Planning the perfect wedding means finding the perfect venue, starting with knowing where to host it. While there are plenty of UK counties suitable for the perfect wedding day – complete with countryside backdrops and incredible local suppliers – Surrey is a popular choice, thanks to its abundance of stunning wedding venues.
To help you find the right one for you, we’ve put together an in-depth guide to searching through the best wedding venues Surrey has to offer to find the one for your dream day. Let’s get into it.
1. Set a Budget
Okay, this is the most boring part of wedding planning, but sadly one of the most important, Choosing a budget, and sticking closely to it, will ensure that you don’t spend more that you have, and you don’t fall in love with a venue that you then realise you can’t afford.
Factor in everything from venue hire to flowers and photography, and don’t forget hidden costs like VAT and service charges. Remember to ask about add-ons such as corkage or an overtime charge. When you’ve got your budget, stick to it as closely as possible – it’s better to go a little under on spending initially, then you can plan finishing touches with whatever you have leftover.
2. Decide on Capacity
Establishing your capacity in advance will greatly benefit your search of the wedding venues Surrey has to offer. For example, while you might fall in love with a super larger venue, if you’re having fewer than 100 guests, it won’t be cost-effective for you to spend money on a large space.
Likewise, deciding on capacity in advance will help you filter venues, making it easier to do a fair comparison between them.
3. Establish Your Dream Style
Your venue will, to some extent, be dictated by the style of wedding you have in mind. If you’re opting for something more bohemian, with a casual dress code, a rustic barn will be more suitable than a lavish manor.
If you plan on having an elegant and sophisticated day, on the other hand, country manors and castles will give your wedding day that fairytale feel. The best thing about finding wedding venues Surrey, is that the county is home to a huge range of wedding venues, from small, charming barn-style venues to sleek, stylish hotels.
4. Check for Local Suppliers
While Surrey is known for having excellent wedding suppliers, from photographers to caterers, different towns and villages may have more or less, or certain suppliers might only work in specific parts of Surrey.
If you’ve fallen in love with a photographer’s work or you have a certain caterer’s cuisine in mind, it’s worth checking whether they cover the whole county or just parts. If they work in a specific area, focus your search for wedding venues Surrey in that particular spot.
5. Consider Logistics and Guest Comfort
Yes, your wedding day should be the best day of your life, but it shouldn’t come at the expense of your guests. When it comes to your wedding venue, bear in mind how easy the location will be for your guests to access, as well as local accommodation.
If you have guests with disabilities or special requirements, prioritise hunting for accessible venues, while those having guests with dietary requirements should search for inclusive caterers.
6. Compare Different Venues
Even if you think the first venue you visit is your favourite, it’s worth checking out others just to compare aspects and features you might not have realised you need/don’t need. By looking at a variety of venues in your price range with the right capacity, you can better understand how you actually want your dream day to look.
7. Search a Third-Party Website
Following on from our last point, comparing different venues is a must, which is why it’s so important to search using a third-party site. Not only are third-party sites less biased towards one venue or another, giving a more neutral overview, but you’ll also find it easier to compare multiple venues directly.
For Better For Worse is home to a ton of wedding venues Surrey, ranging from boutique hotels to bohemian barns and even some outdoor spaces. The handy filtering tool allows you to look only at venues that are within your capacity and style, making it easier to look through a selection of venues that suit your vision. Plus, given that only the best wedding venues Surrey has to offer make it onto the site, you’re guaranteed to find a premium option.
8. Visit in Person
The final step to ensuring the venue is right for you is visiting in person! This is the really exciting part. Ask as many questions to the on-site staff as you like, and don’t forget to take photos, so when you’re making your final decision at home, you have a reference point.