Are affordable wedding venues the ‘new normal’?
As we’re emerging from the coronavirus pandemic, we are dealing with a whole load of “new normal” changes: working from home, furloughed from jobs, planning school holidays at home instead of going abroad and for the self-employed, re-imagining our businesses and breathing life into our livelihoods in a Corona-world. One thing is for sure, the majority of us are working with smaller budgets for every aspect of our lives right now.
We can already see a new trend emerging with an increase in the number of online enquiries for “small wedding venues for 10 guests”, “low cost wedding venues Devon”, “cheap wedding venues Devon”. The nature of enquiries we’re receiving in our inbox are in a similar vein with more and more couples looking for wedding packages for under £2000 or considering cheap wedding venues in Devon. The rise in these types of searches shows us that already couples aren’t necessarily deferring weddings but deciding to go ahead and plan their weddings albeit on a more prudent budget.
These trends serve to remind us that life goes on. We continue to fall in love and want to marry that special person. Some couples are choosing not to defer their wedding plans, but many are being creative with their budgets, opting for simpler and smaller intimate weddings that are just as special, beautiful and deeply meaningful as some of the bigger budget weddings we host.
Behind every search for “cheap wedding venues in the UK” is a couple, like you, who are in love and have their own unique dreams and hopes for their wedding day. In this article we’ll share some ingenious ways we can help to make your wedding on a budget simply stunning.
Top tips for creating a dream wedding on a budget
The amount of money you spend on your wedding is not always equal to the quality of your wedding day experience you enjoy. Spending less on your wedding does not need to mean your day will feel “cheap”. A cost effective, yet super-special wedding day at a stunning venue with great service and a very special vibe doesn’t necessarily require a big spend. We’ve hosted a number of fabulous weddings for couples working to tight budgets and we’re sharing a few ideas from our experience that we hope might help you create your dream wedding, without breaking the bank.
1. A condensed wedding day
Rather than hiring a wedding venue for the whole day and evening, why not consider a shorter hire period, effectively condensing your wedding day into a smaller number of hours? For example, at Brickhouse Vineyard we offer a 6-hour wedding hire package which allows enough time for your ceremony, toast drinks on the terrace, overlooking the vineyard, photography in and around the grounds and a sit-down meal for you and your guests. You can even follow your meal by cutting your wedding cake and even enjoy your first dance in the Roundhouse. This is the perfect length day for couples including children and/or elderly guests in their wedding day celebrations.
2. Book a ceremony only wedding essentials package
Another way to reduce the cost of your wedding day is to split it down into two or three sections.
Firstly, you can enjoy your ceremony, toast drinks, photography and maybe even your first dance at your wedding venue, including those you really want to be there for your ceremony. Part two of your wedding day might be a wedding meal of your choice. This could be anything from a sumptuous meal for a select few at a wonderful local restaurant, a BBQ or picnic at home for all your friends and family or festival style catering van at a local farmer’s field with a marquee. Finally, you’ve the option to add a wedding evening party at another cost-effective venue if you wanted to extend your day and your guest list. For example, wedding field or campsite hire, your local village hall, your own garden or a relative’s property.
Mixing and matching these elements of your wedding day will ensure your budget goes further, and on top of that, you’ll be creating a totally unique wedding day experience that’s right for you. Think about how you envisage each part of your day, who you would like to be involved at each stage and which setting or venue might work best for each aspect of your day.
3. Invite fewer people
A great wedding is not defined by the number of people who attend, but by the love and joy your handpicked guests, however many that might be, bring with them to witness your marriage vows and help you celebrate your special day. If you opt for a more intimate wedding with fewer guests you’ll have time to enjoy the company of all your guests, rather than feeling that although you’ve spent all day chatting, you’ve hardly spoken to anyone properly. Inviting fewer people can limit wedding day stress, raise enjoyment levels and reduce costs. We love hosting heartfelt, meaningful wedding days like this that are just bursting with love and laughter.
4. Mid-week dates
Many wedding venues like Brickhouse Vineyard offer reduced rates for mid-week wedding dates. If you and your chosen guests can be flexible and consider a mid-week date then you will, in many cases, benefit from reduce venue hire and registrar/celebrant fees. This will do nothing to detract from the beauty of the venue you have chosen or the quality of the services you book to complete your wedding day: everything will be just as perfect as a weekend date except for the price. In fact, you’re more likely to be able to secure your first-choice wedding day service suppliers e.g. florist, photographer etc. on a less popular mid-week date and for some of these services, a discount may apply for mid-week bookings. It’s worth shopping around if this is something that’s important to you.
5. Low season dates
Wedding venue bookings between November and the end of March (excluding Christmas and New Year) are often less expensive than those in spring and summer months. There are plenty of wonderful indoor wedding venues like Brickhouse Vineyard that can accommodate your wedding come rain or shine, and are just perfect for winter weddings.
Imagine, furs, candles, a plethora of fairy lights, wintery twigs, berries and rich, velvety reds, deep winter greens and chocolate browns as a mood board to inspire your winter wedding vision. The winter season really does provide the perfect backdrop to cosy intimate weddings and will certainly make your wedding unique and truly memorable.
6. Homemade touches
There are also many upsides to budget weddings, including getting your sleeves rolled up (and those of your family and friends!) with a bit of homemade creativity. You can include inexpensive/free personal touches e.g. picking your own wild flowers instead using a florist, bringing your own picnic baskets packed with goodies from friends and family, having a relative make your cake, pimping your mum’s old wedding dress and make it your own. The options are endless.
If you’re interested can read lots more clever money saving wedding ideas on The Thrify Bride.
And finally…
Regardless of how much you pay for your wedding at Brickhouse Vineyard, you’ll always receive the highest levels of personal service from us from the moment you make first contact to when we wave you a fond farewell after your wedding.
You can see more details about our wedding packages here. To find out more about wedding options at Brickhouse Vineyard please get in touch with Joanna. We’d love to hear from you!
Images by Mimosa Photography