Another angle to consider...

We've made a decision!*

*And by decision I mean that if we go with the single venue approach our 10 finalists (the ones we thought were worth actually going to visit) have been whittled down to just one.

We feel that the venue we've chosen has more going for it than any other we've seen in regards to price, location, accommodation (both on site and reasonably close), food and drink options and additional space for other things we may want happening on the day. Not only that but they've been super-accommodating in terms of fielding our never-ending questions (although from what a lot of people have said we've been more prepared than most by arriving with a load of questions already written down!).

But...

(Isn't there always a "but"?)

It's a great venue and we won't get anything close to it for the money we'll pay, but the cost of the venue means our budget is being forced ever upwards and we're convinced we can achieve the vibe we want on the day without pushing ourselves so far into the red.

So now we're looking at alternatives that don't involve a registry office in a crappy 1970s council building. Finding a venue that can feed 80-100 people seems to be the easy bit, however finding such a venue that looks the part and has rooms for those 80-100 people within a reasonable distance and is within a reasonable distance of a "classy-looking" registry office is a much more difficult task.

We've been in touch with our first choice venue who have said that if anyone else enquires about the dates we've requested they'll contact us to give us first refusal, but until then we're hoping to take both sets of parents there for the weekend in January. So we've got until January to find an alternative that includes a venue to get married and a venue for a reception party that has, or is close to, accommodation for 80-100 people.

I guess that's our lunch hours filled for the next couple of weeks. If you know of any such places that sit between say, Cheltenham and Kidderminster, PLEASE get in touch!