Popular wedding venues and their pros and cons

There are many different factors that will impact your choice of wedding venue, from location and capacity to style and the availability of accommodation. Here are some of the more popular wedding venues along with a few of their pros and cons.

Golf clubs wedding venues

Golf clubs provide a mixture of beautiful grounds and exclusive facilities, albeit only a few offer accommodation so you and your guests will have to arrange transport and local hotels. As they are becoming ever more fashionable wedding venues; quite a few club houses are now licensed for civil ceremonies and come with full wedding planners and wedding packages.

Hotel wedding venues

Hotels are very popular wedding venues as they generally have a touch of elegance, paired with practicality and convenience. They can provide catering and accommodation as well as ceremony and reception rooms. Some couples find hotel wedding packages a little restrictive as they can make it tricky to personalise your wedding.

Village hall venues

A village hall might not seem like the most glamorous of wedding venues, but it will let you have a large number of guests without costing a fortune. You might need to do a lot of work to get a village hall looking like your ultimate wedding venue, but it can be worth it for the reduced cost. With a village hall you have totally free reign over the suppliers, the catering, and the decorations, and there is usually a stage where you can have a band or entertainer.

Stately home venues

Stately homes are wonderful wedding venues as they have charm, elegance and plenty of space. Many have rooms, or even outdoor structures that are licensed for civil ceremonies and you can usually choose whether to hold your reception in an elegant ballroom or outside in a marquee. Again there is unlikely to be accommodation at a stately home.

Church venues

An obvious choice when you first get engaged, picturesque village churches can be a beautiful place to get married. Seating for larger parties is usually not a problem and everything is already in place, such as an alter and space for musicians and of course the weather can’t be an issue as it is inside. However some churches require the use of their pastor, which can be fine, but if you have your heart set on a certain officiator, this could be a disappointment. Keep in mind, if you are not a member of the church you may not be able to book the venue until three or four months before your wedding date. Although that could be a perfect opportunity to get involved with the church community before your big day!

Parents’ houses

If your parents have spacious enough garden you can hire a marquee, a summer wedding could be beautiful and with some inexpensive decorations can be a very cost affective solution. Weather is obviously a deciding factor but you can always retire to the house if all doesn’t go to plan. You also might have to hire extra facilities like portable toilets or catering facilities to supplement those in the house. Parents’ houses are increasing in popularity as wedding locations, with couples looking for a small intimate wedding on a low budget.