Venues
Stairway To Heaven
Your Venue - what makes you say " this is the one for us".
It is a merry journey to the altar to greet the partner of your dreams. Along that journey is careful thought and anticipation of all the ingredients that make the perfect day. There are many highlights and some pitfalls because no one is perfect!
At the heart of your wedding day is the wedding reception, the setting for your guests to come together and celebrate your marriage. It is the part of the wedding day, after the ceremony, that most will remember and the venue chosen certainly reflects the personality of the couple in many ways.
Here at South East Wedding magazine, we have considered the things that you need to look out for when choosing your venue and hope that together they will give you some food for thought.
Your Venue - What makes you say, `This is the one for us!`
As with all things in life, there is no substitute for getting that sudden `right` feeling and none so important as choosing the place you will entertain your guests on your wedding day. Personal appeal should not be over-rated. If you have always imagined a stunning period style hotel with a winding avenue and rolling countryside, then find something as close to this as you can. This is a day in a million, why lower your expectations? Similarly, if chic city, contemporary style is what you ideally want, then the period mansion will not satisfy you.
Luckily, the South East is blessed with a variety of hotel styles and within driving distance of where you are getting married there is something for you. Period country houses and mansions, chic city style and traditional hotels in rambling grounds are all around, so there`s a pleasant journey in store for you both.
FAMILY HISTORY
What about the family history? If you are the second of third person in your family to get married, there may be a precedent about the hotel of choice. It`s sometimes hard to run away from the expected family norm, but if the `old reliable` is not for you, then don`t do it. Think how you might feel afterwards that you just settled.If however, the family favourite ticks a lot of boxes for you both then this is the way to go. If the experiences have been good in the past, it`s unlikely to fail you this time.
LOCATION
A big part of the venue conundrum is choosing somewhere that suits guests travelling from the Bride and Groom`s side of the family. It`s often advised to pick something half way between the two camps, as it were. The main factor here is the distance from the church, or place of ceremony. If guests will be in a car for an hour and a half, then it can break up the day too much and set your schedule back for reception drinks and dinner at the hotel. As a rule of thumb, no more than 45 minutes away by car is the target as that is comfortable and easily accessible. In this case, even if some guests have meandered off the beaten track, they`ll still arrive in time for dinner.
SETTING
Setting is often spoken about in wedding brochures and its importance is worthy of mention. Take a typical Irish summer`s day, when most of you plan to get married. Rain in the morning, sunny spells followed by 25 degree searing heat, followed by rain spreading from the west! If you end up singing in the rain after you ceremony, then a charming setting at your hotel will be very important for photographs.
Key features are tended gardens, stately steps, arched doorways, pretty fireplaces, elegant hallways or rich drawing rooms. Think where will my photographs look great if winter has suddenly turned up outside! Setting is also important for that crucial first impression. If your guests arrive and feel a sense of `wow` to the occasion, then it is likely that they will be `wowed` for the rest of the day. This is because that initial first impression reflects the effort you both have put in, it reflects your personality, it reflects how you feel about your guests and, above all, the ambience of the whole occasion.
The quest for accommodation for your wedding reception can be a tricky one, particularly in the peak summer months when demand is high. Usually, hotels are very flexible in offering a pre-established number of rooms for your wedding, normally a maximum of 20, though this will vary depending on the size of the hotel in question. It`s therefore important to not only know how many rooms will be on offer, but how many of your guests are likely to need them. If you are choosing a more intimate venue, then a listing of other hotels in the area, as well as guest houses and B&Bs will be important to distribute to invitees should there be a substantial number of out-of-town guests attending.
