SheenaVee
Well-Known Member
So me and FH have changed our wedding plans and when I tell you it's such a huge weight off our shoulders!
So we were meant to be having the wedding next year (ceremony + reception).
The reception hall we booked is right next door to the registry office where we're getting married. In the same building actually. It is beautiful, lovely facilities, will have security at the door, they will do 100% of the cleanup etc. Basically it was the perfect venue and a very good price!
But, of course, it was too good to be true because the reason the hall was relatively cheap was because they plan on charging you up the arse when it comes to drinks! We wanted to just put money behind the bar so people could get whatever they wanted, but the hall was saying we have to get a 'drinks package' per person.
This drink package only contains one glass of wine and one glass of champagne per person and it is £16 per person. We did a rough guest list and we had about 140 people on there already. So we'd have to pay around £2240 on this crappy drinks package plus we still wanted to put money behind the bar so people could get more drinks if they wanted. So we were looking at about £3500 on the drinks.
Then, we had a problem with the catering. Basically, we wanted my mum, aunts and family friends to do the catering for us. I have such a huge diverse family this is what we usually do for weddings and parties and we end up with so much food and also a wide variety of food. So it would save us a ton of money and we'd also have really good food.
However, the hall would only accept licenced caterers. So the mum and aunts thing was out. We had to look for caterers who probably wouldn't be able make all the types of food we wanted and would charge us a ton. Probably another 3 grand + or so. And I was not happy with the fact that I wouldn't be able to have Aunty so and so's pepper chicken and Aunty so and so's jelloff rice and ugh it was annoying.
So we've decided that, while the hall is beautiful and in the perfect location and everything, it just wasn't fitting our needs. FH had already paid a £500 non refundable deposit but he said he'd just take the L and we'd find a different hall that is less restrictive.
So what we've decided to do now is we're gonna get married sometime later this year. As soon as possible but it might have to be in Autumn coz I suspect it's all booked up for the summer now. We'll have the ceremony with only extremely close family. I'll still wear a wedding dress but it'll be a simpler one, and we won't have any bridesmaids and groomsmen. We'll take pictures and whatnot, maybe have a tiny get together. Then go away on honeymoon (perfection!).
Then, next year, on the same date we were originally having both the ceremony and reception, we'll just have the 'reception', which will basically just be to celebrate our marriage with the rest of the less close family. We can also have some sort of blessing on that day seeing as we're not getting married in a church.
This plan is so much better because there's less pressure. Now we're really just planning for a party rather than a wedding. We can find a different hall, have what food we want. I won't care as much about who's invited so my mum can feel free to invite all the people she wants (this was a huge point of contention between us). I feel like I will enjoy that day so much more now.
Anyway, I don't know what the point of this thread is lol. I just wanted to share, I guess, because we were getting so stressed out about that bloody hall and everything and now I feel so happy!
So we were meant to be having the wedding next year (ceremony + reception).
The reception hall we booked is right next door to the registry office where we're getting married. In the same building actually. It is beautiful, lovely facilities, will have security at the door, they will do 100% of the cleanup etc. Basically it was the perfect venue and a very good price!
But, of course, it was too good to be true because the reason the hall was relatively cheap was because they plan on charging you up the arse when it comes to drinks! We wanted to just put money behind the bar so people could get whatever they wanted, but the hall was saying we have to get a 'drinks package' per person.
This drink package only contains one glass of wine and one glass of champagne per person and it is £16 per person. We did a rough guest list and we had about 140 people on there already. So we'd have to pay around £2240 on this crappy drinks package plus we still wanted to put money behind the bar so people could get more drinks if they wanted. So we were looking at about £3500 on the drinks.
Then, we had a problem with the catering. Basically, we wanted my mum, aunts and family friends to do the catering for us. I have such a huge diverse family this is what we usually do for weddings and parties and we end up with so much food and also a wide variety of food. So it would save us a ton of money and we'd also have really good food.
However, the hall would only accept licenced caterers. So the mum and aunts thing was out. We had to look for caterers who probably wouldn't be able make all the types of food we wanted and would charge us a ton. Probably another 3 grand + or so. And I was not happy with the fact that I wouldn't be able to have Aunty so and so's pepper chicken and Aunty so and so's jelloff rice and ugh it was annoying.
So we've decided that, while the hall is beautiful and in the perfect location and everything, it just wasn't fitting our needs. FH had already paid a £500 non refundable deposit but he said he'd just take the L and we'd find a different hall that is less restrictive.
So what we've decided to do now is we're gonna get married sometime later this year. As soon as possible but it might have to be in Autumn coz I suspect it's all booked up for the summer now. We'll have the ceremony with only extremely close family. I'll still wear a wedding dress but it'll be a simpler one, and we won't have any bridesmaids and groomsmen. We'll take pictures and whatnot, maybe have a tiny get together. Then go away on honeymoon (perfection!).
Then, next year, on the same date we were originally having both the ceremony and reception, we'll just have the 'reception', which will basically just be to celebrate our marriage with the rest of the less close family. We can also have some sort of blessing on that day seeing as we're not getting married in a church.
This plan is so much better because there's less pressure. Now we're really just planning for a party rather than a wedding. We can find a different hall, have what food we want. I won't care as much about who's invited so my mum can feel free to invite all the people she wants (this was a huge point of contention between us). I feel like I will enjoy that day so much more now.
Anyway, I don't know what the point of this thread is lol. I just wanted to share, I guess, because we were getting so stressed out about that bloody hall and everything and now I feel so happy!
