[JoeF2k2]

been engaged for nearly a year now and the missus wants to start planning, there is a few issues we need to resolve, but does anyone have any hints or tips on how to find a decent venue within our area which is bolton.

we seem to be coming across a few but not a great amount, also what sort of price should this set us back? i know it will depend on our finances but on a general scale?

we are going to start saving but given we have a car to pay and a loan its not going to be alot yet, what deciding factors should we think about when planning this?

[RichardK]

Are you after a venue where you can have the marriage ceremony as well as the celebrations, or just one for the celebrations?

[Kebabhead]

Ususlly word of mouth helps to find a venue

One thing you need to do will be to think about how many guests you want to invite if money is a factor to you

[JoeF2k2]

ideally we would like the venue to be where marriage and celebrations were and possible place for people to stay over if they wanted to that is, i think we are looking at about 60 ppl or so at present, is this not alot lol

[phil t]

Originally Posted by JoeF2k2

what deciding factors should we think about when planning this?

The number of people you want to invite and how much you want (can afford) to spend.

Try and get to a wedding fair, that will help you in your quest.

[JoeF2k2]

a wedding fair? they do such things lol

[phil t]

Originally Posted by JoeF2k2

a wedding fair? they do such things lol

Yup. You could walk away spending thousands, dangerous things to attend.

[JoeF2k2]

lol i see, any ideas where i find one :|

[IronGiant]

Send me a cheque for £1K and I'll tell you

Just breaking you in gently

I got married 22 years ago, and I thought it was expensive then...

Dave

[IronGiant]

More seriously, what do you want from the wedding? How many people do you want to attend? Family and some friends, or friends and some family? Who is running the show, the two of you or are your prospective parents-in-law involved? Church or civil ceremony?

As this is an AV forum we also need to know 1) your budget and 2) does your better half need to know how much it really cost?

Dave

[JoeF2k2]

Well she wants a civil ceremony along with the reception and also she is suggesting we pay for around 25 guests to stay over, mainly family and close friends with others having the option to stay if they wanted.

At present it is just the 2 of us involved, only recently got back thinking about it. budget at the minute we have not got a penny but with some saving and other things we are looking at around 9k at present and i guess she dont have to know the full cost :-)

[phil t]

Originally Posted by JoeF2k2

lol i see, any ideas where i find one :|

Not sure in your neck of the woods. Try looking in wedding mags or google?

[IronGiant]

So do you want to have fun, or impress people?

One of the nicest weddings I went to they hired the local works Sports and Social Club for the celebrations, spent some money on flowers and bunting, people stayed with family and friends or in the local B&Bs, everyone relaxed and a great time was had by all

Not that an expensive wedding can't be fun too...

Dave

[fizl]

Try council run premises. I'm getting married in 2 weeks, the wedding is in a georgian mansion, and the reception is in a theatre. Both of them are actually council run, the mansion being the town hall (getting married in the 'chambers') and the theatre is a modern council run theatre

Shaz

[RichardK]

When I was planning my wedding we got a list of the venues that were licensed to hold weddings, which included their capacity for the ceremony, and for a seated meal.

You should be able to find that info somewhere on the internet, or the local registry office can probably give you a list.

[Ed Selley]

Originally Posted by Kebabhead

One thing you need to do will be to think about how many guests you want to invite if money is a factor to you

I've made this big and bold because I think its the most useful thing in the thread.

I have 46 guests for the (civil) service and meal and about another 10 on top for the reception. The venue is the same for both. We are staying small because I'd rather have a smaller number over for a great day and evening than dilute what I can afford to a point where standards slip. It also has the benefit that members of my "extended family" (ie people who aside from a quantity of DNA I have nothing in common with) are not invited. As the numbers are small, there are no under eighteens either as we're not giving up scant seats to infants. All the parents we've invited seem to think this is a brilliant idea.

[HOF]

Also remember to negotiate. I saved a fortune by having the wedding on a Tuesday and booking 4 months before hand.

Also remember to negotiate.

[kBm]

The wife and I spent just under 12K for ours, 60 odd for the day, upto 80 for the evening.

Wedding magazines, wedding websites, wedding forums and of course fairs are to be bled dry for information. Most of the magazines have 'where to start guides'.

Also, there is a new series of Don't Tell the Bride on BB3 soon, plus if you have sky, Wedding TV is round the clock! so there is loads of information out there.

Originally Posted by JoeF2k2

also she is suggesting we pay for around 25 guests to stay over, mainly family and close friends with others having the option to stay if they wanted.

oh, paying for guest to stay over will send cost sky high!

[Dony]

I was at a wedding recently and I doubt there would have been much change out of £35000

There were over 200 guests at £53 / head, and the band for the evening cost £6000. This didn't include the soloist, a string quartet, hire of cars, photographers, video, flowers, plus the 100 other things that go into an Irish wedding.

