The venue hunt continues

After a fairly slow start last weekend, we really got to grips with the venue search today. Thanks to the dreary gray weather and an early start it felt a bit more like work than fun, but a sense of achievement is setting in now - and I really think we may have found our venue!

Our first stop was Theobalds Park in Cheshunt. Just ten minutes drive from home and with an impressive website this had seemed like a good option, but it just didn't work any magic in the end. We admittedly approached from the wrong entrance but it just seemed a little tired from the off. The reception is all very modern conference-venue in feel and the greeting we received lacked a lot in warmth and friendliness - not helped by the fact that we hadn't been given the right name of who to meet. The estate has two venues, a Georgian manor house and a more modern barn, and before we arrived we were leaning towards the house. However, although from the outside it looked extremely grand, inside it just didn't live up to first impressions and there were far too many different rooms for our size of wedding. The barn was much better, with rooms arranged around a lovely courtyard, but should the weather be bad our only option for the ceremony was a low-ceilinged, dingy conference room. I can imagine this venue working brilliantly for the right couple but in the end we were put off by the general feel of the place and the lack of care and professionalism shown by the staff - it left me with the feeling that when it comes to weddings, chain hotels are just not the way to go, at least not for us.

Our second venue was the one that on paper had ticked the most boxes. Coltsfoot Country Retreat is more rural than most places on our list, surrounded by acres of fields and reached by a narrow lane, and as it's not a hotel, a conference venue or a golf club in addition to being a wedding venue, we could hire the whole place (including all its bedrooms) exclusively. We arrived half an hour early but the staff were unfazed, bringing us coffee by the log fire and making us feel instantly at home. The reception room itself lacked the spaciousness of some we've seen but more than made up for it in character. The food here also suits us better than many venues with hearty rather than fussy meals for the wedding breakfast and substantial evening canapes like fish and chips instead of a buffet - plus they'll let us drink in the bar until whatever hour we can muster! Having the accommodation on-site is also a major plus and we could allocate the rooms ourselves which would mean having all the people we want near us, near us!

Our next venue, Priory Barn, was equally as rural and could also cater to our food tastes as well as being perhaps the one with the greatest wow-factor. Dating from 1541 it has bags of character with its exposed beams and quaint gardens complete with babbling brook and genuinely did make me gape when I saw it. Despite it being empty (and cold!) owner John gave us a good impression of the high standard of service we could expect if we got married here, talking about the food with clear passion and allaying all my fears about the enormous size of the space. Doug however was not convinced it wouldn't engulf us and the accommodation issue we encountered last week once more raised its awkward head as words like Travelodge and minibus were thrown around. Having seen other venues which have on-site rooms it's hard to let go of how much easier this makes everything and I can now only see this as a major downside.

Finally we visited Shendish Manor, a very grand-looking hotel and golf club which I must admit I didn't have a clear mental picture of before today. It definitely improved on Theobalds Park as grand old houses go but by this point those barns had really worked their way under my skin and I just wasn't so keen on the wood-panelled, traditional feel as I had been. There were some major pluses here - we could get married in an idyllic outdoor setting (depending on the weather), we could go on past midnight with both bar and music and there was exactly the right amount of space for our numbers, but in the end I think it's probably just too much a big hotel, with all the lack of intimacy that suggests.

So, although it may be obvious which of these venues we've provisionally booked, I'm holding my horses on revealing it just yet for fear of it becoming too fixed in our heads as "the one". We have three more to see tomorrow and I really want to keep an open mind. Thing is, I'm told it's like looking for a house - you know when you see it. And I think I know.