A while ago I blogged that we'd found our venue, Syon House. I was avidly awaiting its opening day of 2 April so I could book, and begging the event staff for the 2013 prices so I could put it in my spreadsheet. 2011 prices had been £8k - steep but ok. 2012 were £7k as they needed to fix the roof. I thought I could cope with a 5-10% increase in costs and continued planning merrily.
So I wasn't expecting the bitch-slap of a £10k price tag. That's a whopping 25% increase in a recession and with nothing extra to show for it. I cried. I literally closeted myself in a room at work when I saw the website (funnily enough I never got the call about the new prices) and bawled down the phone at my fiance and mother.
I have since regrouped. And guess what - we're looking at venues again. Huzzah. We've already looked at Eltham Palace (nice but cold and a weird mix of Tudor and Art Deco) and are off to Nonsuch Mansion this weekend. I've basically bitten the bullet and started looking outside of London to find a venue. We'll just use the money we'd save by hiring a coach to drive our London friends to and from the venue! I'm still not sure how I feel about it all, but what will be will be.
It's frustrating to have your plan wiped out by a number, and even more frustrating to have to change your idea of your perfect wedding. So much of wedding planning is about compromise - and sometimes you have to compromise on your dream location.
Showing posts with label venues. Show all posts
Showing posts with label venues. Show all posts
Thursday, 9 February 2012
Tuesday, 30 August 2011
Venue elation!
I was sceptical when my friend told me that, much like the dress, you will just know your venue when you visit it. We'd seen several 'never in a million years' venues, one good venue and one exceptional venue. Both of these of course had their drawbacks - the good venue, while affordable, had ugly 'rainy day' rooms and was slightly cramped, the other was so, SO expensive I was thinking of selling things to afford it. To be honest, with the latter I thought I loved it so hard that I would do anything. I was so wrong.
We went to Syon House yesterday to have a look, after the nice man at Kew Gardens told us it was the only venue he'd seen to rival Kew. It's astonishing. It has a beautiful ceremony room that has ancient statues surround it, which is perfect. The 'rainy day' rooms are stunning. The drinks courtyard is just delightful and the reception venue is a huge conservatory that looks amazing when lit up. And all for around £3k less than Kew and £4k more than Pembroke Lodge, so it's still on the expensive side but definitely more affordable.
The thing that really sold us was the fact that they refuse to allow their caterers to charge for corkage as they think it's a rip off. I mean, talk about integrity! The venue has it in spades. Plus, it has so much of its own decoration that you really don't have to go overboard, so no chair covers, no elaborate flower arrangements, just two pedastal arrangements and the table decorations - that's it. The lights in the conservatory are colour-changeable and your function manager will organise that for you. What could be better?
Interestingly, they start taking bookings for the next year on the first Monday of April, in person. It's a good system that means you get a flurry of bookings and then can see where you stand. We thought the people and the location were wonderful and we're looking forward to booking with them.
We went to Syon House yesterday to have a look, after the nice man at Kew Gardens told us it was the only venue he'd seen to rival Kew. It's astonishing. It has a beautiful ceremony room that has ancient statues surround it, which is perfect. The 'rainy day' rooms are stunning. The drinks courtyard is just delightful and the reception venue is a huge conservatory that looks amazing when lit up. And all for around £3k less than Kew and £4k more than Pembroke Lodge, so it's still on the expensive side but definitely more affordable.
The thing that really sold us was the fact that they refuse to allow their caterers to charge for corkage as they think it's a rip off. I mean, talk about integrity! The venue has it in spades. Plus, it has so much of its own decoration that you really don't have to go overboard, so no chair covers, no elaborate flower arrangements, just two pedastal arrangements and the table decorations - that's it. The lights in the conservatory are colour-changeable and your function manager will organise that for you. What could be better?
Interestingly, they start taking bookings for the next year on the first Monday of April, in person. It's a good system that means you get a flurry of bookings and then can see where you stand. We thought the people and the location were wonderful and we're looking forward to booking with them.
Monday, 1 August 2011
Er, is there a payment plan?
We saw Kew Gardens on Saturday. Oh. My. God. It's possibly the prettiest wedding venue we've seen so far, and also - of course - the most expensive. Three times as expensive, to be precise, and it doesn't include things such as furniture, plates or glassware for the reception as other venues can do.
If you had a budget of £30k+, I would highly recommend it, especially for Spring/Summer weddings. The flowers in bloom with their smells, the wildlife roaming around (lots of geese) and the light in the glass Conservatory would be truly memorable. I can imagine even rainy days being highly romantic.
I can also imagine feeling fairly upset that you couldn't afford such a gorgeous place! No wonder it is completely unbooked for the month we were looking at - in contrast to Pembroke Lodge.
