Quite earlier on my husband and I had decided that we didn’t want to have a big, lavish wedding. It’s ok if you want too but it just wasn’t for us. If you’re from a South Asian background, it’s impossible to downsize on guests and that’s when things get sticky. We were both in a predicament as he is the eldest and first nephew/grandson… first everything to get married basically and I’m the last child and only daughter of the house, so you can almost guess what shattered our dreams of a low key wedding.

One of the major stresses for me during wedding planning was finding a date that everyone can agree on. We had already agreed it will be a summer wedding in August, as it only made sense- school holidays, his family were coming from oversees etc. So that’s that a summer wedding what could be so hard? Oh well sorting out an actual date only went on about 5 days itself. As we wanted a summer wedding in the most anticipated month of the year, we had to be quick and secure a date ASAP! We started off by looking at the 3^rd week of August, then the last and finally decided on the 2^nd week. Alas Alhamdulillah 16^th August had been set for the date, it wasn’t as easy as I’ve just made it sound, I wish it was! The next job was to find the venue.

I had always assumed that I would have the same venue as my brothers did, since their wedding I’ve been to this same venue various times and always imagined how my wedding would be there. Unfortunately, my in laws weren’t big fans of the venue so we had to move on from that idea quite swiftly. I started off by listing some popular venues that kept coming up on my instagram feed lately. Prior to this research, I hadn’t looked into ANY venues due to the reason above. 

Anyways, I made a list of all the venues I wanted, checked if the date was available, seating capacity and timings (we wanted a lunch time wedding) etc. Now please don’t ask me for prices as the prices constantly change based on dates, times and seasons, so it’s best to do your own research. Most of the venues I had looked at had already been booked. So I was left with 3 choices. My in laws were also doing their own research at the same time and they didn't mind the venues I found. The first venue's date went by the time we finished enquiring and the 2nd one didn't work because they only hired out the hall and you had to find your own decor etc. I didn't want to fuss around with all that but rather have one company deal with it all. 

We finally ended up choosing The Ark Royal Venue as they had a package that included catering, décor etc. We looked into this venue on a Friday and then my brothers and some of his family visited it on the Saturday, made sure everything was ok, finalised some details including catering options etc. paid a deposit and secured everything. And that was that… pheeew! That was a big headache for me as I was anxious not to lose the date and just wanted something secured.

On the Friday night once we’d agreed on the venue, my family and I created a rough guest list on excel. This really helped us to narrow down exactly who will be there.  If you’re lucky enough to downsize more please do so! It’s actually crazy how much the wedding expenses shoot up just purely because of the size of the venue you opt for and for the number of people you’ll be catering for.

A few weeks after we had booked the venue my brother, sister in law and I went to visit it. We had booked to go with my in laws too however, they couldn’t make it and so they told me to go and choose whatever I like as they trust my choice. 

My husband as like many husbands were totally fine with leaving everything for this wedding to me. I did like having this control but sometimes I did think, it’s not just my day and did ask him to be a bit more involved. In the beginning I did start off with choosing things and then showing him before finalising… but then that later changed to be organising, finalising and then showing him what I’ve arranged. Of course he loved everything I chose and didn’t really mind me doing that. Anyways, we went to the venue on the weekend where storm Dennis decided to make an appearance. It was the coldest and stormiest day ever. Nevertheless, it was nice to see the venue. 

Believe it or not, they actually had a wedding on that day so due to this we got the chance to see the venue in all of its glory. I absolutely fell in love with it.  We got the chance to tour the venue ourselves then had one of the guys from the venue take us around. At the end we sat down in the office and I got to choose the décor which included the centre pieces, stages- we chose to have two stages, one grand where he will be most of the time and I’ll meet him at the end and one small one for me. I loved how it had a bridal suite too where I can have a quick touch up. They also have a golf course where many couples have their couple shoots. And we found other quirky details too. I took lots of photos and then shared them with my in laws. They were happy with my choice and that was that really. The venue all done and ready to go. I will have to come back in a couple of months to sort out the floor plan etc. But for the mean time this was all sorted.

Stay tuned for part three which will be all about... The wedding planner, vendors and making bookings!