Birmingham wedding - budget venue selection update

alarafan

Hello all, We are hoping to get married this summer ( we have not yet set a date for various reasons... but I am still doing some planning)

I was made redundant in December and that messed up our budget significantly. We now have decided on a budget for the reception of £2500 for approx 100 people ( I have an extremely large extended family!)

I found it really hard to find something in our price range so I will share here in case it helps anyone.

This is what I did:
firstly I googled village halls and community centres
I then went on google earth so I could see what the outside looked like - some of those that looked too concrety and ugly outside were scratched off the list. then basically I went round to look at them in person.

here are some of the places I went to see

Hotels
1. Solihull holiday inn - It looks very nice inside, we would have exclusive use of the hall and a lobby thingy and then shared access of the sun terrace. There is also a nice fountain thingy to take photos near. In real life the photo area is not very large, but I have seen some of the other wedding photos and they came out looking very nice. The £1000 package is very generous but that covers only £35 guests.

2. Holiday inn M5 junction 6 - It has large grounds but I thought the place was quite horrible and it has some bad reviews.

3 - Holiday inn Bromsgrove - they have a £2010 package but I am not sure what it has. My mum has been to see it and thinks its good but I have not had a chance to go yet.

Other
4 - Tally Ho - right by Cannon Hill park - Nothing really special but has outside access and proximity to the beautiful park great for photos.

5- MAC - Midlands art Centre - inside Cannon hill park - I have not been inside yet but proximity to beautiful park the main pro.

I havent been to the following but they look promising.
6- Rowheath Pavillion
7- Friends meeting room (Quakers)
8-Harborne hall

And finally there are two church halls (where my mother sometimes attends)

9 -Rounds green methodist church - looks ok on the inside, but it is right by a dual carriageway, recycling centre, electricity pylons, you get the idea.

10 - Solihull methidist church - has lots of parking, a bit of grass outside, but a lot would need to be done to make it look special and weddingy.

PS
11 - CAP - a community centre place in Cape hill - the inside is lovely and the cost only £15 per head, BUT the outside is awful, concreted over & very close to a big ASDA !

:-)

floss2

Rowheath seems to be a very pretty & popular venue here and would probably offer the flexibility you want without the high cost of a catered venue.

Horace

Have you tried Saint Nicolas Place in Kings Norton?

https://www.saintnicolasplace.co.uk

This is partly owned by Birmingham City Council..its a beautiful timber-framed building (it won the Restoration tv programme in 2004) - actually thinking about it it may be a bit small.

It sounds mad but try the banqueting suite at Birmingham City Council - I know that they hire the place out for £1200 plus VAT (only at weekends though), their food cost isnt bad either and its top quality food. The place is gorgeous...and I felt thoroughly spoilt when I went there to look around..its a really special place.