ARRANGING THE SERVICE

Booking the Venue

There are literally thousands of venues out there for you to choose from and working out which one to book can be a bit of a minefield – luckily we have prepared an article entitled Choosing the Venue which should help point you in the right direction.

Once you know have created a shortlist of venues, your next step is to speak to each one in turn and confirm whether or not they are available on your chosen date and at your chosen time. As soon as you have pinpointed a particular venue, it is wise to make a provisional reservation straight away. If you plan to tie the knot in the next twelve months you should then immediately make an appointment to see a Superintendent Registrar (please refer to the section in this article entitled ‘Contacting the Register Office’) to check their availability on the selected day. Once you know that the Superintendent Registrar is available, you can then go on to firm up your booking with the venue.

For those couples who are planning ahead and whose Big Day is over a year away we still recommend that you make a provisional booking initially, even if you have your heart set on the venue. Opinions can change, and until you have seen every venue on your shortlist or considered all factors (in particular the cost relative to your budget) you should try to avoid making any firm commitments. Most venues will allow you to reserve a slot for a week, which should give you ample time to make sure that you have all the bases covered. Once you are sure that this is the venue for you, go ahead and make the booking.

Once you confirm to the venue that you are going ahead with the booking you will more than likely be asked to pay a deposit (or perhaps even the full amount if the date you have reserved is fast approaching). You can expect to pay a minimum of five percent deposit, although some venues will require anywhere up to fifty percent. When paying the deposit you should also ask for written confirmation of your booking and any specific requirements you have (music, seating etc.) and a receipt for the money paid. Settlement of the balance is normally required a few weeks before the Big Day, although again you should get written confirmation of when further payments are required at the time you pay your initial deposit.