The reception is usually the largest expense of the wedding, and apart from landscape gardens, the rooms, the bar, the food, there are other aspects that make a good venue. Questions worth asking are...
- Do they allow confetti?
- Will they guide the running order or just leave you to yourselves?
- How flexible are they with timing?
- Will they let you choose your own suppliers?
Food
When you choose your menu, its worth having a meal at the restaurant, and ordering exactly what you have selected for your wedding, just in case its not quite what you had envisaged. Some restaurants offer tasting sessions for prospective couples - sounds a wonderful idea to me!
Double trouble
Some larger venues have enough resources to hold two or more weddings on any day, and most of them are arranged so that two parties will never meet. Nevertheless, it is worth ensuring that if there is the possibility of another wedding (or funeral!) booked in that the parties will never clash. Imagine walking down the stairs, making your grand entrance, only to see another bride just arriving from the church. It has never actually happened while I've been there, but it has been very close.
Location, location...
Just in case you're wondering, I have been based in Clitheroe for over 10 years, however I've now moved to North Derbyshire - so I'm within a 2 hour drive of at least 50% of the UK population. I'm still concentrating on working throughout the north, especially Sheffield, Derbyshire, Cheshire and Lancashire. .
Manchester Radisson
Mitton Hall