Today’s blog post is a little different. I’ve taken inspiration from Victoria at inthefrow who has started a wedding diaries on her blog. As I am also recently engaged and planning a wedding I thought I would do something similar. So today’s post is going to be a little insight into wedding venue searching.
I’m not going to lie as excited as I am, planning a wedding is also pretty daunting and I wasn’t really sure where to start. After much tooing and frowing we decided to go and have a look at a couple of venues we’d seen online. We weren’t totally sure what we wanted, so we’ve decided to go and look at a few venues and then narrow it down.
We ended up heading to a couple of venues in the New Forest (thanks to my favourite app Bridebook finding some hidden gems!). First we headed to Burley Manor, which was beautiful on the drive up with lots of rolling grass out the front full of deer. However, parking was a big issue. Obviously there was a wedding showcase on but we ended up parking down the road and having to walk up.
Secondly, the manor is beautiful but the actual wedding would take place into two purpose built barns behind this, which are pretty, but the whole view is then blocked off. Also, the barns weren’t particularly big, so might have been a bit of a squeeze for our guests. Although beautiful, Burley Manor just wasn’t for us and I think helped us decide that actually a barn venue isn’t what we are going for.
The second venue we headed to was The Rhinefield House Hotel again in the New Forest. This venue was much more us and is definitely on our contender list. As we walked in they had a huge hall with high ceilings (something which my fiancé said would be good and I laughed at, now I understand why!), it was very regal and something we both loved.
We then went outside and were blown away, the grounds of the Rhinefield were stunning! A huge decorative lake type thing sat in the middle of beautiful greenery and the stunning romanesque building sat proud of place in the middle. This venue would look stunning at any time of year!
We also happened to pop in (not on a day when there was a wedding fair) and a lovely employee showed us around the whole venue, including all the venue rooms, the bridal suite and even the guest bedrooms. This made us like the venue even more because this particular employee couldn’t do enough to help us! We were also given the brochure and prices which helped us see if this venue was actually a realistic contender for us.
This made the wedding venue search a lot more fun. I had the best day looking at venues and we fully intend to go and look at a few more over the next few weeks. We also have a few wedding fairs planned, so I will keep you updated in the next instalment on how they go!
As a newly engaged bride to be, I’d love to hear some of your hints and tips to wedding planning. Let me know what is a must know in the comments!
I hope you enjoyed reading this blog post. Also if you haven’t already, check out my social media as I use it to update you all on new blog posts!
Thank you for reading, I hope you enjoyed it!
Jordyn Amber x
P.S If you want to be a bit nosey, have a read of my engagement story blog post!