Are there any events happening nearby on the date you book?
The standard of wedding venues is generally very high. So much so that if you are looking to have your wedding at a barn or hotel venue, it is actually quite difficult to find a bad one! Even so there are checks you can make that will make your day run more smoothly. You and your guests could save money without compromising your wedding day.
Checking there are no big events nearby is a vital thing to research. Booking on the weekend of major events can be be a real headache, especially if you and your guests are not local to the area, always check that the weekend you choose is not one of these very busy ones. The worst clash I ever experienced was a wedding that took place in a field next to the annual Sussex lawnmower grand prix. The noise through the ceremony was quite something!
If you are going to book during the tourist season it makes sense to check that there are no big events happening near your wedding venue. I live in Chichester and there are two big events at Goodwood every year. The Festival of Speed and the Goodwood Revival. When these events are on anywhere between 150,000 and 210,000 visitors can flock to the area.
Hotels
A big event puts a lot of strain on the facilities. The price of hotel rooms can triple – if you can find one. I met one couple that were paying nearly £300 a night to stay at a budget hotel chain. I shot another wedding during the festival of speed where the hotel block booking for their wedding guests was cancelled. The hotel took another booking from a luxury car manufacturer. So don’t assume that if you book in early your rooms are assured. The guests eventually had to stay at a hotel 20 miles away and be coached in. This caused a lot of stress not to mention extra expense and inconvenience to their day.
Traffic
Traffic can also be an issue if your wedding clashes with a major event. For the events near me they rarely clash with the beginning of wedding – they start too early. However they can interfere with two venue weddings when guests are travelling from the church to the reception venue as traffic starts to increase around 4pm. Again do your research and plan accordingly if you have a clash like this.
Coach/Taxi Hire
A knock on effect of all a large number of people booking up hotel rooms is an increase in demand for coaches and taxes. I have attended a wedding where a large number of the guests arrived late because there coach had an earlier booking at an event and was delayed because of the traffic around the venue. A scarcity of local coaches will always risk this type of thing happening.
All in all you can save yourself a lot of money and stress by checking what is going on locally. Good wedding venues will warn you if something is going on but it is always worth checking yourself. Don’t get caught out!
