August 2014

[xemmax]

Our wedding is booked for August 2014!

 

[xemmax]

We went to see the venue for the second time today, this time with my parents and Nick's dad and his partner. Even though we've been before, I was blown away by it all over again, I really can't imagine getting married anywhere else now. It was really important to me to get the approval of my parents as they are contributing a large amount of money to the wedding and thankfully they love it. We're hopefully going to provisionally book tonight

We also need to check that the church is still available. The church we were originally allowed to marry in is this one (which suffice to say, we politely declined ):

https://s0.geograph.org.uk/geophotos/01/94/13/1941373_b73edaef.jpg

Instead we were allowed to marry in this one beside the local nature reserve:
https://www.nottshistory.org.uk/images/attenborough/attenborough-church-2004.jpg
https://www.travelthrutime.com/Photo/ResizedImage/75/600/600/Attenborough-Church-P1446.jpg

The venue we've looked at is set amongst farmland, it's an old country house:

https://www.swancarfarmcountryhouse.com/images/swan2.jpg

https://sphotos-a.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-snc7/c0.155.851.315/p851x315/470739_342879095761269_1302344657_o.jpg

I'm absolutely torn between two colour themes but I'll post about them another time as at the moment I'm so focused on getting this booked!

 

[maryp0ppins]

Ohhh your venue is lovely! Id like something similar for the inside of mine.

 

[xemmax]

Ohhh your venue is lovely! Id like something similar for the inside of mine.

Thanks hun, I definitely think it's got the right mix of formal and friendly! I always envisaged a wedding in a stately home but I think I'd be scared to touch anything

 

[DanielleM]

New stalker here, all of that looks amazing Emma. It was only a few months ago on the X Factor thread we were discussing about getting married!! Now this year on the X Factor thread we will be on the countdown

 

[Lauren25]

Stalking

Wow what a lovely way to propose, did you have any clue he was going to do it ?

Your venue is beautiful!

 

[aly888]

Oh my god aren't you just the most good looking couple (family) ever!!!! Such a lovely way to propose too.

I'm so glad you turned that church down I could see the picture and I was thinking back to other posts you've made in here and was thinking the two didn't seem to match up!! Your chosen church and venue are just stunning. So amazing!!

 

[Tasha]

Yay, so glad you FINALLY made a journal. Cant wait to see it all come together x

 

[xemmax]

New stalker here, all of that looks amazing Emma. It was only a few months ago on the X Factor thread we were discussing about getting married!! Now this year on the X Factor thread we will be on the countdown

Aww Danielle, that doesn't seem like 2 minutes ago! Just think, the one after we will be married women! Eeeeek!

Stalking

Wow what a lovely way to propose, did you have any clue he was going to do it ?

Your venue is beautiful!

Thanks hun well I picked the ring a couple of months before from an antiques website and the status changed to 'sold' so I assumed he'd bought it! I had no idea he was going to do it when he did it though, he pulled it off so well, managed to get me up to this beautiful little chapel on a hill by the sea to propose (incidentally the chapel he was named after, St Nicholas). It was all very well planned!

This is a photo of us taken by the pilot of the plane, mid proposal!
https://instagram.com/p/RCrb2viIi-/

Oh my god aren't you just the most good looking couple (family) ever!!!! Such a lovely way to propose too.

I'm so glad you turned that church down I could see the picture and I was thinking back to other posts you've made in here and was thinking the two didn't seem to match up!! Your chosen church and venue are just stunning. So amazing!!

Ahh thanks, just a flattering photo though oh my god the church is really something else, I can honestly say I don't know of any worse looking churches haha! We were so thankful when we allowed to marry at the other one!

Yay, so glad you FINALLY made a journal. Cant wait to see it all come together x

Thanks lovely need to pick your married brains for help

 

[xemmax]

Tonight something awful happened. I was drawing up a provisional list of food etc to email the venue with as they insist on giving you a quote before you make a provisional booking and I discovered that being the absolute moron that I am, I had neglected to see that their prices at exclusive of VAT I am so upset. It makes it totally overpriced

I really don't know what to do. I really believed we'd marry there when I was there today, I feel so confused! In a panic I decided to add up costs for another venue, Stubton Hall:

https://www.stubtonhall.co.uk/images/frontpage/stubton-lakeside.jpg

We originally ruled it out because of the cost but when I added up the cost properly it will work out cheaper than the other place providing we can rent out the rooms to guests. Plus we wouldn't need cars, cake is included and flowers for tables are provided.

I just don't know, we're going to try and view this one but I'm gutted that I had started to really envisage my day and now I'm back at square one again!

 

[DanielleM]

Could you not look around at other places that are not necessarily used for weddings that come in cheaper? I was looking for somewhere for 100 guests and most hotels and halls were coming in at over 10k as you have to use their caterer. I found a gorgeous village hall that can seat 140s and hold 200 nightime guests. It has a seperate lounge with big comfortable sofas for guests quiet time and a smaller room where the hog roast and buffet is going to be held. But more importantly a bar! I am hiring it for the Friday to set up, Saturday for the wedding and Sunday to clear up for a grand total of 300 and the caterer is costing 1k. A hell of a lot less than 10k. Granted I am going to have to do a lot of stuff myself like the set up but at least I know it will be done how I like it. The clearing up will not be too bad as the caterer does all the crockery and cutlery etc. Just have a look around at not very obvious venues, it really has paid off for me but it did take me a few months to come across it Xxx

 

[Mummy May]

You really are a good looking family lol! I'm sorry about your venue, maybe they would give you a discount if you considered a week day wedding? Always worth asking if you have your heart set on it xx

 

[xemmax]

Wow Danielle that sounds amazing! Such a good deal and I love the fact you get a day to set it up and a day to clear up too. My problem is that I am so time limited because of studying that I just need someone to do it all for me, otherwise I would love to do something like that. Maybe I could get a wedding planner with the money I'd save? I dunno, will have a look later though, thanks for the suggestion!

