In limbo!! and your thought on all things wedding!

nuttymummy

im in limbo!!

We arent going to see the venue till Saturday and i have tons of questions to ask (and some i know im going to forget!) im HOPING if everything is affordable and we know a round about total price we can set a date.

Im in limbo because although we have no date.....my head wont stop planning,

Im researching favours, colour scheme, flowers, dresses, hair-dos, suits, coach hire to and from the venue, table decor, table names etc etc...

i cant help myself!!
so far ive chosen LOADS of things i want but cant really start planning or buying as we dont even have a venue or date yet!!

where any of you girls like this or am i trying to be too organized?!

i cant help it, im so excited!!

also whilst your here (IF your still here...LOL)
do u visit any wedding specific forums or is this one just as good?

i have so much i want to ask!! what do u think of this colour scheme, my favours, my theme ideas, etc etc but feel like those questions are to be posted in the 'month' related wedding boards....but i have no month or year!!!

being in limbo sucks!!!:rotfl:

alarafan

Congratulations

One tip on colour schemes. If you are watching every penny make sure you do not choose an 'unusual' colour. My colours are orange and yellow (it looks nice, honest!) but it's not easy finding things in those colours at a discount, on sale etc.

If I had gone with purple, pink or burgandy there are millions of things on ebay that will go with these colours.

nuttymummy

o yes orange and yellow are nice together....very summery!! i made a wedding cake with orange and yellow once and it just screamed summer!

My pick is deep purple with a hint or orange

ellay864

Well if you're going for it at the zoo I wouldn't worry too much about table decorations. The rooms are just SO gorgeous it really is a case of 'less is more'. They have gorgeous flowers around and it would be criminal to bung too much decoration on top of it all. My friend's daughter gets married there in June and is doing the afternoon tea and then safari with BBQ; she's doing very minimal in the place, just planning to do some bunting outside if that's allowed.
And even if it more expensive than you hoped (and I'm guessing you know pretty much what the hire of the place is anyway) you can always have the evening bit somewhere else. I was so set on the zoo I'd preferred to split the venue rather than miss out altogether! I assume you're looking into 2012 - I know they're already taking bookings then - unless you're going off-peak season or doing a weekday, so if you have no particular dates in mind be open to whatever Jane can offer as available. Just make sure you know of anything you might want to avoid eg a birthday, a 'sad' date etc. If you don't really have any expectations for a particular date you'll probably get one easier and then you can get on with all your planning properly. Oh and at least you'll be OK when it comes to sorting numbers as there's maxium numbers in each of the rooms for ceremony itself (45 in the boardroom, about 70 I think in the library) and if you're doing the safari it's a minimum of 60 and max of I think 120 so that saves you letting numbers run away with themselves!
Have fun...we're in Chester shopping on Saturday so may pop in the zoo for an hour or two at the end of the day. Will keep a look out for a dizzy smiley bride to be bounding out of the Oakfield

nuttymummy

well i was hoping for early september, (year is optional at the mo LMAO)
im not quite sure what is in season, and what is out? and its mentioned there are 'cheaper' options by not going exclusive which i may opt for, but dont know if thats do-able in September?

I dont think i could go anywhere else for the night-do...id have to have the full thing there as its about an hours drive away from where i live anyway!! having to think about putting a coach on.

yeah numbers im pretty good with as i know the minimums and maximums and only have quite a small family so keeping it small for the meal/afternoon tea (whichever!) and then just doing the minimum for the BBQ and safari

my appointment is at 10.00am!!! youll probably just hear a woman squealing with excitement....and then bursting into tears after hearing i cant have things they way i want them LOL

becca0417

Good luck with setting a date x

ellay864

I don't know how non-exclusive works if you're having the whole thing there. In my case it applied to just having a room for the daytime ceremony and meal, which was £400 up til 5.30pm. But then we wanted more than we could fit to sit down to eat in there, though we did want it for the ceremony (it seats 45 for ceremony but only 32-36 for meal) so we're having the two rooms, which costs £700. As far as I know it still counts as non-exclusive as the bar bit could have public in but that won't bother us. To have room(s) only like we're doing wasn't possible for September as they know they can hire exclusively at that time of year. But if you're having the evening bit as well there it may count as exclusive anyway?? No idea...never heard of your situation lol
10am is far too early for us to be at the zoo but if you're that bad I may hear you in the city...I'll keep an ear out! Good luck x

nuttymummy

lol yeah 10am is early for us, as it means setting off at 9am....which means getting up mega early to get the kids ready and packed of to their nans! LOL

yeah it does sound odd doesnt it!! LOL they just said they can try and suit any budget by exclusive, non exclusive etc. which is why im going to cry if i have to pay the full lot LOL...it will be at least £5000...and thats not including all the little hidden extras like registrar, and telling the different county your getting married there, corkage fees etc.....and of course all the rest like dress, photographer favours etc LOL

trouble is i cant imagine having my wedding anywhere else now!!

wonder if it applies to midweek? though i cant see everyone booking days off work to come then....hmmm tough one!

MissPixie

I would love to get married at the zoo put the cost put us off especially after we found our venue which is amazingly cheap. If you are worried about people not coming to a midweek wedding make sure it is in school holidays and I have found lots of people are much more open to the idea especially if you tell them the date as soon as you know it so they can plan.

nuttymummy

thanks
yeah im not a 'posh' hotel person, not very religious so a church would be pointless.....and i just thought a zoo would really reflect our personalities....that and it was the place of our first date LOL
the only other place i would consider is blackpool tower, but dont think u can marry there LOL
it says u can on their site but its REALLY old and dont know if they do or not now LOL

ellay864

The zoo are pretty accommodating and I'm sure they'll do their best to find something to suit. The registrar fee currently for a Saturday is £345, cheaper for other days, though those prices only run up to March 2012 so it may go up. The fee to give notice works out around £70 for the 2 of you. I know weekday weddings are cheaper but Chester Zoo in the summer holidays can be mad! We asked about corkage but with what they charge for that it's hardly worth doing and you might as well go with their own. After that it's up to you...there's plenty of ways you can cut back on the other things
Btw I tried looking for Blackpool Tower and can't find anything to make it seem obviously you can still get married there now