Less than two weeks into the engagement and my very organised fiancé has already begun planning in earnest. I’m very lucky that he’s a real planner – in fact he has already bought himself an expanding file with tabs for venue, catering, suit hire etc – which is part of the reason I’m marrying him! I on the other hand would probably leave it all to the last minute and then panic before collapsing in a heap on the floor.

Apparently though, this can’t be the case when it comes to weddings. There are brides and grooms out there who plan their wedding two or three years in advance, meaning that if you want to turn your big day around in 12 months (like us), you need to get straight on the case.

Research is key. We spent a good few nights on Google searching ‘unique-wedding-venues-Cotswolds’ which resulted in very few ‘unique’ reception spaces. We had our hearts set on a barn from the start which did give our research more direction. Once we had our shortlist (we wanted exposed brick, on-site accommodation and an intimate feel, as well as the moon on a stick!), we hired a car and hit the road in search of our dream location.

Our ambitious plan was to set aside a Saturday out of our hectic London lives and get round our shortlisted venues in just one trip, resulting in detailed Google maps, the use of iPhone GPS and several rows about my ‘navigation’ skills. We visited our favourite first, a barn on the outskirts of Tetbury which had accommodation on-site, was surrounded by rolling hills and had a gorgeous interior. We loved it and our minds were almost made up as we left along the sweeping drive.  Being level-headed for once though, we decided to see all of our venues before making our decision, and so we made our way to venue two (another barn), this time in central Tetbury. It was much bigger with three times as much accommodation, and although it was lovely, it just didn’t feel like ‘us’.

We then travelled out to Southrop to a gorgeous old barn next to the church where Kate Moss got married (I have to admit that did excite me slightly!), which was stunning. Unfortunately, stunning venues also tend to come with a price tag that stuns you. And if we were to have the little extras that we feel really make a wedding (free booze featuring heavily in that category!), then we knew this venue wasn’t right either. The final venue, The Stone Barn near Burford, threw a spanner in the works. We absolutely loved it – the interior was gorgeous and the relaxed vibe, with the open-plan kitchen with a barbecue rack and the open fires outside, really fitted the picture of our ideal wedding.

We got back in the car in a bit of a quandary. Two venues we loved. What to do? In a very practical manner, we weighed up the pros and cons. As we talked on the way back to my parents, we realised that when we were talking about the big day, we were both talking about and picturing the same venue in our heads – the first one!

With a glass of wine in our hands that evening, we knew where we were getting married… Kingscote Barn in Tetbury. Okay, it may not be ‘unique’ (we got the very last Saturday wedding available in 2012), but it suits us down to the ground and the staff were amazing. The barn is beautiful, the on-site accommodation is perfect, we can take over the entire venue – and they don’t charge corkage – a massive tick!

There is still lots to plan. We want a church wedding and we have to think about the organisation of that, plus everything else, including decorations (or lack of in my case… I’m a bit scared of the whole ‘wedding-y’ table decorations thing), catering, layout, booze, favours, dress, bridesmaids, ushers, suit hire, honeymoon - phew, I think I need a lie down!

Theresa Caney
company.co.uk
@Theresa_Caney

Read Theresa's just-engaged blog post here