Aww thanks Mummy May! Unfortunately the weekday weddings are only marginally cheaper as the food and drinks are still charged at the same price and that's where most of the costs lie

 

[xemmax]

We now have an appointment for Monday at the Hall. I worked out the prices in depth last night and this one is actually around a grand cheaper, and if we rented out all of the bedrooms to guests, that would save another £2k on top of that! I literally cannot believe that this one is cheaper, let alone by that much

I still have my heart set on the other place so it isn't ruled out, but we'd have to majorly scrimp on another things to go for it which is a big shame.

 

[emyandpotato]

I'm so sorry about the venue! I know that this is probably not your thing at all and it's about an hour away from you but this place is very cheap and quirky and lets you self cater. Definitely not for everyone though! https://www.victoriabaths.org.uk

How much is Stubton Hall? It really is so beautiful! I have 22 bedrooms at my venue too and we're asking for £100 per room for both nights which takes loads off of our venue cost. Guests don't really mind paying either as they would likely have to pay the same or more for another hotel and not have the luxury of staying at that venue with everyone else. You could ask for guests to pay for their rooms instead of a wedding gift if you felt bad about it.

I really really hope you find somewhere!

 

[xemmax]

I'm so sorry about the venue! I know that this is probably not your thing at all and it's about an hour away from you but this place is very cheap and quirky and lets you self cater. Definitely not for everyone though! https://www.victoriabaths.org.uk

How much is Stubton Hall? It really is so beautiful! I have 22 bedrooms at my venue too and we're asking for £100 per room for both nights which takes loads off of our venue cost. Guests don't really mind paying either as they would likely have to pay the same or more for another hotel and not have the luxury of staying at that venue with everyone else. You could ask for guests to pay for their rooms instead of a wedding gift if you felt bad about it.

I really really hope you find somewhere!

Wow that is stunning! I'd love somewhere like that but unfortunately it's too far. It's nearly 2 hours from us, Stubton is already an hour away

Ok in order to work out how much each would cost I had to include the extras that one offers and the other doesn't, so these prices include venue hire, wedding breakfast for 105 adults and 20 children (cut our list down from 150), evening buffet, nibbles, drinks package, coffee, decorations, cars, chair covers, bedrooms and cake...

Spoiler

Deleted

The bedrooms at Stubton range from £127-187 so we could recoup roughly £2500 of that too. I honestly can't believe it is working out cheaper

 

[emyandpotato]

If it works out so much cheaper then definitely go for it! It's nicer than the other venue too, though I know you were worried about it being too grand, but you can make it much more casual with cleverly chosen decor. I mean, our venue is rather grand but we're having a sort of bohemian vibe and it will all be very laid back. All you'd really have to organise would be your invites, photographer, dress, bridal party, rings and honeymoon, which will certainly make things easier for you with your PGCE in progress!

ETA: Sorry about my terrible geography, I thought Nottingham was closer than it is!

 

[xemmax]

If it works out so much cheaper then definitely go for it! It's nicer than the other venue too, though I know you were worried about it being too grand, but you can make it much more casual with cleverly chosen decor. I mean, our venue is rather grand but we're having a sort of bohemian vibe and it will all be very laid back. All you'd really have to organise would be your invites, photographer, dress, bridal party, rings and honeymoon, which will certainly make things easier for you with your PGCE in progress!

ETA: Sorry about my terrible geography, I thought Nottingham was closer than it is!

It would definitely make things easier as I'd have so little to do, and I could invest more time into personalising it. Presuming we could get the rooms booked out to family it would only cost us what I intended to pay the other place before I realised it didn't include VAT, plus this was my original first choice that I ruled out because of costs. Ahhh I just don't know, I still have my heart on the other place but I think it's because we've been twice now so I really let myself imagine myself there. Hopefully Stubton will impress though and then at least that way it will make my mind up! Wouldn't be able to have a church wedding though which upsets me a little bit

Haha it's ok, I didn't really know either until I googled!

 

[emyandpotato]

Do you have to have your ceremony there? If it's really important to have a religous aspect could you have a blessing at a later date, or even have a blessing in a church abroad whilst on your honeymoon (if you're having one!)?

 

[xemmax]

Do you have to have your ceremony there? If it's really important to have a religous aspect could you have a blessing at a later date, or even have a blessing in a church abroad whilst on your honeymoon (if you're having one!)?

We're not christened, let alone Christians, so we can only get married in specific churches. I am at a bit of a weird point in my life though and have gone from extreme atheist to a believer of some sort, so I really wanted a spiritual element to the ceremony. Such a good idea to have a blessing on honeymoon though! I haven't even though about honeymoons yet, eek! Are you going anywhere? I guess having your wedding at a house you're staying at for a few days is a kind of honeymoon isn't it?