Be Realistic and Agree A Wedding Reception Venue Budget That You Can Afford.

There is no point seeking out a venue that incorporates a castle, cliffs and sandy beaches if you live in the city and you are on a small budget. It is very important to keep your wedding dreams in line with what you can afford. This will save a lot of arguments when planning the wedding and a lot of debt after you are married! But that doesn't mean you can't still have your dream wedding. There are ideal venues to suite all budgets and all tastes.

Who is Coming to the Wedding?

Planning your guest list can be a tiring and frustrating chore or a fun activity depending on your budget and how well everyone you know gets along. Once you've ironed out all the family politics of who should come and who shouldn't, your wedding guest list should be based on your total wedding reception budget. Your budget includes the reception venue, meals, drinks and any overnight accommodation. There may be other ‘hidden' charges re the venue too, so do be sure to add a little extra to your wedding budget for those.

Where Should the Wedding Reception Venue Be?

Once you know who is attending you can decide where best to have a wedding reception. If you have friends and family dispersed around the UK or even the globe, you might be reluctant to hold your wedding reception locally instead preferring a wedding reception venue that is accessible by airport, rail and motorways. This is to ensure your guests are able to make it to your wedding with the minimum of fuss and expense. If you do opt for a local venue, consider how the people you want to invite will travel there and where they might stay. You might need to include details on invites regarding travel, transport, direction, and nearby hotels etc.
Mean while do not forget to consider how you and those immediately around you will attend the wedding if the venue is out of town. Can they afford to travel, book hotels and so on?

What Type of Wedding Reception Venue Do You Want?

You might be happy for your partner to have the ultimate say on reception venues or vice versa. This makes finding a venue a little easier. However if you both want a say and you do not agree on theme, style, budget etc, compromise and arguments lie ahead unless you find a fun way of deciding on the ideal venue for your wedding.
Each of you (bride and groom to be) should each make two lists. One list stating the features of your ideal wedding reception venue and the other saying what you'd really NOT like in a venue. Requirements should be listed in order of importance as this will help when it comes to compromising later on. You can perhaps both agree to ‘lose' item ‘4' and so on.

When is the Wedding – Set the Date After You've Found the Venue!

You can't book a wedding reception venue without knowing the date of the wedding but then there is nothing more disappointing than selecting the wedding reception venue of your dreams and discovering that they are booked up on your wedding day. If you find your dream wedding reception venue, before setting the wedding date you can make a provisional booking pending the speedy booking of the wedding date via the church, registry office or other. Book both well in advance and consider taking out wedding insurance in case for whatever reason the plans need to be cancelled or changed.

Once you've decided

•    How Much
•    Who
•    How
•    What and when

You can start looking at wedding reception venues that you know you can afford, you will both love and that you and your guests can travel easily to. Enjoy your happy day!