Finding Your Dream Wedding Venue in Surrey

Choosing the ideal wedding venue in Surrey for your wedding is one of the most exciting and important decisions you can make for your special day. If you are starting to look into where you'd like to get married then our handy tips can help you to decide which wedding venue in Surrey is the best match for you both. Plus, the creator of Wedition, Liz shares her experiences from her Surrey Wedding at Farnham Castle.

Top five things to consider when deciding on a wedding venue in Surrey

There are countless numbers of things to take into account when planning the finer details of your wedding especially when it comes to deciding on the best Surrey wedding venue. Here are just five things you should focus on:

• Size: How many guests do you ideally want to invite to your wedding? Some venues offer a variety of room options, whilst other wedding venues in Surrey are more catered to intimate ceremonies and receptions. It's worth enquiring with the venue before you visit.
• Budget: Every couple has an idea on how much they want to spend on their special day, so it's a good idea to get a rough outline of cost to make sure you aren't over-stretching your budget.
• Ambience: Your venue reflects your theme and personality, it holds an important role in your love story. Some people are ideally matched to a rustic barn whilst other couples suit a manor house ambience. Take time to think about the season, your likes and dislikes, when you visit a venue you will get an instant feel for the ambience which will help you determine what works best for your wedding.
• Inclusions: In line with budget, it's worth considering if the venue offers packages for weddings and what these may include so you are aware if you need to compensate for additional costs.
• Date: It's worth remembering that wedding venues in Surrey get booked up months and sometimes even years in advance

Choosing a Surrey Wedding Venue

Liz, the talented lady behind Wedition got married to her husband Ky at Farnham Castle in 2016, her wedding was the inspiration behind Wedition. So, I decided to ask her a few questions to discover how she found the process of choosing a wedding venue in Surrey and why she choose Farnham Castle as her Surrey wedding venue.

When we decided to start searching for a wedding venue we did a lot of research online and bought some wedding magazines for inspiration. We got the wedding guide from both Surrey and Hampshire County Council, these were really useful and listed lots of venues within the two counties for us to consider. From this and our research we then made a shortlist of three venues; one 'dry hire' barn, one manor house and then of course Farnham Castle. Shortlisting venues is something I'd recommend as it helps focus, the process for us was not hard but it was extremely enjoyable taking up a few evenings and weekends!

What attracted you to Farnham Castle for your Surrey Wedding venue?

We loved the idea of getting married in a castle, when we discovered that officially Farnham Castle is in fact a palace (a bishops palace) it seemed like the perfect fit. Ky has always called me his 'princess' and he thought it only right we marry in a palace. We were fascinated by the incredible history, we adored the grounds, the team were friendly and accommodating and the catering team offered outstanding cuisine and a plethora of food and drink choices. We loved the fact that it is an exclusive use venue - meaning that it is truly yours for 24 hours to do with as you please. We appreciated that there were plenty of bedrooms on site as well, something we felt was important for our guests, as many would be staying overnight. It was also close to our home and easy for us to travel to, it was in fact the perfect Surrey wedding venue for us.

When was the first time you visited and what were your first impressions when you visited the Surrey wedding venue Farnham Castle?

I very clearly remember our first visit to Farnham Castle, we had been with friends the night before and I must admit, I had a slight hangover! We both instinctively knew, that this was the one for us, our the ideal wedding venue in Surrey for our special day!

This is actually a very tricky question, there are so many elements that go into this, I am going to cheat and give a very broad answer. My favourite thing about this glorious Surrey wedding venue, has got to be... the history!

Can you tell us a little bit about your wedding day?

Our whole day was extremely personal. We were lucky enough that there had not been a wedding at the venue the day before, so this meant that I stayed at the castle the night before our wedding with quite a lot of our guests. Breakfast time was a bubble of excitement and it was lovely to see everyone before I heading off to get ready. The rest of the guests arrived about midday for drinks and canapés, it was a great opportunity for Ky to mingle and calm his nerves. We had a celebrant led wedding which meant the whole wedding was personalised to us, my aunt had written a bespoke reading for us, two of our pet chickens, Blossom and Clucky were our ring bearers and we had Amy Turk play some of our favourite songs on her harp. She played Nirvana - Come As You Are before I walked down the aisle to the traditional Pachelbel - Canon in D. Amy played 'Do the Conga' as we exited, it was hilarious as we all formed a conga line and danced our way out of the Lantern Hall. Afterwards we had giant outdoor games, a custom colouring canvas (artwork that combined all the things we love which our guests then coloured in) a Wild West quick draw game (the meaning of this was explained in our Wedition) and we had the usual disco, dancing and photo booth.

There were a number of hurdles we came across when we were planning our wedding in Surrey and Wedition seemed to be the solution for all of them.

• We didn't want to print out costly order of service sheets and menus, we felt that at most weddings these items are often left behind and not appreciated by guests. So, incorporating these into Wedition was the ideal solution.
• We were really stuck on what to give our guests as wedding favours, so often these gifts can go unappreciated, left behind or even gobbled up! They can often be hugely expensive and don't necessarily tie into your day or add any value or purpose. A personalised wedding magazine would make for a really different and unusual favour that our guests could keep.
• We had been to many weddings before when we had never felt a connection with the venue itself, never appreciated its beauty or enjoyed it. We felt if we shared some of the history of the venue and pointed out some interesting things for guests to look out for at Farnham Castle then our guests would feel more involved and love our venue as much as we did.
• It's all in the details! We like, so many other couples, had planned so many details in to our day. From the date and colour scheme to the cake and there was even a special meaning to one of the flowers selected for my bouquet. We really wanted our guests to know how and why - Wedition was the platform to do this.

We are well past our one-year anniversary now, yet family and friends are still talking about our day and mentioning all the special little details which would have gone unnoticed if it hadn't been for Wedition. It was the answer to everything - we could incorporate the information our guests needed such as order of service and menu, the history of this Surrey Wedding venue, whilst being a unique and personalised wedding favour that our guests could treasure.

Do you have any advice for anyone who has booked or is thinking about Farnham Castle as the setting for their Surrey Wedding?

English Heritage do guided tours on Wednesday's at the castle, I would strongly advise going on one of these tours as you get to see and learn about the castle's secrets and discover more about the history of this special Surrey wedding venue.

Are you planning a wedding soon and looking for the perfect Surrey wedding venue? Farnham Castle could be the ideal place for your special day. But to truly capture all the little details and let your guests appreciate the true magic of this wedding venue in Surrey why not get in touch with Liz to start creating your personalised wedding magazine; your very own Wedition - something your guests will be talking about in years to come!

Great offers at this Surrey wedding venue for Wedition customers

Wedition customers can get a complimentary reception drinks upgrade to Prosecco, terms and conditions apply. Please ask Liz when you make your enquiry to Wedition.