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The church and reception


Ellie and David

Ellie has been with David for three years and they've decided to tie the knot. She tells us how planning the big day can turn into something like a military operation.
Entry: 2

Bride. Check. Groom. Check. Bitter, bickering relatives with scores to settle. Check. Everything is in place for the fairytale union, but will Ellie find the ideal reception venue?

I decided where I was getting married when I was about five - the local church on the other side of the fell to my parents' house. It's the most secluded, romantic place you could possibly think of and it has a lot of personal history for me, as I have attended services there for most of my life. Organising the ceremony with the vicar was a matter of a 10-minute phone call. If only everything else was going that smoothly.

For starters, both our (very large) families immediately hijacked my ideal 'quiet' wedding by sheer weight of numbers. We grudgingly accepted that these people were no way going to let us get away with a small celebration and revised our plans accordingly. Then it started getting silly.

'Invite whoever you want, screw offending people,' was something I heard so many times from various relatives, yet every single one of them has at least one person that I simply have to invite. To top it off, they also seem to have at least one person that I should leave off the guest list. In fact, I stopped speaking to my brother for a month after he threw a massive wobbly when I couldn't guarantee that I could find space for his current girly of choice (they've now split up - I'm saying nothing). I have to say, I hadn't even realised that I was expected to pay for random people to eat, drink and be merry, appear in my wedding photos and then disappear to leave me wondering who the hell they were, and the whole thing really quite upset me.

"Both our (very large) families immediately hijacked my ideal quiet wedding by sheer weight of numbers"
Church

The church is booked.

Also we have apparently left it stupidly late to organise reception venues. Especially when I need to find somewhere that can fit in 60-80 dinner guests and about 250 for a Ceilidh afterwards (you simply haven't lived if you haven't experienced 250 pissed people trying to Strip The Willow). Everywhere I tried was either fully booked or just didn't have the capacity for us all. Tearing my hair out, I was just about to admit defeat and treat everyone to a Maccy D's instead when my Dad suggested Rheged.

Now if you have never heard of Rheged before, you are probably not Cumbrian. Let's face it, we don't have that much to be proud of, so a giant, grass-covered building is something to get excited about here. It's not 'Cumbria's Premier Tourist Attraction' for nothing y'know. However, not only does it have a cinema screen the size of six double decker buses, it is also a really beautiful building. The architecture is amazing, and despite it basically being a hill, there is an awful lot of light and it just feels very airy and spacious. And there are shops and things for the guests to look at if they get bored. Finally - but most importantly - it's available and can fit us all in. Phew!

With the church and the reception sorted out, I'm starting to feel like things are finally coming together. Even if I end up wearing jeans and a t-shirt I can still get married and feed people afterwards. Which reminds me - I am seriously behind in sorting my dress out. Shopping for the most amazing dress of your life is such a chore.


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