Choosing a venue

One of the biggest decisions brides and grooms to be will make (apart from the bride’s decision re. the dress of course!!) will be the venue. Following much humming and hawing as to which country we’d get married in (either the UK or Ireland) G and I finally decided that London was perhaps the best location for us and we set about researching our venue.

The first step in our search was to set out our list of requirements:

1. The ceremony and reception venue would ideally be in one place
2. The venue must be somewhere in London easily accessible by train/tube
3. A late license until at least 1am. Irish people are known to party hard at weddings and it was important for us that the venue would not kick everyone out at 11am just as the party was getting started!
4. We can bring in our own champagne and wine for little or no corkage
5. There must be accommodation at the venue or close by for family and friends to stay
6. Ideally it would be an exclusive venue so there would be no other people there other than our wedding guests.

That’s not too much to ask for is it? Hmmm, well apparently so! After discounting those venues out of our budget (of which there were many!) we were left with a very depleted list of possibles. So we’ve spent the last week darting around London checking out our short list. We’ve seen some fantastic venues and others which certainly left a lot to the imagination. But so far there is one clear favorite that ticks a lot of boxes. The only requirement it doesn’t meet (and the least important in my view) is that its not licensed for civil ceremonies. But the nearest registry office looks really nice and is just a short hop from the venue. We’re getting catering, equipment hire and staff quotes for the reception at the moment so if it all looks like its coming in on budget then fingers crossed we can confirm it later this week. Eeeek…I’m excited but nervous!

But being the superstitious kind I’m not going to shout from the hilltops just yet and will keep its identity under wraps until we officially book it. However, I will give you a sneak preview...