I am so stressed out - I can't find a venue we can afford

alarafan

Got engaged a month ago :-)
We are thinking of having the wedding next summer. We live in different cities and since most of my relatives are in Birmingham we have agreed to have it there.

We want to get married in church and there are about 10 that I qualify for. Some in Edgbaston, some in Smethwick and some in Oldbury (they go by where you have lived etc) The problem is now the venue.

We both have extremely large close-knit families and lots of friends. We want them to celebrate the marriage with us. Ideally we would just have it in a back garden - however we are 'working class' and the only gardens we have access to are terraces/flat balconies - lol.

I have spent a few weekends looking and the church halls were both so old fashioned, had a musty smell and were concreted over outside, so no green for the photos.

I have thought about hiring the ugly venue then hire a coach to take us all to a nearby park for pictures or something (weather permitting).

for the food, drinks & reception we did not want to spend more than £3000 max. we are looking at around 100 people (my mother has six siblings, so does my dad... you get the picture)

I am stuck for ideas and need help please.

stuart.pinfold

Have you looked at village/town halls?

Some of the ones we went to see (in Northamptonshire and Bedfordshire)were lovely but couldn't accommodate the number of people we wanted (60). The nicest one (old Victorian-style village hall with a pretty garden outside) quoted us £12 per hour for hire - although you would obviously need to factor in the catering too.

However, I'm sure the halls around a city as big as Birmingham and its suburbs would have much large halls for around the same price.

superfran_uk

We have a similar number of people to you who we were told we had to invite (have got this down to 80 now, only 25 are mine!) and basically had decided we needed an extra year to save up as our budget of £5k just wouldn't stretch even to a crappy village hall and a crappy caterer - I was very miserable and defeated for a while! We're looking at spending around £8 now, and we're going to have it in a pub which might mean more £ but it certainly equals less stress! If you do manage it, please come back and let me know how you did it! Sorry that wasn't very helpful!

Edited to add: That includes the ceremony and dress, cake etc too, we're looking at about £5k for the reception and food etc.

minerva_windsong

stuart.pinfold wrote: »

Have you looked at village/town halls?

Some of the ones we went to see (in Northamptonshire and Bedfordshire)were lovely but couldn't accommodate the number of people we wanted (60). The nicest one (old Victorian-style village hall with a pretty garden outside) quoted us £12 per hour for hire - although you would obviously need to factor in the catering too.

However, I'm sure the halls around a city as big as Birmingham and its suburbs would have much large halls for around the same price.

*was going to suggest that*

Also, have you thought about having the wedding in the week/on a Sunday? Or even have an autumn/winter wedding? As you're not being specific I take it you don't have a date yet, so you could maybe do it midweek in a school holiday which could potentially slash the costs.

superfran_uk

Just something hopefully a bit more helpful to add - my friend had her reception at a beefeater and they gave them the £10 a head 3 course meal deal. Of course, this might not be the case elsewhere and it was anything but traditional (no top table, room not really geared up for speeches) but on a budget of £3k you might be able to just about manage it - I think they spend about £5k all in.

karen_newcastle

Can you have your photos taken at the Church? They usually have nice grounds?

bubble96

are holiday inn still offering £1000 packages? we are doing this, and includes evening buffet for 100 but also includes dj, room for night etc. only includes one course meal for 30, but they only want about £15ph for extra guests, so that would be less than £2000 in total, serve cake as pudding and you could spend well under £3000

frannyann

http://www.ichotelsgroup.com/h/d/hi/1/en/hotel/bhxwm

Yep holiday inn advertising that wedding deal for Birmingham ones!

http://www.ichotelsgroup.com/h/d/hi/1/en/hotel/bhxwm

This one looks like it has nice grounds

chelbel1981

The Brittannia Group are offering 3 course meal for 50, buffet for 100 for £999 or £1500 depending on what year you are getting married

HTH

chelbel1981

http://www.britanniahotels.com/hotels/birmingham/weddings

http://www.britanniahotels.com/weddings

mermaid85

stuart.pinfold wrote: »

Have you looked at village/town halls?

Some of the ones we went to see (in Northamptonshire and Bedfordshire)were lovely but couldn't accommodate the number of people we wanted (60). The nicest one (old Victorian-style village hall with a pretty garden outside) quoted us £12 per hour for hire - although you would obviously need to factor in the catering too.

However, I'm sure the halls around a city as big as Birmingham and its suburbs would have much large halls for around the same price.

Can I be cheeky and ask what the £12 per hour venue was? Me and OH are hoping to get married in 2011 and live in Bedfordshire so would be really helpful