Wedding Update: 2 down but a lot more to go!

With less than 12 months to go before my wedding, I had no set date, no church, no reception venue, STILL, NO NOTHING. Progress was not a friend of mine and showed no interest in becoming one. My spare time around the little Madam was spent desperately trying to find a venue nice enough and big enough to host 'My big fat Nigerian wedding'! I spoke to friends, my sister in laws, I asked questions on forums but the same places kept coming up. I did visit a few, some better than the others but some disastrous!

First, my fiancé and I went to visit the City Pavillion in Romford. From the outside it doesn't look like a wedding venue at all. Just looks like a leisure centre or something but inside the hall was perfect. Definitely big enough, facilities were OK, the main room had a bit of wow factor with the funky chandeliers and there was even a separate room that we could use for a pre-drinks reception. All was good. I thought we had found the one until it got down to the nitty gritty.

It costs £14k but they offered it to me for £12k. Am i really going to spend that kind of money on the venue alone??? That's equivalent to a house deposit! I had a real battle with my head or my heart here as I had fallen in love with the space and was already planning the layout and decor in my head. But reality did kick in thank God! That is way too much of the budget. We would have all been drinking tap water, eating crisps and cheese sandwiches lol! The final nail in the coffin for City Pavillion was a friend of a friend who used the venue for her wedding last year. Her wedding planner said she wouldn't advise using it as their customer service was not up to scratch. They had problems with using the kitchen facilities and apparently were generally not treated very well. So that was it, on to the next one........

I had two more options on my list. We went to view them both. Oasis Banqueting Suite was first up. The location was good but the outside of the venue looked a bit shabby. Parking was good - they said they would even offer a parking attendant so I was keen to look inside. Unfortunately it didn't match up to my expectations. Inside was OK but no real wow factor. I went with my mum and two cousins. As we stepped foot in the door, we exchanged glances. I knew exactly what they were thinking. There was a weird musty smell right throughout the building. Oh well, I continued looking around. It was definitely big enough, the main hall and kitchen were ample size but as we explored more surprises! A little visitor appeared to our horror which made me run a mile! A rat or could have been mouse ran across the kitchen floor. I could not believe it, I almost jumped out of my skin, but I kept my cool! The tour guide tried to act like he didn't see it and continued like nothing happened but my beady-eyed Mum also spotted rat poison around the kitchen floor. So that was the end of that. Despite a favourable £4k price tag I was not about to share my wedding day with Barking's population of rats!

 

 
So I'm now panicking and clutching at straws hoping that the next one will be it, otherwise I'm so screwed and running out of options faster than Usain Bolt can sprint 100 metres!

On to the Coliseum in Ilford we went. To cut a long story short, parking was a big worry, the venue itself was lovely inside, very clean, good looking kitchens but it was way too small. I tried to convince myself that we could somehow whittle down the guest list but
who am i kidding...seriously! Be real! (see my post on 'My big fat nigerian wedding' to see why).

So, I decided to go back to the drawing board and we ended up looking at Troxy in East London. I had looked at their website ages ago but was put off by the lack of area parking. But I'm so glad we went. It doesn't look that impressive from the outside but
when you step into the foyer.... Wow! It has a grand, art deco feel to it (see a few pics below). It is absolutely huge inside. Big bar area and kitchen, bride and groom dressing rooms in the back and a very helpful, professional events manager. I was sold and so was my Mum. I took my fiancé and in-laws to view it a few days later and they loved it too. It has so much potential in terms of layout and decor. Ideas are just flying around in my head about all the exciting things we can do hehehe. So I've found my dream venue. The date is secured and the venue is booked. Finally I can relax a little. It makes it feel more real now I know where we will celebrate our marriage. Other things are coming into place in my head and I feel more prepared to speak to decorators and florists etc as I know what I'm working with.

Images of Troxy



 

 

 

With the venue sorted and a date set in stone I could finally get in contact with our local church in Edmonton. That's all booked now so I am grinning like a Cheshire cat :-)

With two of the main things ticked off my list, I'm ready to tackle the next tasks! But with a gazillion more things to do, a feisty little diva and only 11 months to go, I better get a move on!