So you’re getting married! It’s time to think of the perfect setting to celebrate your big day. But with so many fantastic venues to choose from, how do you know which is best for you? Your Wedding takes a look at some venues with a difference.

Your wedding day is one of the most important and memorable days of your life, and it should be enjoyed and leave you and your guests with some really happy memories. Your venue is where the majority of your wedding day will be spent once the ceremony is over, so finding a place which has meaning and suits you and your partners’ personalities can be difficult.

Here in the Midlands we’re extremely lucky to have a wide selection of breathtaking venues dotted around our towns, villages and countryside. Each offers its own unique architecture, interiors and gardens, suitable for traditional or more contemporary weddings.

Unless you already have a particular venue in mind, searching for one which provides everything you are looking for may be one of the most time consuming factors in planning your wedding. It may be a good idea to see what venues are available locally via the internet first to find out what is available, where and roughly how much it will cost. Corporate websites have come a long way over the years and will usually provide thorough details on hiring the venue for a civil ceremony and / or wedding reception, including menu options and possible accommodation details.

Once you have a drawn a short list, take the time to drive out and visit the venues for a closer inspection. When you’re there, don’t be afraid to ask for a full viewing of all the rooms, gardens or other areas where you and your guests may spend time during your wedding day celebrations.

Here are some of our favourite ideas for a venue with a difference:

Fairytale Beginnings

When picturing the perfect wedding, many brides conjure up romantic dreams of horse-drawn carriages, magical castles and grand stately homes. Luckily, with our region’s wealth of grand and stunning estates, your fairytale wedding may not be in a land as far, far away as you’d have first thought. In fact, it could be right on your doorstep.

One of the great advantages of booking a stately home or castle as your wedding venue is the fact that since 1994, most are now authorised to carry out civil ceremonies, so you and your partner are able to have your ceremony and reception within the same place, which is a particularly good idea if you’re planning a winter wedding or if you have lots of guests travelling from far and wide. What’s more, several of these venues offer exclusive use, which means the property and all its grounds are solely available to only you and your guests throughout your wedding day.

Another advantage of having your civil ceremony within a stately home or castle is the photo opportunities you’ll be provided with. Acres of spectacular gardens and grounds will provide stunning backdrops to your wedding photos. And, if the weather lets you down, luxuriously decorated halls and rooms will still capture the essence of the day perfectly in indoor shots.

Many couples believe the costs of hiring such grand venues are too expensive for their budget, but this isn’t necessarily so. Prices can fluctuate greatly between venues and the changing seasons. Your quote may also vary depending on how much of the venue you are looking to hire for the day. Plus, some great deals can be had on wedding packages throughout 2010, due to the recent credit crunch.

To finish your celebrations off with a bang, what could be more impressive than a grand firework display lighting up the starry sky above your chosen venue.

A stately home or castle really can offer you the fairytale wedding you have always dreamed of, leaving you to relax and enjoy the day in the full knowledge that every aspect will be taken care of by the professionals. And as everyone knows, true fairytales always have a happy ending!

Magnificent Marquees

Many couples choose a fixed venue, such as a hotel. Hotels are great, as they often offer you a range of menus to choose from, a DJ and rooms at a discount rate for you and your guests. However, marquees have become increasingly popular over the last decade. Unlike hotels, marquees offer individuality to every couple. Size and shape is flexible and there can be a fantastic range of styles, depending on which company you go with. Marquees are really just a shell in which you as a couple can fill with your own style and personality. A marquee also gives you complete control over your big day as you won’t be restricted to a certain choice of menu or DJ.

One of the best things about a marquee is that it can be erected just about anywhere; grass, concrete, tarmac or gardens, hotel grounds and even inside other standing structures, such as a sports hall.

If you have decided that a marquee venue is the way forward for you and your partner, you need to think about size and layout. These factors are very important when considering a marquee. Too much space will create a lack of intimacy and atmosphere, while too little will make it difficult to find space for a DJ and dancefloor later on in the evening.

You will also need to think about necessities such as furniture, lighting, heating, toilets and catering. However, most marquee companies will supply or have contacts for all these extras. For more advice on organising your own caterer see our Magical Locations article on page 41.

Decorating your marquee is where you can really start to have fun and bring in all your own personal touches. There is no right or wrong way to decorate a wedding marquee. The most important thing is that you are happy with how it looks and feel that it truly represents you and your partners’ personalities as a couple.

Reveals (or false walls) are an excellent way to create that ‘wow’ factor for guests, exposing a surprise band for evening entertainment. The most popular format is to shield a band or dancefloor until a given moment, ideally the couples’ first dance. This has been done at many a wedding to the guests’ delight and surprise.

A marquee venue really can offer you the most personal wedding you could ask for, with everything still taken care of by the professionals. So why not enjoy the most special day of your lives with your friends and families in your own unique style!

Significant Settings

Last, but by no means least, some couples really push the boat out and celebrate their marriage somewhere significant to them as a couple. Think Carrie Bradshaw’s wedding to Big, in the ‘Sex and the City’ movie. After being inspired by all the old classic writers of love, Carrie decides New York City’s public library is the place to say her nuptials. And, why not? It may not be a conventional venue, but the architecture, wealth and grandness is all there and makes for a very unique and breathtaking venue.

So, when considering venues with a difference for your own wedding day, take into account charitable foundations that may have some significance to you and your other half, such as; a local museum which you regularly visit together, or a quaint petting farm with a lovely barn which can be used for functions, a public garden or a park which you have fallen in love with during a Sunday stroll, even your favourite football club or the local zoo you visited on your first date. These are all perfect places to celebrate your union with style, while incorporating your own personalities.

Not only will your wedding serve as a useful source of revenue for the chosen host or charity, it will also raise awareness of their work and what they do. And, purposely choosing such a venue will help send out strong, personal messages to your guests about the things you and your partner care about. It can also be an obvious way to set the theme for your celebrations.

Of course, if you do choose a venue like one of these mentioned above, you will need to seek permission to do so. Unfortunately, not all places will be willing or able to allow such an event like a wedding to take place due to restrictions or insurance policies, but there’s no harm asking and you’ll never know until you try.

However, if you do get the go ahead, you will have to be prepared to do a lot of the organising yourself. Chances are, there will be no in-house wedding co-ordinator, so you must be willing to sort out decorating the venue, arranging the flowers, catering and furniture, and possibly even a civil ceremony license if you wish to marry at the venue rather then a local church or registry office. Again, try not to be too disappointed if you get knock-backs and always have a plan B under your tiara!

Although there will be a lot of hard work involved if you choose to hold your reception somewhere unconventional but significant to you, the pros should nearly always outweigh the cons. You’ll be guaranteed a totally unique wedding, which no one will forget and possibly even change history by being the first couple to celebrate their marriage under one of Monet’s originals or with the roar of lions in the near distance!

Words by Maria Clift