The Venue

We chose quite early on which venue we would have, in 2012 actually, two years before the big day. 

We chose our date, Friday the 10th October 2014, as this was also our actual anniversary (we would have been together for seven years when we eventually tied the knot!). 

We chose Slater's Country Inn in Newcastle-under-lyme, Staffordshire (UK). The venue was perfect for our numbers of 27, all of the other venues we saw were way too big, I say 'saw', but actually Slater's was the only venue that we viewed and consequently booked there and then. There are wooden beams inside the briar suite full of fairy lights which made it look so magical, and although they have recently built the new wedding house, we chose to keep it in the briar suite, as the aisle in the wedding house is a little bit pants...

Here is a pic of the main entrance/building at Slaters:

These are some of the pictures that our guests took of the venue:

Slater's Rear Car park

Slater's front car park

Also on site there is a craft village, so guests could take a walk around the little shops and boutiques.

Inside the craft village, it's like a little street with boutiques and shops!

Now for my words of advice for booking your venue. Make sure nothing is ambiguous with what you are paying for and get everything in writing, it matters not a jot what they write down as it might not be right - which we found out the hard way - you need a copy of this agreement. 

When we booked, we asked for the £2,999 wedding ceremony package that they offer on their website which includes DJ, food, drinks etc but we wanted it for less guests (25-30 all day and evening guests rather than their 50 day and 100 evening from the package).  We negotiated the package price down to £2,125 for our guest numbers which we were very happy with. The lady that took down our details at the time of the booking had written 'not promotion' on the diary thing they had, which I still to this day have no idea what she meant...as we wanted the promotion package but with less numbers - which is what we thought we were paying for. I think this was were the confusion started...and it got worse. There were many discrepancies we had to resolve which added to the stress, especially as some of these were brought up with us weeks before the wedding (when we had paid the final bill in 2013, the year before); the guest numbers, the package itself and what is included, the DJ, biodegradable confetti...just to name a few. 

I have to say the staff on the day of the wedding were superb, nobody was wanting for anything, but then when you spend the money you do for weddings I wouldn't expect any service less. Give them their due, they were just as good in the restaurant the night before (as we stayed the night before the wedding at the hotel).....I say that, but they did forget to give me my meal so I didn't end up eating until about 10.30pm the night before... They did have a large group to serve though (about 20 of us), so I let them off.

So yes, get everything in writing and make sure it is clear what you are getting, don't pay until you see this written document and agree to it before making payment. Asking for a cost breakdown will help with this - they normally have this on your invoice, just having 'wedding package' won't do, you need the specifics (what is included and for how many guests - include meals, drinks, disco etc). 

Also ensure that the price quoted is inclusive of VAT!

The way that the venue and the venue dressers we hired (J & G Elite - check them out on eBay) managed to turn the room around from the ceremony to the wedding breakfast in that short space of time, still astonishes me. 

This was the way the room was decorated for the ceremony:

Candelabras and pillars with flowers on top with organza ivory drapes lined the aisle. 

The chair covers were handmade by Jen at J & G Elite Designs (they are on eBay - google them). In the meeting I told her I love the waterfall effect on chair covers and she made these specifically to order, they are burgundy organza and pink organza waterfall chair covers with flower detail. I thought they were so amazing!

A beautiful archway was at the end of the aisle with draped organza, and a burgundy and ivory rose garland twisting around it.

Rose petals lined the aisle, along with a white runner.

And this was the way the room was decorated for the Wedding Breakfast (this is the same room):

Our tables were themed, there were only three guest tables and the top table. Each table was themed with various bits - see centre pieces page for more information.

The log fire crackling away really added to the ambience, it was cosy and romantic!