Aberdeen Venue

by Andrew
(Aberdeen)

We are getting married in Aberdeen next year and have a budget of £5000 for the meal and venue cost. We really like castles and stately homes and have approx 150 – 200 guests during the day for the meal and a further 100-150 in the evening to invite. Is there anywhere that you can suggest?

Everywhere that seems to be affordable is too small and anywhere big enough is outside our budget.

Answer:

First of all, the best types of venue for the numbers you're suggesting within your budget would be council run buildings such as training centres or town halls – they'll give you the look that you want but be cheaper than the usual wedding venues. That said, I very much doubt that you will find somewhere that will come in on budget when you take into consideration food and drinks for the numbers you have suggested.

I would therefore strongly advise that you revisit your budget, guest list and the vision of your wedding reception, so that you can achieve what you want. Weddings in stately homes or castles come at a price and are fairly expensive even with much smaller numbers. Some solutions might be:

• To have the wedding in the venue of your choice at £5000, but cut your guest list to around 75 guests for the day and a further 30 maximum in the evening.

• To have the number of guests you want in a very different venue (community centre or town hall) and consider getting your guests to pay for their own drinks.

• To have the number of guests you want, but only provide a basic, simple buffet and some drinks (initial drinks and toast).

There are lots of different ways to look at it, but I really think that you need to re-think your plans and look carefully at your cutting your costs. This probably isn't what you wanted to hear, but it's important if you want to keep to your wedding budget.

All the best