Note: This blog post is a sponsored conversation written by Lynn Smythe, the Founder and Chief Blogger for The Creative Cottage lifestyle blog. The opinions, thoughts, ideas and text are all mine.
Love is in the air! Summer is almost here and it’s time to start planning your dream wedding. After you’ve picked out the date for your wedding day one of the most important decisions is to take the time to find the perfect wedding venue to host your ceremony and reception. Take a look at wedding venues in Berkshire to find the best location at a picturesque park, golf course, or country barn.
I look back on my wedding and wish we had done something a bit more special. We ended up renting out tables and chairs from the clubhouse in our development and held the wedding in our backyard. It was a very quaint setting and I remember my mother and grandmother helped me decorate our house and backyard with tons of real and silk flowers we found at local craft stores.
It was a very small and intimate ceremony with just a few of our closest friends and family. I also made my own wedding dress that I designed from 3 different sewing patterns to get the perfect combination of style, ruffles (it was a thing back in the day) and hand-sewn pearl beads. I was once a manager at a fabric store and sewed TONS of my own clothes, curtains and other home décor items. I wish I had kept that dress, not that I would ever wear it again but it would have been fun to take a walk down memory lane and show it to my daughter now that she is an adult herself.
Find Your Dream Wedding Venue
If we had a larger budget, I would have loved to have the ceremony at Farnham Castle or another Hampshire wedding venues such as Somerley Country Estates. That way I could be PRINCESS FOR THE DAY! Looking through Surrey wedding venues I found a listing for Denbies Wine Estate, which is England’s largest vineyard with over 265 acres of grape vines in the heart of Surrey Hills with incredible views of the surrounding countryside. It sounds absolutely dreamy!
Questions to Ask
If you’re dreaming of your perfect wedding day choosing the perfect venue for the wedding and reception is extremely important. A few considerations to keep in mind include:
- What is your budget?
- How many guests do you plan to invite?
- Are you contracting with individual vendors or do you want a venue that offers a complete package deal including decorations, flowers, food and drink, seating, linens, dinnerware, valet parking and more?
- What is the parking situation like – can it accommodate all your guests? You don’t want guests to have to drive around to find suitable parking and possibly be late to the ceremony.
- Are you looking for a wedding venue that is licensed for civil ceremonies?
- If you are choosing an off the beaten path spot, do you need to find a location that can provide housing and accommodations for your guests traveling from out of town?
- Do you want a venue that includes a complimentary bridal suite so you and your bridesmaids can do their hair and makeup?
- Are you hiring an official wedding photographer and videographer or are you supplying guests with single use cameras so they can record your special day?
- Do you plan on drinks and hors d’oeuvres, buffet luncheon or formal dinner for the reception?
- Do you want a formal or casual ceremony and reception or something else?
- What kind of atmosphere are you looking for: park, beach, castle, forest, garden, city, countryside, manor home?
- Do you want the wedding and reception held in the same location?
It’s easy to get caught up in all the bells and whistles while touring potential wedding venue locations for your ceremony and reception. Print this list of questions out, and add any we forgot, and take it with you while you are shopping wedding venues.
Take notes while you are touring locations or better yet, take lots of photos or even video of each wedding venue so you can look through them after you get back home to help you pick out the perfect location for your special day. And once you’ve picked out your venue, now it’s time to make sure you get everything in writing with a contract that spells out all the details, costs, etc.
Congratulations on your upcoming wedding!
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