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Organising Your Wedding Online!

Organising your wedding can be a fun but also stressful time… and in if you are trying to organise a wedding in another country and there could be some hectic moments! Here we take a look at how to organise a UK wedding from Abu Dhabi Thank goodness for the internet! We’ll be doing this in parts so our first episode is the 

Finding & Choosing The Venue

weddings online dubaiYou are going to need to have a rough idea of where, whether you want the wedding ceremony and reception in the same place or separate, rough idea of numbers, rough budget, rough date and if overnight accommodation for all guests will be needed if there is a long travel distance.

Finding The Venue

This should be you first port of call as it will be the foundation for the whole wedding day. Decide where you actually want to get married and get Googling. First stop should be the venue’s website but of course they are going to make that look good- so now it is time to do some digging! Check out their social media pages- Facebook and Twitter and see how active they are on there and also check out comments and photos that have been put up.

Next Stop- Reviews

Tripadvisor- this could be make or break time! Read all the reviews- but focus on the most recent ones. Many hotels go through changes in staff, management, have refurbs etc. so something that was a problem in 2010 may not be relevant today. Also bear in mind some reviews may be from the venue’s competitors or people trying to get freebies. You will have to take a balanced approach and not panic- see if a theme is common across the not so favourable reviews. Also see if management have replied to any criticisms- this means they are proactive in looking after their customers. You will also get to see photos that other guests have put on- so not just the hotel provided ones. Check out booking.com too for more reviews and pics.

Then move on to googling for images of other weddings held there- you will find a lot of these are on photographers websites- handy to help you find a photographer too! Also check out the many brides and wedding forums and search for feedback on there too- it's great to get advice from other brides.

Try hitched.co.uk, youandyourwedding.co.uk and confetti.co.uk you'll find all you need to know on there!

All of the above will help you build up a picture of the venue… words and images.

Make sure you bookmark the websites you look at or you will get lost and confused- write down the names too in case you forget. Also start to write down plus and negative points for each venue.

Venue Details List

Hotel Name:
Location:
Ceremony room capacity:
Wedding Breakfast Room Capacity:
Accommodation capacity:
Special Features::
Plus Points:
Concerns/ Queries:

weddings in dubaiAfter you have done this you will be able to come up with a shortlist and then it’s time to start contacting the venues for their wedding brochures, prices and date availability. Some venues have downloadable wedding brochures on their websites which is great.

(Top tip: don’t tell them you are coming from Abu Dhabi to start off with- that seemed to bump the prices up- if they need a UK address use a family members for now!)

Once all the information starts to come in you are going to want to a budget sheet for the venue and hotel costs to be able to compare the places.

Budget tip: weddings are expensive and on average can cost anything from 12,000 to 25,000 pounds. If you book mid- week, in winter and not around peak holiday times you can get cheaper prices and discounts. Don’t be afraid to ask- if you don’t ask you don’t get! Lots more people are going for mid-week weddings now and there’s more chance of a suitable date being available too if you are flexible.

Base your estimate on the rough number of attendees you are working towards. You’ll need to look at all things F&B- you might not want all of the below but we’ve listed it just in case:

Venue/ Hotel Charges

Venue hire charge:
Exclusive use fee:
Celebrant/ ceremony fee:
Canapes & drinks during photo sessions:
Wedding Breakfast adults:
Wedding Breakfast kids:
Drinks package:
Toasting drinks:
Evening reception food:
Evening reception drinks package:
Overnight room accommodation cost:
Next day breakfast:

wedding breakfast dubai(We know this is all numbersy- it does get more exciting we promise but if you get this ground work and research right it will make a big difference to your peace of mind. It’s hard because you can’t actually go and physically see the venues- doing it like this takes away some of the uncertainty.)

So once you have done the above you should be able to start to make some decisions. Email the venues with more exact details now and ask for a full quote- they will need details like date or preferred dates, number of attendees, your drinks and food package choices- then they can send you a proper cost estimate.If you have family or friends who live nearby you could ask them to go for a reccy for you- most people would love to have a nosey round a lovely venue and also help in you making your decisions

By this time you may already have your heart set on somewhere that has appealed to you the most whilst doing the research- it’s good to have a back- up though just in case.

If you are having trouble deciding some hotels will hold the date for you/ pencil you in while you ponder- usually for about a week or two. (Do remember though if they have done this for you and you book somewhere else- let them know so they can release the date for another wedding.)

Once you have made your decision- email the hotel to confirm the booking and iron out all the details with them- some can be done nearer the time i.e. final numbers etc. They should send you a contract with the schedule on and also payment timings- most will want a non- refundable deposit and part payments in the run up to the day or full payment 2 weeks before. You can sometimes negotiate on this too.

So- that is hopefully the venue sorted- do try and arrange a trip there before the wedding if possible- if not have faith- they want you to have a great day as they need the positive reviews and feedback.

Wedding Insurance

Once you've got the venue sorted it time to get your wedding insurance in order. A lot of insurance companies will not insure the wedding if you are not resident in the UK. One company that will as long as one of the couple is a full UK citizen is John Lewis Wedding Insurance which is underwritten by AXA. For 130 pounds you can get really great cover for your wedding- it is so worth not worrying about it and doesn’t cost the earth. Take Me There>>

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