Wedding Venue Idea #1 The Penthouse

When planning a wedding, don’t feel pressured to stick to the usual wedding reception venue locations, such as function rooms and halls. Brainstorm outside the box for wedding venue ideas to see what you come up with.

Part 1 of our wedding venue idea series brings you the idea of holding your wedding in a penthouse with ocean or city views! This idea only works if you will be having a small wedding with close family and friends.  Being an intimate wedding, it needn’t be a full blown reception. It can be an elegant dinner or cocktail party with close family and friends to celebrate. Once the reception is over, the penthouse can double as your honeymoon suite for the night.
Bear in mind that some hotels have strict “no party” policies, so it might be an idea to talk to the manager to clarify the situation early on.

Things To Consider

•    Book early to secure the views that you want.  Ocean or city views usually cost a little extra, so factor this in to your costs.
•    The hotel will likely only have limited visitor parking, so it would be considerate for your guests if you found out where the most suitable parking for them would be and relay this information to your family and friends.

Wedding Venue Ideas #2 University Grounds

When choosing a venue to hold your wedding ceremony or wedding reception consider a venue which holds sentimental significance. For example, if you are your partner met and dated in university, holding your wedding at the university grounds can be an ideal choose.

Many universities have affordable function rooms to rent and are situated amongst idyllic landmarks around the campus to take wedding photos. Some colleges offer specialised wedding packages that include catering, staff and entertainment, but if you prefer, you may just wish to hire the venue and provide the rest yourself to cut cost.

If you or your partner are alumni’s or current students of the university, inquire whether you may be entitled to a discount. If neither of you are, perhaps a member of your family are and are willing to secure the venue in their name.
p>

Wedding Venue Idea #3 The Community Centre

Community centres can be a cheap option for a reception venue, but bear in mind this may very well mean that you will have to source everything yourself and set it up and pack it up yourself. Find out if the centre has tables that you can loan, if not ring around rental places to see what you can find.

You will also need to organise caterers and decorations. For those brides who loves organising weddings and have real hands on approach in organising everything, , the community centre could very well be for you.

Remember, when booking in services and the venue don’t say it’s for a wedding, but rather a ‘family function.’ This will avoid wedding mark-ups. Once its all paid for, you could let slip to the community centre that it is for a wedding, as they may have some useful items in storage that you can use.

A community centre wedding takes lots of planning, so allow adequate time

Wedding Venue Idea #4: A family member’s home

Does a member of your family have a beautiful garden or home that would make an idyllic wedding venue? If so approach them politely and ask them if they wouldn’t mind loaning it to you for a few hours. Depending on how close you are, and the way things work in your family, they may expect a small fee. Most family members however, will be honoured and will share their home with you for free. It is a nice gesture to at least offer to reimburse the costs such as electricity for the night.

You can choose to either utilise just the garden, or utilise both inside the house and outdoors. Talk to the home owners first to make sure that you are exactly on the same page, as to what facilities of the home is going to be used and in what capacity.

Wedding Venue Idea #5 The Beach House

Are you planning on having your ceremony at the beach? If so, why not consider hiring out a beach house for the weekend. That way you can have the ceremony on the beach and the reception can be held a short distance away at the beach house.

There are many positives about this set-up. Firstly, the bride and her bridal party can spend the night at the beach house and have all the gowns and accessories ready for them the next morning. This eliminates the need for official wedding transport for the bridal party.

In the days leading to the wedding, (depending on your hire term) you can set up the reception, so that everything will be ready on the day of the wedding. As you will have the house exclusively for your own use during the hire term, you will have enough time to try out different reception set-ups until you find one that you like.

If there are a few days delay before you and your partner leave for your honeymoon, the beach house can also double as accommodation for you to stay in for your pre-honeymoon.

One of the other benefits of hiring out a beach house, is that if it rains, you have a back-up venue to hold the wedding ceremony.

There are some things that you do need to consider if you go down this road
-When choosing a beach house as a venue, you need to consider that the rental prices will be higher during the summer season and much more competitively priced throughout the rest of the year.

- Before signing any contracts make sure that you are aware of any additional fees, such as the insurance excess if damage is done to the property.

-Most short-term rental properties come fully furnished. If you are a little worried that guests might damage some expensive items put them away in a storage room.

-Take a photo of the way each room looks before moving any furniture so that you can leave the house exactly the way it was upon your departure.

-Delegate different rooms for different purposes such as the bridal party dress room. It is best to confine the guest area to the one entertainment area. This may mean that you need to block off or lock doors to other rooms.

-Make guest facilities such as the bathroom easily identifiable with signs.

As your wedding day draws to an end, the last thing that you would want to do is clean up the reception and pack everything up. Ask your maid of honour if she will organise a working bee amongst your bridal party, groomsmen and friends to pack everything up and take it out of the beach house. Alternatively, you could ask your friends to do this once you and your partner have left for your honeymoon. That way you can leave for your honeymoon all refreshed and stress-free and thankful for having such great family and friends.

Wedding Venue Idea #6 The Botanical Gardens

Its picturesque setting and the sweet floral aroma in the air, makes the botanical gardens an ideal choice for many couples to hold their wedding ceremony and in many cases is quite inexpensive.

As getting married at the botanical gardens is always a popular choice, you will need to book well in advance. Most gardens request at least 3 months notice. Some gardens will only allow one couple per day and you may need to work around their schedules as some require special events to only take place outside the gardens official opening hours.

Questions To Ask
What time can my ceremony occur?
What is the fee?
Is the fee a flat rate or an hourly charge?
Are there any additional charges for a photography and video permit, or is this inclusive?
More Information
Brisbane City Botanic Gardens
Royal Tasmanian Botanical Gardens
Royal Botanic Gardens Melbourne
Royal Botanic Gardens Sydney
Botanic Garden Perth
Botanic Gardens of Adelaide
George Brown Darwin Botanical Gardens