Wedding venue double booking

o_t_e

Thanks for the replies everyone - my mothers immediate thought was exactly yours Lady E - but i guess we'll never know if Ellingham bumped my brother for someone known to them. Although he was all for going to the media when this first all blew up I think they now just want to move on; he hasn't responded to the mail from them and I gather they have decided to turn the year delay to their advantage - they want to find another venue, book for 2008, then go on a round the world trip for a year - all right for some!

Slinky

You might just find it all works for the best in the end. We booked our venue, then I went back with my wedding coordinator to show her the place so we could work out what we were going to do for the day. The owner was really unhelpful, you can't do this, you can't do that....... I came away feeling we'd made a huge mistake. In the end we found a much nicer venue (Woburn Abbey, can't praise them enough) for our wedding and a lovely hall for our reception, and had the most fantastic day. We took our guests on a coach round the safari park, so many of them said it was the nicest wedding they'd been to. We wouldn't have had any of that with the original place we'd booked. We lost £200 deposit, but frankly it was worth it!

bikerqueen

So what happens of they don't cancel their booking with the registrar?

I'd be tempted not to.

o_t_e

I'm not clear on this point but it looks like he's not going to cancel; after basically trying to blackmail 'a small contribution' towards their wedding out of my brother to get them to change dates, frankly I would love it if the other couple had to come grovelling back and my brother was able to suggest that they make 'a small contribution' to his wedding.

regularsaver1

so who is having the wedding there now>?

choccybuttons

Being from the north east orginally I feel for you family.

I got married in Northern Ireland while living in Suffolk so appreciate the difficulty it can cause. This is how we did it.

My Mother in Law did lots of running around venues and sent us brochures, or the venues sent us literature directly. We read up on the internet and got reviews. Made a short list. Booked appointments and did them all in a weekend. Made a decision by the end of the weekend and paid a deposit.

Dont know if this helps.

Good Luck

o_t_e

Hi Regularsaver - the other couple are now apparently booked at Ellingham - whether they will obtain a registrar to marry them there is another matter...

Thanks for the advise choccybuttons - that's pretty much how it worked on the first search - both mothers had an initial visit (and enjoyed many free coffees and biscuits it has to be said!) then my brother and his girlfriend came up on weekends to view a bunch of the candidates - only problem is we've now run out of candidates - I've sent him details of a couple of place near Harrogate but I think they want to look further north ie borders / Edinburgh area - they want exclusive use of a place that can cater for 80 people and they are a bit thin on the ground.

Becles

Would they consider Gretna or is that too far?

I can highly recommend the Garden House hotel. We married at the Old Blacksmiths Forge in Gretna Green (also recommended!), but guests stayed for the weekend at the Garden House.

It's a beautiful hotel with spacious rooms - a lot have the bed(s) and a sofa in them, plus decent sized en-suite. There is a small health club with pool, sauna and jacuzzi that is free to use. The hotel has a hairdresser and beautician artist on site, who did our hair and make-up, and she was lovely. They also organised the hire of bridal car. The food was absolutely gorgeous and the staff couldn't do enough to help us. You can either eat in the main restaurant or book a private function room for your meal. You can also marry in the hotel, if they didn't want to go elsewhere. Best of all the hotel has beautiful Japanese style gardens that make a backdrop for fabulous photos. http://www.gardenhouse.co.uk/

I can also highly recommend a local florist and photographer if needs be.

bylromarha

Anyone else want to go to Ellingham Hall on the wedding day of the other couple and see how the venue deal with uninvited guests?!

Assuming a registrar will marry them...!

squibbs25

Or does anyone else want to go to Ellingham Hall and try and triple book the date (for a laugh?) Offer to pay over what the othe couple have paid! :rotfl:
They if they agree, tell them you've changed your mind as if they can let you over pay, then whats to stop someone else bidding over you? :eek:

Hope it all works out well in the end OP (o.t.e)

Regards,

Squibbs :A

Awful aren't I? LOL