Couples who are having an intimate wedding might want to hire a small hotel to host their ceremony and reception. Small hotel wedding venues are perfect if you’d like to have the day all in one location and be able to wake up the next morning with all your loved ones to continue celebrating.
We’ve found the best small hotel wedding venues in the UK, from chic city centre boltholes to charming countryside hotels.
What Counts as a Small Wedding?
A small wedding is considered as having between 30 and 60 guests; if it’s smaller than this, it’s called a micro wedding and will normally have less than 20 guests.
A small hotel is classed as a hotel with 25 bedrooms or less, so if you had under 60 guests you could accommodate all of them at your hotel. Of course, you can find even more intimate hotels, so it really is up to you how small you go with your guest list and whether your venue will have accommodation for everyone.
Is It Cheaper to Have a Wedding at a Hotel?
The biggest draw of a hotel wedding is that it offers accommodation for your and your guests. A hotel will also have catering facilities, so whether the in-house cheffing team cater your wedding or you hire in outside caterers, you won’t need to find somewhere for your suppliers to cook.
A hotel will come with a star rating so you’re easily able to guage what facilities and customer service there will be, and they’re often well-connected to transport or able to easily arrange it for your guests.
All these things mean that it can be very convenient to have a hotel wedding, but it isn’t necessarily cheaper. If you have your ceremony and reception there, plus hire out all or most of their hotel rooms, the venue will likely be able to give you a great package deal. This can be cheaper than if you book everything separately, but you will need to ensure all the rooms you’ve reserved do get booked.
For couples who are on a budget, speaking to a small hotel wedding venue about their all-inclusive packages could prove excellent value. If the hotel doesn’t fit with your theme - e.g. you really want a barn wedding - then it’s worth deciding if having the day you want is more or less important than sticking to a tight budget? There’s no reason a wedding outside a hotel needs to be more expensive.
Can We Legally Marry in a Hotel?
If the hotel has a licensed ceremony room or licensed outside area, then yes, you absolutely can legally marry at a hotel.
You will need a registrar to attend the ceremony and conduct the legal side, even if you have a celebrant, if you want to marry at the venue. Talk to your local register office about the cost of hiring a registrar to attend your licensed venue; it’s usually at least £400.
