All Things Bride and Beautiful - Venues

So I thought I would start my blogging by sharing a day that I am really proud of. Firstly because I had waited 11 years for it to happen and secondly because I poured my heart and soul into making it the day of our dreams...

So, like most brides I know the search for a venue became top on my list of priorities after telling everyone I was getting hitched and of course showing off my amazing ring!

I started by googling 'Wedding Venues' in Somerset and came across Rook Lane Chapel. It was quite basic in what it offered (a 2 hour package to include the ceremony and short time for photos afterwards or a 3 hour package where you could have a champagne reception as well) but the building was stunning and located in Frome which is just a short drive to a reception venue (which I had found quite by accident through my fiance and his friends).

Rook Lane has lighting and sound equipment, chairs (which needed updating but were fine with chair covers) and two HUGE columns which rose to a high ceiling and 20 stained glass windows.

On further research I found out it was built in the 1700s as a place of worship for the 'non-conformists' of society - rather fitting for an ex-catholic and an atheist having a civil ceremony and pagan hand-fasting!

I went for a look around Rook Lane and instantly knew how I would decorate it and we booked it straight away the dates all matched up so I snapped them up there and then- 27th September 2014.

Our reception venue, Penny Square Barn in Batcombe, was booked first strangely enough. My then fiance and a group of his friends all had their 30th birthdays in the summer so they clubbed together for a massive 30th celebration. I went to see the venue, on a tip from my beau, and fell in love with its potential immediately! It was a bit of a blank canvas! Birds nesting in the eaves, there are holes in the wall and the toilet facilities are very basic, but that didn't matter to me. The setting was extremely private (you have to cross two fields on a hard standing track to get to it!), it came with a generator and there was no shut-off time (as long as we were respectful of the local village) which was important to us both as we wanted a party that was able to finish naturally rather than having to turn everything off at midnight.

So with all this booked! I was ready to start organising!

(I say I instead of 'we' as my fiance would come out in a rash just looking at the to-do list - LMAO!)