How do you have a beautiful yet affordable wedding?

There are many clever ways to managing costs when planning a wedding; choosing the right venue, however, will impact your wedding budget in more ways than one. Make sure that you check the fine print ….

• Choose a venue that does not charge an extra fee for the ceremony room, let alone the chairs, registry table, etc 
• Check your venue does not need vast amounts of decoration to bring it to life. When you view a venue, check that everything you see is actually included in the price.  It is easy to spend thousands of pounds kitting out and decorating a venue as well as a lot of time and stress bringing it all together. Adding your own personal touches should simply be the cherry on the cake without the need to ice the whole cake beforehand. 
• Make sure the venue lets you set up the day before and clear away the day after.  You shouldn’t be running around doing seating plans on the morning of your wedding when you could be happily sipping a glass of champagne enjoying getting ready.
• Choose a venue that allows you to bring your own wine and does not charge corkage.  Corkage charges can be astronomical and wine offered with wedding packages has a big mark-up (and is still sometimes undrinkable).  A venue with no corkage charge means you can do a run to France or buy champagne or Prosecco when supermarkets have some great offers or just agree a bulk price with your local off-licence.  This also has the added advantage of offering your guests better wine … you can actually enjoy.
• Check you can arrange to have a cash bar after you have eaten at sensible prices or set up your own bar instead with no extra charge.
• Find a venue that is flexible with suppliers or allows DIY weddings.  If you have a handy family or bunch of friends it is possible for smaller weddings to do the food yourselves. You can more than half the catering costs with all hands to the pump.  If you want the professionals to take the pressure off your shoulders, then find a venue that is happy to work with your preferred outside caterers means you are not restricted to one or two caterers and no hidden mark-ups. 
• Of course the most important thing is to manage your guest list.  With average catering costs of approximately £50-£60 per head plus wine and bubbles for the toasts the cost of every guest mounts up pretty fast.  It is very easy to see why more and more couples are asking only their nearest and dearest to celebrate with them.  You can always ask some more friends in the evening to party with you but check your venue can accommodate more evening guests and yes, with no extra charges. 

 
Aside from the venue, you will find many ingenious and creative ideas on Instagram and Pinterest to add special details to your day.  With your beautiful venue booked, the price fixed and no hidden extras, this part will be where you can have some fun.
 
The Pilgrims Rest is a stunning 600 year old venue in the heart of East Sussex full of historic soul.  Offering all the above, we have recently been voted in their top 31 intimate wedding venues in the U.K by Bridebook.    
 
We have carefully designed and furnished the venue to provide a suite of changing rooms for the bridal party, lime-washed trestle tables wide enough for sharing platters and benches topped with faux furs; pewter candlesticks and candles; champagne buckets and even vintage wine decanters.  We supply Chivari chairs for the ceremony, pealights and garlands for the fireplaces, wood for the three open fires and many, many extras.  We have tried to think of everything you might need to make your day as perfect, and affordable, as possible. 
 
We have regular open days hosted by our amazing events team.  They will hold you hand on the day and introduce you to some of our talented local suppliers if you wish – all part of our commitment to helping you have a memorable, enjoyable and affordable wedding. 
 
If you would like to arrange to meet them please contact Amy on venue@pilgrimsrestbattle.co.uk or telephone on 07552873448.
 
The photograph was taken by Emma at www.epiclovestory.co.uk at Laura and John’s DIY wedding last summer.  A very last minute (and our very first) wedding held at The Pilgrims Rest.  This dynamic duo managed to pull the whole thing together in less than a month making the decorations, acres of bunting, all the food and cake themselves with the help of their wonderful family and friends.  It was an incredibly special and happy day that we were very proud to be a part of.

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