Choosing a wedding venue - in Scotland, the UK, or beyond - it’s a piece of cake right? You just type in “wedding venues Scotland” and your dream location will come up just like that. Simple! Unfortunately, that’s not quite how it goes. If you type a “wedding Scotland venue” related term into Google, over 10,300,000 results will come up - yes, you read that number right. In reality, then, searching for your perfect wedding location is like looking for a needle in a haystack. So where do you start? How do you approach such a mammoth task?
Never fear, we have compiled the ultimate guide on how to choose a wedding venue and avoid the most common mistakes when selecting where you’ll get married.
Read on for a list of top 5 things to consider when searching for your wedding venue in Scotland - or further afield.
-
Budget
-
Guestlist
-
Location (transport)
-
The venue
-
Seal the deal
1. Budget
In an ideal world, you would be able to choose any venue your heart desired without having to consider boring things like budget. In reality, however budget will be the driving factor behind your decision. You will therefore need to consider how you allocate your wedding budget. Fortunately, we’re here to help. Typically, you would expect to apportion your wedding budget in the following way;
40% - wedding venue and caterers
10% - live wedding band/ entertainer
20% - decor (including flowers)
5% - The wedding dress, bridesmaids’ dresses, groom’s and groomsmens’ attire
15% - Photographer / videographer
2% - Cake
3% - Wedding Transport
5% - Invites and other stationery and gifts/favors
So take your total wedding budget and take out the 40% chunk - that’s what you can now spend on your wedding venue and caterers. The budget will help you decide whether you want to hire a venue on an exclusive use basis, use a function room at a hotel, hire a marquee or even just have it in your garden - a choice that’s increasing in popularity since the pandemic showed us that home really is where the heart is and celebrating your big day there is actually a great (and very money-savvy) idea...
Most wedding venues offer packages that can help you keep the costs down and allow you to keep track of your budget more easily, amalgamating elements required for your big day into clearly understandable bundles.
Whatever you do, don’t be tempted to stretch yourselves financially - that stunning castle you can’t really afford might seem like a good idea but when the wedding is done and dusted and the credit card bill lands on your doormat, you might find yourselves regretting that decision.
2. Guest List
More is not better when it comes to your guest list. Think about it, how much time will you actually have on the day to talk to all of your guests? You can’t just ignore some people and only talk to the ones you like most - you have to get around everyone! So only consider inviting the people who mean the most to you and who will truly appreciate an invitation to see the two of you get married. Do you really want your boss there, or that Facebook friend who you haven’t spoken to since fresher’s week? Keep your wedding as small as possible, without missing out on the key players, and not only will your budget stretch further but so will your time on the day, without you running around madly trying to make sure you’ve given everyone some attention.
3. Location
Location can have an impact on your budget and guest list too so consider this carefully. If you have your wedding ceremony and reception in different locations, you will have to provide transport not just for yourselves but for your wedding guests too. This will add to the cost of your big day. Likewise, if you decide to have your wedding somewhere remote, you have to take travel to and from the venue into account as well as the added logistical complexity for your guests of getting home after your wedding - if the venue is in the middle of nowhere, you will most likely need to provide your guests with either overnight accommodation or transport back home. This will obviously, catapult your expenditure into the stratosphere. The easiest approach is to select an easily accessible venue with accommodation on-site and have both your ceremony and reception in the same place. Making it easy to get to the venue and providing the option to stay overnight, makes it perfectly acceptable to expect your guests to organise the logistics of getting to and from the venue themselves.
4. Venue
When considering the venue you must, must, must go see it in person - photographs can be misleading and what you initially thought was perfect online may prove to be completely different once you're there. Making an appointment to see the venue will also allow you to ask the key questions. Don’t know what they are? No problem, here’s a quick checklist:
- How many guests do you cater for?
- Can I have my ceremony here (ie is the venue licensed)?
- Who’s the main point of contact before and on the wedding day?
- Can I choose my own suppliers?
- Do you have any restrictions (ie sound limiter, fireworks, decor, set up times, etc)
- Logistics eg parking, overnight accommodation, a place to change
- Do you offer catering?
- Is it BYOB and do you charge corkage?
- What time should the wedding finish?
- Where and when can the live wedding band / DJ set up?
Finally, make sure the venue reflects you as a couple - don’t try to go for a location that will make both of you feel uncomfortable on the day. Yes, that wedding you saw last month on Instagram did look spectacular but is it you? Are you more country classic than glitzy glamour? Black tie formal or chic and classical? Consider it carefully before you book, you (hopefully) won’t get a chance for a re-do!
5. Seal the deal!
Once you’re clear on the terms and conditions and have made sure the venue is the one for you, don’t delay, sign the contract and put down a deposit. Venues - and wedding suppliers in general - book up months if not years in advance. You don’t want to suffer the disappointment of setting your heart on the perfect wedding venue and then finding out someone’s beaten you to booking it. Read through the terms and conditions, put down a deposit and make sure you’ve taken out the appropriate insurance, then ramp up the excitement for the big day!
If you keep all of these factors in mind, you will find yourselves celebrating one of the biggest days of your life in the perfect wedding venue and your day should go off without a hitch.
Now that that’s sorted, time to address the next item on that checklist - finding the best live wedding band Scotland has to offer. And we think we might know exactly where to find one…