Wedding Venue In Bedford

mermaid85

Hi, we're hoping to get married in 2011, and I'm looking into venues.

Have looked through the posts on here and can't find anything in our area, so was wondering if anybody knew of anywhere fairly cheap?

We have one daughter and a baby due June 2010 so won't have a lot of spare cash for the wedding!! I'm lucky that I've got a lot of people offering to help out so we save money ie mum making my dress and doing flowers, however reception venue is the one place I've not found much on.

A lot of places I have looked at online don't show prices either!

frannyann

Often I find that a price is not mentioned, because there is a deal to be done If you pick a weekday in winter it will be much cheaper than a saturday in august (only both days it could rain anyway ) Start visiting places and start getting some quotes, then you go back to the venues you like and start haggling!

stuart.pinfold

Hi Mermaid,

We live in this area and, while we eventually decided to book somewhere in Northamptonshire (near our parents), we went to look at a few venues around Bedford, Luton and the surrounding areas.

I have put all the photos (and descriptions of why we decided not to choose that venue - e.g. too expensive!) on my Flickr photostream:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/stuartpinfold/sets/72157622303964890/

indiegirl_2

Stuart,

I've booked Moore Place, I saw that you were sitting on the fence about it. Kim (the events manager) is willing to negotiate and work in discounts to the budget...

Two weeks ago I was at a wedding at the Inn at Woburn. It was a lovely setting, but too many little rooms (it didn't work very well and the guests ended up being v spread out. I also didn't like people still having afternoon tea in their jeans as the wedding guests arrived!!)

I may, if you don't mind, point some of my family (who haven't seen Moore Place yet) at your photos...?

I hope your planning goes well in Northants :-)

stuart.pinfold

Hi Indiegirl,

We found the 'other people milling around' could potentially be a problem at both the Inn At Woburn and Moore Place, which is why we marked them as 'sitting on the fence'. The wedding co-ordinators at both venues were extremely friendly and helpful and, as you said, willing to work towards our budgets - but we just couldn't get away from the 'non-exclusive' thing. That sounds really snobby but in the end the venue we booked has exclusive use for the day before as well as the day itself, is not tied to a specific caterer, and was the same price.

Please, feel free to use the photos to pass on to your family.

Stuart

mermaid85

Thanks Stuart, some great pics and helpful comments!! Thanks for sharing that

indiegirl_2

Thanks Stuart,

Where did you book in the end?

With ref to Moore Place: we worked out that most of my OH's family would be filling up the hotel rooms so there wouldn't be that many rooms left for other guests to mill around ;-) Must admit I didn't think I could afford exclusivity so opted for the best venue that would work with our setup for the day... seems I might've missed somewhere!

stuart.pinfold

Indiegirl,

We booked Cranford Hall near Kettering in Northamptonshire. The hire cost is £1,300 which includes use of the venue for 48 hours (the day before for set-up and the day itself) and the caterer's prices (which you are not tied to - but is "recommended" by Cranford Hall and is an extremely varied and interesting menu) start at £18.80 per head for a main, dessert and tea/coffee or £21.25 including a starter.

Stuart

SDH

Have you tried www.bellowsmill.co.uk in Eaton Bray, Bedfrodshire. We are getting married there. Its lovely

Failing that what about village halls? Or www.eversholt-hall.co.uk

stuart.pinfold

We looked at both of those venues.

Eversholt Hall - fine, if you don't mind having screaming kids in the outdoor swimming pool next door to the hall, and don't mind being very inflexible (set price with barely any room for manouvering, for example if you don't want something that's included in the price).

Bellows Mill - lovely venue for anything less than around 55 guests. But, we tried three times to get a rough price from the venue. Before they could give us any INDICATION of a price, they wanted to know the exact number of guests, order of service for the day, what combination of the meal choices we wanted and how many vegetarian options there would be.

Of course, more than 18 months before our wedding and before we'd even sent out Save the Date cards (let alone invites!), you just don't know this stuff. We asked for a rough breakdown of the hire cost and the meal options, but none was forthcoming despite asking four or five times and telling the venue that some of the information they wanted to know just wouldn't be available until much nearer to the date.

smithjohnson_2

Wishing you all the best and a very happy married life! Good luck!

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