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Choosing a wedding venue can seem a daunting task. Stately homes, country hotels, a marquee on the lawn; the list of possibilities is endless. If you’re not careful, you will find yourself snowed under a pile of beautiful, enticing but wholly inappropriate brochures! The name of the game is to start the process early and be very organised.

It’s important to outline your overall wedding plan before you look for a venue. Here are some basic issues it’s best to settle before you begin your wedding venue search.

Plan out your ideal wedding day in advance

Begin with the wedding itself. Do you want a church ceremony or a civil ceremony? If you opt for a church wedding, the geographical location of your church will limit the possible locations for the rest of your wedding celebrations. Your reception venue needs to be within easy driving distance of the church.

If you choose a civil ceremony, consider the options. Would you prefer a registry office wedding or a ceremony in a venue (hotel, country club, stately home) that is licensed to conduct weddings?

Will you be holding an evening wedding bash? If so, what form would you like it to take? Would you like to invite extra guests for your evening wedding party? If so, how many?

Live music is a brilliant way of creating atmosphere at your wedding in any style of wedding venue. To find out how to go about it, take a look at the Hop Till You Drop wedding music guide: How to plan wedding music.

Organise the guest list before selecting a wedding venue

Get your guest list in order before you begin to look at wedding venues. Don’t just agree the list between your partner and yourself. Have the initial discussions with the rest of the family on both sides before you begin. It’s important to know what facilities you need before you begin the search. How many guests are you going to invite to the ceremony? This will define the size of the venue required. How many guests will be invited to the evening reception? Again, this number will define the facilities needed.

When choosing the location of your wedding venue, make sure that you consider the needs of your guests. Where do your family and friends live? Remember that if you choose a gorgeous country location miles from the city where most of your family and friends live, long journeys will be required for all, and costly overnight accommodation needs to be factored into the equation.

Consider the size of your wedding budget

There is a direct correlation between the size and the cost of a wedding. Keep your feet planted firmly in the real world as you plan your celebration. Discuss the budget initially between yourselves and then with both sides of the family before you begin the search for the ideal wedding venue.

If you can already see the cost ballooning out of all proportion to the real budget available, be pragmatic. Remember that small and intimate can also be beautiful! Reduce the guest list at this point in the proceedings and opt for a considerably smaller wedding celebration.

Have a choice of possible dates

Have more than one possible date in mind when you begin your search for a wedding venue. Many such establishments begin to book up more than a year in advance. If you plan to hold your wedding at a popular time (Saturdays at the end of July or the beginning of September), it’s essential to get into gear really early on. The best venues are snapped up really quickly!

Keep in mind that Fridays and Saturdays are not the only options. You can often get a really good deal for a Thursday wedding, and (particularly on Bank Holiday weekends), Sundays are also a very real possibility.

Find the perfect wedding venue

Having narrowed the search by defining the necessary elements of your special day, you are now ready to begin the hunt in earnest. You have a location in mind. Begin by Googling it. Vary the search terms. For example, try “wedding venue Hampshire” and “wedding ceremony venue in New Forest”. With your basic plans already formed, you can immediately eliminate inappropriate possibilities by size and cost.

There will be some options that fit into your broad categories. Obtain the full brochures and look carefully at the costs entailed. Drive out and take a look at the physical location of your short-listed choice. Is it as good as the pictures? If you’re considering a hotel, book for a meal “incognito” before you seriously consider the venue as a possible wedding venue . This way, you will get a first-hand idea of the quality of the food and service you are likely to receive. You will also get a feel for the place. Most importantly, do you feel comfortable there? If you’ve got ticks in all the boxes, consider this option as a real possibility.

If budget is an issue, check up on special winter mid-week deals. Many hotels and country houses offer considerable discounts for an out-of-season wedding package.

The key to successfully finding the ideal venue for your wedding is to start the search early and to be very organised about defining what you require before you begin to look. With the search carefully narrowed to suit your wedding plan and budget, the process of finding the right venue in the right area at the right price becomes an adventure in itself, rather than an onerous, headache-making task.