It is also a good introduction to the wedding scene. The professionals at the venues who oversee nuptials every weekend have the most insight in to the proceedings of the day and deal with more wedding specialists than any of the other professions. These coordinators are a wedding knowledge pit and choosing a venue with good coordinators is also key.
We used a process of elimination before we actually went out to physically see the wedding venue's which saved us a lot of travelling time. A bulk e-mail was sent to about 25 venue's that i can remember requesting prices and availability for 100 people in Nov/Dec. From this response we eliminated the venue's who could not accommodate large numbers and did not look nice from the photos off the website and began setting up appointments for one weekend back to back.
One thing though, before you start contacting venue's work out a rough idea of date and number of people you want. It doesn't have to be exact but it is the first question you are asked.
For us we knew around 100 people and in summer so Nov/Dec.
For us we knew around 100 people and in summer so Nov/Dec.
We used a process of elimination before we actually went out to physically see the wedding venue's which saved us a lot of travelling time. A bulk e-mail was sent to about 25 venue's that i can remember requesting prices and availability for 100 people in Nov/Dec. From this response we eliminated the venue's who could not accommodate large numbers and did not look nice from the photos off the website and began setting up appointments for one weekend back to back.
1. Al Fiume (River Place)
2. Diep in die berg
3. En-Gedi
4. Glenburn Lodge
5. Makiti
6. Oakfield Farm
7. Avianto
8. Everwood
At the end of the day once you choose your wedding venue for what ever reason the total cost of the venue alone should be doubled to get a rough idea of your Total wedding budget.
So if wedding venue including food etc = R40 000 your final budget for decor, photographer, dress etc should be R 80 000. The double up rule is pretty accurate
This was the last venue we visited and were blown away with the venue tour they run every weekend. They answered just about every question i could think up and you could see the hall being decorated for a wedding that evening. The gardens were in full bloom and beautiful walkways and flat grass accomodated for kids and elderly folk.
After sitting down with a coordinater and explaining what we wanted they advised us on the most cost effective route being a sunday with over 100 guests and gave us a selection of sunday dates and they promptly printed out a pro-forma invoice and the following day we were booked :)
I'll blab more about Oakfield in later posts i am sure but as a foreword I will recommend Oakfield to anyone getting married. Everything you need in a wedding venue and more is here.
So if wedding venue including food etc = R40 000 your final budget for decor, photographer, dress etc should be R 80 000. The double up rule is pretty accurate
I have yet to meet a first time bride who said she under spent on her wedding budget, me included ;)
Oakfield Farm
This was the last venue we visited and were blown away with the venue tour they run every weekend. They answered just about every question i could think up and you could see the hall being decorated for a wedding that evening. The gardens were in full bloom and beautiful walkways and flat grass accomodated for kids and elderly folk.
After sitting down with a coordinater and explaining what we wanted they advised us on the most cost effective route being a sunday with over 100 guests and gave us a selection of sunday dates and they promptly printed out a pro-forma invoice and the following day we were booked :)
I'll blab more about Oakfield in later posts i am sure but as a foreword I will recommend Oakfield to anyone getting married. Everything you need in a wedding venue and more is here.
They aren't the cheapest venue but for the quality and service that Oakfields offer we were more than happy to pay that little extra.
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