Wedding Venues Kent??

pinkskyatnight

hiya can anyone recommend any wedding venues in kent? we are based in ashford. got engaged early december and have also just got my head around planning a wedding so need some help!
any recommendations?
any where hideous that you wish you never bothered visiting?
i am going to my first wedding fair near maidstone on sunday so hopefully might get some ideas there
thanks:A

vikingaero

My brother is getting married at Lympne Castle in August. Never been there but it looks pretty good:

http://www.lympnecastle.co.uk/

They chose the venue because Mrs Bridezilla is a KCC employee and they get a discount.

Moomum

Leeds castle and the museum of Kent life both are gorgeous wedding venues.

jtr2803

You need to look here:

http://www.akentishceremony.com/

This lists every licenced venue in Kent (excluding Medway) so is the easiest place to start. I will warn you though, Kent is just ridiculously expensive, even the registrars fees are some of the highest in the UK so you might want to do your budget planning first!

catalunya

I agree with jtr2803! Kent is ridiculous expensive! Cant believe how much I am paying to just say 'I do' !

You can get the Kentish Ceremony magazines at the wedding fairs too - maybe worth keeping any eye for them at your fair pinksky - I used it to cross through all the unsuitable ones and then that helped narrowed it down for me.

To chip in with a venue, I am getting married at the Hop Farm, Paddock Wood

Good luck with your search and let us know how you get on!

pinkskyatnight

hiya
thanks for the replies
yes i was sent a copy of kentish ceremony magazine but its so over whelming!! i dont even know where to start and dont really know what i want in the first place!
a lot of people have said to me that kent is really expensive, and that essex is much cheaper?
how have u chosen??????

catalunya

It can be overwhelming definitely!

I narrowed down by -

- Distance from home / how far we felt it was acceptable to travel
- Location - was it remote? We are getting married in December so weather could influence that
- Capacity - enough for reception and evening
- We also asked for recommendations and views from friends

After that, we went to visit the venues - many when they had free wedding fairs, which allowed me to view the venue with no pressure! We then narrowed down by cost, decor, style and the biggest one for us, flexibility.

Hope that helps!

junesong

Hello!

While it is true that Kent can be super expensive, there are some places that aren't too crazy!

We're getting married outside of Tenterden at Ratsbury Barn which is fairly reasonable. It was one of the only places that had the potential for an outside wedding and allowed you to arrange your own catering (ie not just with their recommended caterers) which were major factors in our decision. There were a couple of things that weren't ideal, such as there isn't a licence for a late party so we're having our reception elsewhere and because of the number of guests we are having we will have to hire additional toilet facilities.

However we have booked from 1pm until 7pm for £950. Their basic rate is £750 for four hours of hire, one having to precede the ceremony, and a further £100 for any extra.

We are having our reception at Chilham Village Hall which is costs £1100, but this hire is from the Friday before the wedding until the day after. You can also have your ceremony at Chilham, however having our wedding in a mostly outdoor location was more important to us. They have severely improved the website for the hall since we booked, and there is even a page that shows the layout of the hall!

Neither of these costs include the registrar/legal preliminaries/ceremony fee which, as jtr2803 says , ridiculously expensive! We've just booked our registrar and in total it is £703! And that is for a Saturday wedding between 1/04/13 and 31/03/14, it is lower for a weekday but the cost rises in April so that is something to consider as well!

Really hope this epic missive helps!