Home > Venues > Small

Small Wedding Venues On A Budget

18 years ago I had my own wedding reception at a small wedding venue and loved it, would easily recommend it to everyone getting married.

The best bits were obviously getting married but there is something brilliant about the intimacy of a small space and not just that there are a lot of savings to be made by going small.

The Advantages Of A Small Wedding Venue For Your Budget

Small Outdoor Wedding Venue

• You can only invite a select group of people, so overall your costs will be less and you won't feel bad about saying no to extra people.
• You get to talk to everyone at your wedding reception
• Even better, you will know everyone at your wedding and so will they too by the end of your day.
• Your wedding will be intimate
• Decorating your wedding reception is less stressful as it won't take too long to set up.
• Decorations will cost less as you won't have as many tables/chairs and space to make pretty.
• And if you really luck out, the venue may be too small to have it's own licence to sell alcohol so you could save even more money and bring your own.
• You will get to really know the staff at the venue, which makes everything much easier when it comes to getting everything together for your wedding reception. Even better they will really know you and what you would like for your wedding.

Disadvantages Of A Small Wedding Venue

• You will disappoint some of your friends and family by not being able to fit them in.
• There probably isn't going to be space for the live band and bucking bronco you have always dreamed of as your wedding entertainment.
• Everyone will need to get on
• Quite often small venues won't be able to accommodate all your needs if they are specialist or a bit quirky
• Some of the small wedding venues that I have worked at have been much stricter on the decorations that they allow, especially candles, so please check before you go out and buy everything.

What To Look For In A Small Wedding Venue

• Make sure you have exclusive use of the venue during your wedding ceremony and reception. If the venue is really small there will just not be enough space to have strangers walking in.
• Check on the levels of staffing for your wedding reception
• Just as you would for a big venue, ask if it is possible to have a trial meal to make sure you are happy with the food and service.
• Check that the venues' rooms can fit the number of guests you want to invite comfortably. I have worked at some wedding venues where extra guests have ended up in an Annex to the main reception.
• Don't forget to print off my free checklist to help you find a great venue

Where To Find The Perfect Small Wedding Venue

• Finding the perfect small wedding venue means not always looking in the "normal" places.
• You now have a big excuse to use social media for your wedding planning as some of the best venues I have found have been through twitter and believe it or not also check out pinterest and instagram. There you will find small venues that don't have the budgets to advertise in the usual way so they will be reaching out to local brides on their social media channels. Get tweeting and see what you get back.
• Also have a look at cafes, restaurants, night clubs and anywhere that can hold your numbers. Restaurants are often open to the idea of holding a wedding reception - especially in the afternoon or other times they wouldn't be open.
• Some brides I know have also hired a holiday villa or apartment and held their very relaxed wedding reception in a really unique place.
• Plus also check out any outdoor spaces you could use: parks, family gardens and maybe your old school?