Task 4 - Deciding what to do with the venue.

You have your guest list draft.
You have your venue.

So know you can start planning the style of wedding you would like or the theme that you would like to create.
This will help you finalise your guest list and work out the final number that you can accommodate for.
It might be that you want a Registry office wedding and a big party reception,a Church wedding with a sit down meal, or have the whole day in one place.
You could have a sit down meal, a BBQ, a picnic, afternoon tea, a buffet, a hog roast, the list goes on and on.
You may want a vintage wedding, summer fete, winter wonderland, nautical,beach wedding, Autumn Wedding... This is where your wedding becomes unique.

I will post a blog for a variety of themes as its an area that really excites me and I'd love to pass on some ideas.

You will probably find that your venue dictates to an extent the theme and the style of wedding that you have.
Our wedding is a Church of England Service. Our Church and Venue hold 100 at a squeeze so our initial thoughts of having a BBQ were put to a swift end when we thought about the layout of our hall and how 100 people would feel about moving in and out to get food and having to meander around each other. 
We have decided to opt for a sit down meal so that there was not as much moving around.
As the hall is of the Tudor era we felt that a rustic vintage theme fitted in beautifully.   
We spent a lot of time at our venue and made sure we measured and counted everything!!

Things to do while you're at the venue

• Count the tables and take measurements
• Count the chairs and take measurements
• Look at where power points and doors are
• measure the hall
• measure the outside space (Marquee's / Party Tents)
• measure any kitchen areas and other rooms
• count the toilets
• List all facilities the venue has to offer 
• list any equipment that you are allowed to borrow.

If you are allowed a good length of time in the hall then set it up!! Plan how you would like your tables to set out and see how easy it is for people to move around. 
If you are short of time then you can always sketch out your ideas to scale on graph paper. (Mum's tip)



TAKE LOTS OF PICTURES - Ceilings, floors, windows, doors.
   

Make sure you spend time creating mood boards and creating a look that works for you.

As I say your venue will help you dictate this.

I got a lot of my inspiration from Pinterest 

http://www.pinterest.com/naynay19841/

I loved reading real brides stories and found that the 'Wedding Ideas' magazine was fantastic and sharing real events and helped me have the 'I can do this' attitude.

http://www.weddingideasmag.com/

You may change your mind 100 times. We sent a shortlist of our options to our caterers of choice so that we could get a selection of quotes which also was a huge help in finalising our choices. We got a quote for Marquees, Bars, BBQ's, sit down meals. We felt it was important to have the information on hand to help us finalise our decision.

So have fun exploring magazines books and Pinterest. Get cutting sticking and creating! 

On my next blog I will go through my wedding theme and the decoration.

If you would like any help on selecting a theme or decoration ideas then please comment below or email me directly the-wedding-assistant@outlook.com 

Thank you!