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From high-class hotels to a marquee on the family farm, the options are endless when looking at venues. There are pros and cons to each style which I will outline in this article to give you a starting point for the type of venue that would best suit your wedding.
1. Hotel/Resort Venues
Pros
- Accommodation on site which is ideal if you have people attending from out of town. Usually hotels will give you a great rate on a block of rooms for your wedding too.
- You can stay the night before and get ready on site.
- Spend your wedding night in the honeymoon suite!
- All the catering is usually done in-house, saving you hassle in finding a caterer
- A lot of hotels will have a designated wedding coordinator who is experienced with weddings and can assist with the planning
- All of your guests will be in the one place, making it easy to organise a rehearsal or a next-day brunch
Cons
- All of the catering is usually done in-house so you don't have the option to choose a caterer that fits your budget or culinary style better. Having said that, many chefs are flexible and love to tailor a menu to suit so be sure to discuss this.
- Usually BYO is not an option so you may have to purchase beverages from the hotel.
- Some hotels might not have a designated ceremony area so you may opt to have your ceremony off-site.
- Your ceremony or reception space may not be in a fully private area as you may be sharing the hotel with other guests.
- Usually have a cut off time in consideration of nearby guests.
- Can be an expensive option.
2. Vineyard Venues
Pros
- Many vineyard style venues allow you to have the ceremony and reception in the one place.
- Wine! Can't get much more local than that.
- Many allow BYO which can save heaps of money
- Many allow you to bring your own caterers in, which offers freedom in terms of the kinds of food you want served and budget.
- Beautiful setting and purpose-built function space, often doesn't need much decorating
- Out of the hustle and bustle of the city
- Private, usually you will hire the entire venue for the day so do don't have the public to deal with!
- Will often have a designated wedding coordinator.
Cons
- Often out in the countryside which can be logistically challenging.
- Rarely much in terms of accommodation options nearby.
- Often nowhere to get ready on site.
- Organising your own caterer means one extra thing to think about!
- You are limited by the style of the venue. For example, the venue will probably be a rustic style so if you were after a glamourous wedding theme it might not suit the venue
- Can be a more expensive option.
3. Hall or Sports Club
Pros
- Blank canvas upon which to decorate any way you desire.
- Often sports clubs hold some sentiment to the couple such as being a member or a fan of that sport
- You can provide your own caterer in whatever cuisine you desire and to fit a budget
- You can BYO all alcohol, reducing costs dramatically.
- Usually a low-cost option for venue
Cons
- Can take a lot of time and effort (and money!) to achieve the desired decorative effect.
- Extra organising involved in terms of catering and alcohol.
- You will probably need to hire wait/bar staff.
- No ceremony area on site.
- You might need to provide some or all cutlery/crockery/glassware etc.
4. Marquee Wedding
Pros
- Can be placed anywhere (within reason). Ideal if you have a family farm where you don't need to pay to situate it.
- Can look really gorgeous if done right. Top tip- if you can, invest in silk walls, they really give a touch of luxury and looks stunning. An entrance porch looks really cool too.
- No cut off time so you can party into the wee hours!
- Can be decorated however you like.
- The capacity is only defined by your budget, you can always order a larger marquee if you have ample space and want a large wedding.
- You will probably choose to have the ceremony nearby.
- BYO Caterer and Alcohol.
Cons
- You need to organise everything yourself...Caterers, furniture, table linen, cutlery, staff, porta-loos, you name it.
- If you are having it on the family farm you need to consider how wet the ground gets, you may need to invest in flooring.
- You may be limited for accommodation options nearby.
- Can be extremely costly in terms of the marquee itself and added extras.
With love, Amanda xoxo