Looking for the 'perfect' wedding reception venue

Relocationrelocation

Hi everyone, hoped I could pick some brains to help me and OH in the search for our 'perfect' wedding reception venue, ideally in Herts or London.

We are getting married abroad but want to have a party for friends and family in Feb 2014, ideally in a nice country pub or somewhere equally chilled out where we can have a nice sit down meal and some dancing with our nearest and dearest (about 50-60). The main problem we've been finding is most traditional venues are astronomically expensive, even in low season ... we've been getting quotes of £5-10K plus which is just ridiculous! We have one or two venues we could have it at as a back up but I am sure there are some good suggestions out there. Good food, an area to dance and nice surroundings are important to us but we are not too concerned with all the trappings (seat covers, favours, centre pieces etc) that usually come with weddings and bump up the price.

So, I was wondering if any of you have been to a memorable wedding reception in the last few years, at cheap but cheerful venue, you could recommend? Thanks in advance.

Haushinka

We had our wedding reception in the carshalton water tower. The area is beautiful and the tower is on the ground of a girls school which is an old mansion. You'd have to either hire caterers/bar & someone to decorate the place for you, or like us decorate it yourself, tell your guests to bring a bottle (we actually supplied about £250 of alcohol and we've got a whole spare room of alcohol left!) and cater yourself. They have a small kitchen there. Depending on your theme though and budget, there are lots of independant catering companies, try KERB food for ideas. I found that their prices for 50-60 guests was around £1000-1500. The venue costs £55 per hour to hire and that would include the set up hours & tidy up BUT if you become a friend of the water tower (costs £10 for a couple) you get 10% off.

http://www.carshaltonwatertower.co.uk/

The outside may look a little scary but I promise you the inside is wooden floors, very big windows and lots of historical things to look at. They have a water wheel in the back where the walls are all exposed brick.

That's my 2p anyway (appreciate this isn't quite London, just bordering!)

*I must mention that when I looked at the tower the first time, I wasn't sure, it took A LOT of work to make it look the way I wanted it, but it's basically a blank canvas and can be had a lot of fun with if you are quite adventurous! Also the greyhound pub is across the road with rooms at £85 a night and a bar that's open till 2am for the more seasonal drinkers!

floss2

I guess the first thing you say when you ring/visit anywhere is "We're looking for a venue for our wedding reception"....they will double/treble the price just for that "W" word!

Try calling them all and asking for prices for a family celebration / dinner & disco and see what the prices are like then.

Relocationrelocation

Thanks Haushinka - exactly the type of advice I was after!

@Floss2 - I am planning on having the cake in your icon for my wedding!

Yes, agreed any mention of the 'w' word and costs go up.

Mrs_Huggett

Haushinka wrote: »

We had our wedding reception in the carshalton water tower. The area is beautiful and the tower is on the ground of a girls school which is an old mansion. You'd have to either hire caterers/bar & someone to decorate the place for you, or like us decorate it yourself, tell your guests to bring a bottle (we actually supplied about £250 of alcohol and we've got a whole spare room of alcohol left!) and cater yourself. They have a small kitchen there. Depending on your theme though and budget, there are lots of independant catering companies, try KERB food for ideas. I found that their prices for 50-60 guests was around £1000-1500. The venue costs £55 per hour to hire and that would include the set up hours & tidy up BUT if you become a friend of the water tower (costs £10 for a couple) you get 10% off.

http://www.carshaltonwatertower.co.uk/

The outside may look a little scary but I promise you the inside is wooden floors, very big windows and lots of historical things to look at. They have a water wheel in the back where the walls are all exposed brick.

That's my 2p anyway (appreciate this isn't quite London, just bordering!)

*I must mention that when I looked at the tower the first time, I wasn't sure, it took A LOT of work to make it look the way I wanted it, but it's basically a blank canvas and can be had a lot of fun with if you are quite adventurous! Also the greyhound pub is across the road with rooms at £85 a night and a bar that's open till 2am for the more seasonal drinkers!

They have a free open houses event this weekend so it would be a good time to visit, we often go to things like that as my DH does photography as a hobby, but thisa would be great for me to have a look at as I could add it to my website for clients looking for quirky venues, thanks so much, and if anyone wants a report on the place I will let you know next week (this is subject to DH wanting to go in the morning hahaha!)

Mrs_Huggett

Hello all just back from a flying visit to the Water Tower in Carshalton and everything Haushinka said is spot on, the volunteers are a friendly bunch and the building is really quirky, you could do a lot with it decor wise to make it your own for the day/evening, Carshalton Village is a pretty place in parts, the Greyhound has always been a decent pub (we remember it from DH's Sunday League footballing days) and still seems good from the roadside! All in all I think it would be a good choice for a small/medium reception. I shall be adding it to my website's links page and have offered my vintage DJ'ing free to them for events that I can network from in return!

Haushinka

I'm so glad this helped someone! It really was a lovely day at the water tower and all our guests commented on how personal and different the day was, some even said it was the best wedding they'd been too, so it's definitely worth looking at. Plus it's budget. When I told people how much we'd spent on our wedding they were stunned. I'm very proud to say we had our reception there.

duchy

I didn't have my reception at the Water Tower but in the town hall in Sutton just up the road - We used caterers recommended by the Council to people hiring their spaces and it was excellent and very reasonable. Too long ago to remember the details now but just mentioning it in case anyone is thinking of the Water Tower (I'd imagine a nice photo op to be had by the bridge at the ponds there too)

pinkie_pie

Do you have to tell them it's a wedding?