each of the venues but felt they were both ‘the one’ separately. Somebody told me to look at every one of the list and we did so we could try find some thing we both liked equally as much. The next one we viewed was the one, no faults whatsoever, loved it instantly despite not even liking it that much online. So keep looking, you’ll know when you know! You might surprise yourselves like we did! Good luck xx

We viewed our favourite first and it was soulless! Luckily the 2nd venue was the one and we fell in love! X