Note: this is a sponsored post, in collaboration with venuefinder.com.
As you may or may not know, I’m getting married in September this year! Chris proposed just before Christmas, and since then we’ve been trawling the Internet for ideas, inspiration and suppliers to make sure that our big day is just the way we want it.
The first thing we need to book was the venue – luckily we weren’t tied to a specific date, otherwise it could have been even trickier! We wanted to get married in the Bristol area (it’s where we both met, after all)…but we needed the venue to be just right.
We wanted somewhere that would allow us to have the ceremony and reception in the same place, as well as being open to us bringing our own catering (funnily enough, the food’s going to be quite a big focus…) We wanted some outside space, and we wanted the freedom to be able to decorate the place in our own way.
Thinking about it now, we were probably asking quite a lot, especially when, compared to many, we have relatively little time to plan!
We ended up picking the first venue we viewed, namely the Nailsea Tithe Barn (which is stunning, very affordable and very flexible!) We only viewed one other, but considering they charged £5 per bottle for corkage (£7 for fizz), the outside space was shared with the general public and we could only get in the night before if we paid an extra £400, it was a definite no.
We only stumbled across Nailsea Tithe Barn after extensive Googling – so I was intrigued when Venuefinder got in touch. It’s a free online database of venues which lists over 15,000 UK and international venues. You can search by location, meeting rooms, maximum capacities, rates and more – it’s great for everything from wedding celebrations and birthday parties to conferences and exhibitions.
You just need to register with a few details, and the site’s then free to use. Each listing is comprehensive: you’ll find information about the venue, photos, floor plans, maps, contact details, capacities, hire rates, number of bedrooms (if applicable), whether there’s disabled access, the type of occasion the venue’s suitable for…there’s certainly plenty of detail!
I love that you can search by venue type too – whether it’s hotels, boats, cathedrals, cinemas, nightclubs or any other venue type, there’s something to suit all tastes…and their “unusual venues” category throws up all sorts of novel ideas which, in Bristol, include the likes of Circomedia and TeamSport Go Karting Bristol.
If, after searching, you still can’t find what you’re after, Venuefinder also have a free venue finding service: simply send them a brief and they’ll send over a detailed proposal that includes choices of at least 3 venues.
I’m impressed with what I’ve seen so far – I just wish I’d known about Venuefinder earlier! With birthday parties, blogger events and more to plan down the line, I’ve bookmarked it for future use!
Have you ever used Venuefinder? Where would be your recommendations for great event spaces in Bristol?