Wedding Venues
In planning a wedding these days the venue is obviously a big factor. In the old days you used to just get married in the local church of your chosen brand and then had a few vol-auvents in the local pub.
Now, especially if you aren't religious, its a whole package, with 10% added on to the price because its a wedding. Hopefully its going to be the only time in your life when you get married and its not something that you can rewind and do again. So it has to be right. The venue has to be good enough for the ceremony, the wedding breakfast and the evenings frivolity. Lets be honest its easier to find someone to spend the rest of your life with than to find a place that can provide the dream package at a reasonable price - it hard to find a place with the nightmare package at a reasonable price.
that's why I seem to have spent the last year scouring the net and looking at every possible wedding venue north of Derby and south of Hadrians wall.
You can have a check list as long as your arm but the chances are its going to come down to a gut feeling and the small things that you can't plan for.
For example, as said the quest has been going on for the past year and it came down to 3 venues. So its decision time. The plan was to spend the weekend at the Falcon Manor in Settle, a very nice Hotel. We had visited once before but never stayed. Now the hotel is a charming hotel, friendly staff....but unfortunately missing that special something. Can't put my finger on what was missing. If your looking for a nice hotel on the edge of the dales, then yeah. Settle is unspoiled in comparison to some of the twee villages in the dales. Speaking of which....
We then drove across the dales to Burnsall to see the next possible venue, The Red Lion.
Burnsall is a wonderful little village that is quintessential English. You could almost expect to see Miss Marple cycling towards another murder. Only problem the whole place is just too clean. There were so many Range Rovers and BMW's without a spot of dirt on them.
It was more country park than countryside. Call me old fashioned but for me the place should be a community not some accountants wet dream.
This brings me on to the Red Lion. Advertised as originally a 16th century Ferryman's inn its no longer that. A wedding in this country (just for the venue, ceremony, and wedding breakfast etc) costs somewhere in the region of 5-6,000 .That's for a nice not over the top kind of place. For me therefore I have to feel right in the place.
In order to judge this we popped in for a drink. It looks like a pub, smells like a pub but it ain't a pub. It is a Hotel, with no decenable bar area and arestaurantt. End resultIi was made to feel uncomftable for just wanting a drink. You can sit on a bench against the back wall of a corridor or by the back door. The staff while not being rude did not give me the impression that they cared. I had to ask for ice in a coke that I ordered, something which in virtually every pubI'vee been in since the early 80s was either automatically put in or offered. WhenIi asked for the ice the barman looked at the rather full drink, looked at me, looked back at the rather full drink then said, "well, do you want to take a drink first?" Now I don't, because its not my drink. He looks at me but before I get to answer he sees the answer in my eyes I guess so he tips some out.
As I say its not rude and I can't say that what he did was wrong but some thing intangible gave me the feeling that I was a burden rather than a customer. If I'm going to spend 5-6,000 in place, and invite my friends and family to spend probably another 2,000 for the most important day of my life then I want to feel that the person spending 5.90 is as important as the person as the person spending 5-6,000.
Don't get me wrong if thats what you are looking for I'm sure the Red Lion is a wonderful place, but not for me. Also if you want your countryside sanitized and pristine then this is the place for you, but not for me.
I do have to say that the straw that broke the well groomed camels back was the ponced up hotel/reasurant, that will remain nameless but if you know the village you will know the one I'm on about, down the road that didn't even have one veggie option on its menu. Lots of attempted modern style and lots of staff doing not a lot but no sense that they were in the 21st century.
Which only leaves what we now think is the winner. And the winner is....Hey Green.
Now, especially if you aren't religious, its a whole package, with 10% added on to the price because its a wedding. Hopefully its going to be the only time in your life when you get married and its not something that you can rewind and do again. So it has to be right. The venue has to be good enough for the ceremony, the wedding breakfast and the evenings frivolity. Lets be honest its easier to find someone to spend the rest of your life with than to find a place that can provide the dream package at a reasonable price - it hard to find a place with the nightmare package at a reasonable price.
that's why I seem to have spent the last year scouring the net and looking at every possible wedding venue north of Derby and south of Hadrians wall.
You can have a check list as long as your arm but the chances are its going to come down to a gut feeling and the small things that you can't plan for.
For example, as said the quest has been going on for the past year and it came down to 3 venues. So its decision time. The plan was to spend the weekend at the Falcon Manor in Settle, a very nice Hotel. We had visited once before but never stayed. Now the hotel is a charming hotel, friendly staff....but unfortunately missing that special something. Can't put my finger on what was missing. If your looking for a nice hotel on the edge of the dales, then yeah. Settle is unspoiled in comparison to some of the twee villages in the dales. Speaking of which....
We then drove across the dales to Burnsall to see the next possible venue, The Red Lion.
Burnsall is a wonderful little village that is quintessential English. You could almost expect to see Miss Marple cycling towards another murder. Only problem the whole place is just too clean. There were so many Range Rovers and BMW's without a spot of dirt on them.
It was more country park than countryside. Call me old fashioned but for me the place should be a community not some accountants wet dream.
This brings me on to the Red Lion. Advertised as originally a 16th century Ferryman's inn its no longer that. A wedding in this country (just for the venue, ceremony, and wedding breakfast etc) costs somewhere in the region of 5-6,000 .That's for a nice not over the top kind of place. For me therefore I have to feel right in the place.
In order to judge this we popped in for a drink. It looks like a pub, smells like a pub but it ain't a pub. It is a Hotel, with no decenable bar area and arestaurantt. End resultIi was made to feel uncomftable for just wanting a drink. You can sit on a bench against the back wall of a corridor or by the back door. The staff while not being rude did not give me the impression that they cared. I had to ask for ice in a coke that I ordered, something which in virtually every pubI'vee been in since the early 80s was either automatically put in or offered. WhenIi asked for the ice the barman looked at the rather full drink, looked at me, looked back at the rather full drink then said, "well, do you want to take a drink first?" Now I don't, because its not my drink. He looks at me but before I get to answer he sees the answer in my eyes I guess so he tips some out.
As I say its not rude and I can't say that what he did was wrong but some thing intangible gave me the feeling that I was a burden rather than a customer. If I'm going to spend 5-6,000 in place, and invite my friends and family to spend probably another 2,000 for the most important day of my life then I want to feel that the person spending 5.90 is as important as the person as the person spending 5-6,000.
Don't get me wrong if thats what you are looking for I'm sure the Red Lion is a wonderful place, but not for me. Also if you want your countryside sanitized and pristine then this is the place for you, but not for me.
I do have to say that the straw that broke the well groomed camels back was the ponced up hotel/reasurant, that will remain nameless but if you know the village you will know the one I'm on about, down the road that didn't even have one veggie option on its menu. Lots of attempted modern style and lots of staff doing not a lot but no sense that they were in the 21st century.
Which only leaves what we now think is the winner. And the winner is....Hey Green.
posted by gerbil at 7:29 pm
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