You really have to ask what is included in the price at the venues you look at - and always ask if the price includes VAT. We thought Kew wasn't SO bad - until we realised that VAT added an extra £3k to the price!
If you had a budget of £30k+, I would highly recommend it, especially for Spring/Summer weddings. The flowers in bloom with their smells, the wildlife roaming around (lots of geese) and the light in the glass Conservatory would be truly memorable. I can imagine even rainy days being highly romantic.
I can also imagine feeling fairly upset that you couldn't afford such a gorgeous place! No wonder it is completely unbooked for the month we were looking at - in contrast to Pembroke Lodge.
You really have to ask what is included in the price at the venues you look at - and always ask if the price includes VAT. We thought Kew wasn't SO bad - until we realised that VAT added an extra £3k to the price!
Sunday, 17 July 2011
A change of plans?
We should be done with our viewing of venues by the end of August - too many venues and not enough weekends, I'm afraid. It doesn't help that the Hurlingham Club won't let you visit it during the weekend, which basically means we can't really see it - strangely enough, we work when they say they need us to see it.
Pembroke Lodge was lovely though - and is causing a potential change of plans as they have no dates left for 2012 - so we are now thinking of possibly getting hitched in 2013. I'm not really happy about that year - I have a weird thing about odd years - but on the plus side, it means no Olympics interference!
Pembroke Lodge was lovely though - and is causing a potential change of plans as they have no dates left for 2012 - so we are now thinking of possibly getting hitched in 2013. I'm not really happy about that year - I have a weird thing about odd years - but on the plus side, it means no Olympics interference!
Tuesday, 5 July 2011
More venue blues
So it seems that the Roof Gardens in Kensington have a Private Member's Club on Friday and Saturday evenings, meaning you have to leave the venue by 5pm. This definitely does not work for us, but it's good information to know. So that means our list now looks like:
One WhiteHall PlaceParkstead House- Grove House
- Pembroke Lodge
- Hurlingham Club
- Kew Gardens
Rooftop Gardens in Kensington
Monday, 4 July 2011
Venue blues
My other half and I went to see a couple of venues this weekend to kick off the great venue hunt. One was a hotel/private club in the middle of London and one was a Grade II home on the edge of Richmond Park. The latter was the one I had fallen in love with from the photos.
They both sucked.
The mid-London one had a lovely coordinator and lots of space, but the decor was very old, dark, traditional and there would be a lot of to-ing and fro-ing for our guests. We want there to be more of a meander in our reception, rather than up and down a lot of steps.
The second one - well, it was on the grounds of a university and unfortunately you couldn't ignore the concrete and glass monstrosity facing you everywhere you turned. The other consideraton was the price was only for venue hire. I mean - no PA system, no tables, no chairs, nothing. You got staff and the venue and you had to wrap up by 11.30pm.
So far, so bad. We have another one to see next weekend then we go on holiday and have some more in August. I'm happy to compromise on various things but I think when you are both looking at each other with 'ergh' eyes and finding it hard to envision your wedding in that room, it's probably best to cross that one off your list.
They both sucked.
The mid-London one had a lovely coordinator and lots of space, but the decor was very old, dark, traditional and there would be a lot of to-ing and fro-ing for our guests. We want there to be more of a meander in our reception, rather than up and down a lot of steps.
The second one - well, it was on the grounds of a university and unfortunately you couldn't ignore the concrete and glass monstrosity facing you everywhere you turned. The other consideraton was the price was only for venue hire. I mean - no PA system, no tables, no chairs, nothing. You got staff and the venue and you had to wrap up by 11.30pm.
So far, so bad. We have another one to see next weekend then we go on holiday and have some more in August. I'm happy to compromise on various things but I think when you are both looking at each other with 'ergh' eyes and finding it hard to envision your wedding in that room, it's probably best to cross that one off your list.
Our potential venues
To help people understand what kind of criteria for venues we're looking at and how you need to be tough, I thought I'd share our list.
Our criteria was:
That's seven places and I'm really hoping one of them is the one for us - otherwise it's back to the drawing board and we'll have to compromise on something. They encompass varying types of weddings, from packages to real DIY opportunities.
Our criteria was:
- In or near London so no extended travelling for guests
- All in one location, so ceremony and reception in the same place
- Space enough for 120 people
- Somewhere a bit modern or different
That's seven places and I'm really hoping one of them is the one for us - otherwise it's back to the drawing board and we'll have to compromise on something. They encompass varying types of weddings, from packages to real DIY opportunities.
Venue search - questions
You might not know anything about your wedding - whether it's going to be big, small, buffet style, sit down, civil ceremony or in a church - but you know you need to start looking for a venue.