[kopchoir]

Hi mate im in Bury and i got wed in February and i was looking all over the place for venues the old moat house in bolton which is now a holiday inn(dont let the name fool you) is a stunning reception room but just out of our budget think it was like 7k just for reception there
I went to a place called astley bank in Darwin Astley Bank Hotel and Conference Centre - Darwen - North West - UK
but it was to small for our 80 guests during the day and 200 at night

I have loads of others we settled on Weddings - Mytton Fold
due to the room being stunning also something i found was that if you go to these hotel chains Mcdonald et al they just see you as a guest where as family run hotels like the one i had our reception in you felt more welcome and more homely.

As for prices its not cheap its a wedding but stick to your budget get yourslef and your wife family and friend to help out as much as you can not just financially but with helping with thigns to do not only does this bring the price down but also make sit more special with the amount of effort to put in.

Kop

Also if you need any other help with regards to local stuff cars flowers cakes suits venues drop us a pm

[kBm]

One thing we did to save money-invites

Buy DIY invites from boots
Buy some nice shiney paper from Paper chase or simialr
knock up wedding invites on Word
print out invites with shiney paper
assembly DIY kits

...you end up with professional looking invites for a fraction of the cost



Works for order of day, menus etc.

[JoeF2k2]

Thanks all so far for your opinions, they have been taken on board and we have recently started finding a few venues and trying to calculate the costs involved at having it there and have also tried to reduce things which we dont need to spend that much on.

We have got the prices down for different venues and some are now at £6,200 upto £8,200 but they dont include a car and one or two bits, still have plently of research to do though.

We have also looked at council run venues and churchs to try get that cost down. As posted above we have cut costs on invites as my uncle has his own graphic design business in Bolton and im sure he can do something for me, he did my engagement invites which i thought were excellent, totally different and looked great, random idea but it worked. It was a Mr men style invite lol

[Miss Chief]

Just thinking, to save money on stuff like cars, why not try and find out if there are any classic car clubs around Bolton that might allow the loan of an old Roller or something even older? They might even beable to provide several cars1

[HOF]

Keep an eye out on the pricing and make sure the prices you get include VAT as my bill came through yesterday for mine in 4 weeks and its suprising how much extra VAT, cakestands and chair covers cost.

They have even charged me VAT on my damages deposit

[pixelpixel]

Must be a local thing.......I am from Manchester and I am getting married in November

Sit down and count the amount of people that you might want to bring. Don't be afraid to max the list. Don't be afraid with people saying no but at leats count them in.

I was amazed at how many suppliers that I could find around Manchester and Bury that could suply stuff to me direct. All I have to do is put stuff together myself but I don't mind.

I made my invitations myself via Wedding Gifts at Zazzle they look quality. Nice custom design and all the info I wanted.

The only thing I am not doing is the cake but we did look into that

Just remember to enjoy yourself and remember you don't have to do the norm. I am doing fish and chips in a fancy hotel

Now to sort out a photographer Thats the only thing left

Like kopchoir said if you need some pointers send a pm.

[kopchoir]

My photographer was superb really made you feel like a friend instead of a customer and very reasonable priced imo could give you her details as well as for cakes im quite lucky in that my mother in law is a very dab hand at cake making we had an unusual cake where the tiers were seperated by champagne flutes.added a pic

We sent save the days out first to remind everyone what day the wedding is before we sent invites out we had fridge magnets done and sent those out

Venues can be a nightmare that was the hardest part for us i took her everywhere duncahalgh hotel which is a very nice expensive place but she hated it (its like a conference room) because we picked somewhere away from home i put a coach on for our evenign guests

My wedding budget went somethign like this 8k from me 3k from my mum and dad and my wifes mum and dad with 3k as well after everything was paid i was left with around 2k for a honeymoon half went to pay for a boiler that packed up a few weeks before

All depends what you want its not cheap getting wed but worth it just do what feels right for you both

[JoeF2k2]

thats what we seem to be struglling with at present, having enough money to get a decent honeymoon out of it, can i ask how much a coach cost u as we have looked into this and are waiting on quotes back

[pixelpixel]

Originally Posted by JoeF2k2

thats what we seem to be struglling with at present, having enough money to get a decent honeymoon out of it

I am not having one..........We are going to Florida next year so that will make up for it. Might spend a few days some place local.

[kopchoir]

Originally Posted by JoeF2k2

thats what we seem to be struglling with at present, having enough money to get a decent honeymoon out of it, can i ask how much a coach cost u as we have looked into this and are waiting on quotes back

Coach from Bury to Whalley Blackburn Pick up 7:30 from bury Pick up 1am from balckburn drop off in bury £250 i think the wife wanted to charge a fiver each which is cheaper than a taxi but i couldnt arsed asking everyone for a fiver so i paid it.

Reception was most pricey followed by dress which was a fortune Honeymoon due to the bloody boiler ended up at bohlywedden castle in wales paid for a royal suite with a jaquzzi in the turrett quality the main thing about a honeymoon (especially for me with kids) is the time together so it doesnt matter where you go as long as you spend some time together

Kop

[whatsupdoc]

It's always sensible to get married in the morning.

Then if it doesn't work out, you haven't wasted the whole day.