Finding a reception venue - part 1

When we were looking around for a reception venue we knew we wanted somewhere where ideally we could have a ceilidh in the evening, and it had to be somewhere that would cater for vegetarians, because my dad is a veggie.

While we were deliberating, darling beardy man's parents booked their hotel rooms for the wedding weekend at Penns Hall Hotel. (It's technically Ramada Sutton Coldfield now, but it's also been known as Crossroads Motel for those of you who remember the 1970s...) His mum made enquiries about the hotel's wedding reception facilities.

My dad then went to investigate and was shown the suggested room for 70 people, with tables laid out, chair covers, subtle lighting and catering available for a three course lunch. Dad said it looked nice, it sounded pretty good and the menus looked tasty, with veggie options available.

We did have slight reservations because we really wanted a hog roast and ceilidh in the evening, and we weren't sure if the hotel would be able to cater a hog roast, or if the room would be okay for a ceilidh with more than 70 people there - our guest list was quite long! There was also the added problem that quite a lot of our guests would be travelling some distance to get to the wedding. We wouldn't neccessarily want them at the breakfast but would want them at the evening, but they might want to travel back home earlier because they'd have the distance to travel.

The problem was resolved when we went to see the room that Penns Hall was offering. It had its own entrance straight off the car park, which immediately caused a few worries. We're going to have quite a lot of children at the reception and so ideally we wanted somewhere where they could go and run around and burn off some energy. The car park isn't an ideal place for them to do that, and there wasn't any other outdoor space for them to go.

Another issue was that while the room was well-lit and did just about have the space we wanted, there was no natural light at all, aside from a fire exit which led out into a tiny courtyard.

Given the cost of the package (over £2,000), the space restriction and the worries about children, we decided that Penns Hall probably wasn't going to be a suitable venue.

As an aside, although the function room wasn't particularly suitable, we have booked a bridal suite at the hotel overlooking the lake, and that looks absoluttely lovely.

Ramada Birmingham, Sutton Coldfield
Penns Lane, Walmley, Sutton Coldfield, B76 1LH
e: enquiries@ramadasuttonhotel.co.uk
t: 0121 351 3111
w: www.ramadasuttonhotel.co.uk