Venues can get booked up far in advance, especially if you are doing the 'wedding season' - May to September - so you should start looking early. We're looking around 14 months before when we want to get married, because venues in or around London for over 100 guests are scarce.
When you do start looking (I tended to find a lot of the venues on my list through Hitched, Wedding Venues and Find a Wedding Venue), you may want to have a handy list of questions to ask when you go to look at the venue.
I tend to find that these questions fall into various categories:
Venue availability and the rooms: check when it's available and what areas/rooms are available. Find out the maximum and minimum number of guests, where they can put their coats and if there's a room handy for kids or the band/DJ to eat or get ready in. Also ask if you need to set up the room yourself and whether there's rooms for guests to stay in and especially a room for the bride and groom to get ready in.
Venue price: check what's included in the price, if it's ex-VAT, what the deposit timings are, if there are different prices for different months/days and whether they have any wedding packages that can be tailored. Also find out the cancellation and postponement policy - sounds like tempting fate, but it's better safe than sorry.
Decorations and entertainment: ask whether you can have confetti/fireworks/naked flames, or if there's anything you absolutely cannot have, ask about lighting and PA systems, look at the space for a dnace floor/band/DJ/bar, check what time the bar has to close, check what time the music must stop or if there's volume considerations, check if the venue supplies things like cake stands and knives, chair covers, table linen, table numbers and place cards and a table seating chart. Some do, some don't and the economy is something you need to consider.
Suppliers and food: ask for a preferred list, ask what they do in house as it might be cheaper and you can negotiate a deal, ask when you can have a food and wine tasting, see if they will cater for special dietary needs and if you can change something within a set package. Also ask if they have any deals with local taxi firms and if your photographer can look round the venue before your big day.
Venues can get booked up far in advance, especially if you are doing the 'wedding season' - May to September - so you should start looking early. We're looking around 14 months before when we want to get married, because venues in or around London for over 100 guests are scarce.
When you do start looking (I tended to find a lot of the venues on my list through Hitched, Wedding Venues and Find a Wedding Venue), you may want to have a handy list of questions to ask when you go to look at the venue.
I tend to find that these questions fall into various categories:
Venue availability and the rooms: check when it's available and what areas/rooms are available. Find out the maximum and minimum number of guests, where they can put their coats and if there's a room handy for kids or the band/DJ to eat or get ready in. Also ask if you need to set up the room yourself and whether there's rooms for guests to stay in and especially a room for the bride and groom to get ready in.
Venue price: check what's included in the price, if it's ex-VAT, what the deposit timings are, if there are different prices for different months/days and whether they have any wedding packages that can be tailored. Also find out the cancellation and postponement policy - sounds like tempting fate, but it's better safe than sorry.
Decorations and entertainment: ask whether you can have confetti/fireworks/naked flames, or if there's anything you absolutely cannot have, ask about lighting and PA systems, look at the space for a dnace floor/band/DJ/bar, check what time the bar has to close, check what time the music must stop or if there's volume considerations, check if the venue supplies things like cake stands and knives, chair covers, table linen, table numbers and place cards and a table seating chart. Some do, some don't and the economy is something you need to consider.
Suppliers and food: ask for a preferred list, ask what they do in house as it might be cheaper and you can negotiate a deal, ask when you can have a food and wine tasting, see if they will cater for special dietary needs and if you can change something within a set package. Also ask if they have any deals with local taxi firms and if your photographer can look round the venue before your big day.
Tuesday, 28 June 2011
A little giggle to start this off
I love finding out what is important to people when they are searching for a venue. Two things I have read recently have made me laugh and think about how much time and money we spend on weddings to make them grandiose when perhaps we should be looking at the more intimate and personal details.
One was a little sentence in a wedding magazine recently that suggested people throw confetti at the end of the ceremony as it makes a "great budget replacement for a firework display" - as if firework displays were the norm in weddings now. They might be more popular, but so far I haven't been to one with fireworks - well, outside ones at least!
The other is in the top questions to ask your venue (I'll be posting on this later) from Hitched.co.uk where the last one read:
Is this really one of the top questions to ask your venue? Really? Because so many of us are hiring helicopters to leave by during this recession.
Made me giggle, anyway.
One was a little sentence in a wedding magazine recently that suggested people throw confetti at the end of the ceremony as it makes a "great budget replacement for a firework display" - as if firework displays were the norm in weddings now. They might be more popular, but so far I haven't been to one with fireworks - well, outside ones at least!
The other is in the top questions to ask your venue (I'll be posting on this later) from Hitched.co.uk where the last one read:
"Do you have landing permission should we want a helicopter to whisk us away after the evening reception?"
Is this really one of the top questions to ask your venue? Really? Because so many of us are hiring helicopters to leave by during this recession.
Made me giggle, anyway.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)