Planning a City wedding

Weddings are often thought to be countryside affairs in a grand estate or marquee but planning a city wedding can be more suitable for some couples. They may want to highlight the City they call home, the city where the met, where they fell in love. They may want to celebrate their story so far, the food they enjoy, the areas they like to visit, the life they have built for themselves.

Positives to planning a City wedding:

• Citys (London especially) have some beautiful town halls. So, if you find a venue that you love for your reception, but it doesn’t have a wedding license, then you can still do the legal bit in a beautiful town hall before moving to your dream venue.

• When you plan a City wedding you often have a variety of unique venues to choose from. You can look at public buildings from art galleries and museums to restaurants and bars. You can consider cool urban spaces from warehouses and studios to railway arches and rooftop conversions.

• There is a large selection of wedding suppliers in a City, both larger companies and small businesses. So, you can really research different styles, different working processes and get to know them a bit better, so you can choose the right ones for you.

• A City such as London will likely have a great skyline or some iconic buildings or structures that can form the perfect photo backdrop, for couples wanting to highlight their love for the City and the urban setting.

• When planning a City wedding guests will also have a variety of choices when it comes to accommodation from luxury hotels to cool Air BnBs. You may choose a luxury hotel for the wedding itself and being in a big City they may have the space to accommodate many of the guests overnight as well. Alternatively, if you choose a unique venue in the City then there will likely be a number of hotels nearby for guests to choose from. Of course, if you have recommendations then do give them to your guests as they may not all be from the City and aware of the hotels available.

• You can still consider a weekend wedding when planning a City wedding. People often assume this is only possible for a wedding in a countryside estate but it can be so fun in a City. You can host a welcome dinner for some guests in a favourite bar, restaurant or hotel. You are then in the best place for an abundance of activities to organise for your guests across the weekend. Then why not finish celebrations with a bottomless brunch.

When planning a City wedding there are some details that you need to consider:

• Some of the amazing venues in a City location may be in public or residential areas and so they may be subject to certain restrictions. These restrictions may affect the timings of your day and you may need to finish earlier than you’d hope, so check these details as part of your research.

• The above restriction may also affect the set up and load out times for suppliers, which may in turn affect your costs, so this is another detail to be aware of in advance.

• When planning a City wedding parking can be difficult and so you need to consider transport. Some of your guests may also be travelling from out of town so if you are expecting guests to use public transport you should give them directions. Alternatively, if you are going to arrange transport for your guests (like a London bus for example) then you should also allow for some traffic in your timeline.

• Having a wedding at a countryside location will often be an exclusive hire giving you privacy and ease. Whereas you may need to research any other events happening in the City on your wedding weekend, as they may affect your plans with details like road closures, planned engineering works, bike rides, marathons etc.

There will always be positives reasons and things to consider with all venues and not all venues are right for all couples. So carefully consider what your venue location means to you, what are you looking for, what experience do you want you and your guests to have and do your research!

If you’re not sure where you want to have your wedding then please do read my blog on planning a wedding at a countryside estate for more information. If you would like further help with your venue search or planning your dream wedding then please do get in touch and we can arrange a free discovery call to learn more about each other.