Surrey/Sussex Venue Help!

Pink_Princess13

Hello everyone,

I've been on the forum for ages but not posted a lot, but I'm hoping you might be able to help me.

I've just got engaged (woo hoo!) but I'm already getting a bit miffed with wedding planning. The problem is finding a venue... As I want to get married this year (October) I have got on to venues straight away but many are already fully booked for this year and the next! The one's that do have availability seem to be hugely expensive (£8k minimum spend on food & drink plus £2k room hire!).

Our budget for everything is around £15k but I was hoping to spend more like £7k on the food/drink and venue hire, maybe I'm being unrealistic??

Does anyone know of any pretty venues in the Surrey/Sussex area (we're near Gatwick) which have a nice-ish area outside (mainly for pics) which is reasonably priced? I would really love a barn type venue, but I'm starting to realize I probably wont be able to get that

Oh, and feel free to tell me if I am being unrealistic

Thanks!
PP

Justengaged

Congrats on getting engaged, would immediately recommend here http://www.bartholomewbarn.co.uk/

Cannot recommend this place enough - I got married there in July and it was amazingly beautiful, obviously it was a lot warmer then and the flowers were in bloom etc so not sure how much different it will look in October, but seems to match what you're looking for.

It has the outside area, it's in Sussex, it's a Barn, price is reasonable for what you get compared to some other places and you can get your own catering in (I didn't bother using any of the recommended caterers so it was even cheaper).


If you have a look and perhaps even go and view it you will love it I'm sure.

ruby_eskimo

Are you flexible with the day of the week for your wedding? We're getting married on a Thursday as our venue don't charge venue hire for Mon - Thur weddings which meant we could have the venue we wanted for the price we wanted and ended up saving us over £3k. It also meant that venues were more likely to have availability as the weekens get booked up quickly.

If you're looking to go a bit further afield, we looked at Rivervale Barn in Yately which was lovely and for October this year it was under £7k for 50 day guests and 100 evening guests, and the use of the cottage on the wedding night.

The tithe barn at Losely Park is also quite pretty but I have no idea on the costs for there.

Grimbal

Have a look at South Lodge, just south of Horsham. They are a country style hotel with lovely restaurants (The Pass has a Michelin star).

The wedding planners are lovely in there - we didn't go for the full blow out, just preferring to hire a room for a private lunch. All handled impeccably. They also do the "big" weddings there, and one of my ex-colleagues had their wedding there & said it was superb

http://www.southlodgehotel.co.uk/EXCLUSIVE_HOTELS/weddings_and_ceremonies.aspx

Pink_Princess13

Thank you everyone, I will have a look at all your suggestions, ruby_eskimo I am seriously considering another day, it would save a fortune and shouldn't affect those people who I am really bothered about being there so it's definitely an option!

ruby_eskimo

Pink_Princess13 wrote: »

Thank you everyone, I will have a look at all your suggestions, ruby_eskimo I am seriously considering another day, it would save a fortune and shouldn't affect those people who I am really bothered about being there so it's definitely an option!

The way I see it, the last bank holiday before Christmas is in August, so that way people get a little bit of an extra break between. Plus it just saved us so much money!