It’s a common dilemma that brides face when they are searching 
for the perfect wedding venue. There’s an ideal venue, local for the majority of guests, with wonderful facilities, and just the right capacity for your guest list, but your best friend has already booked it for her wedding. Oh and your brother held his wedding there last year. And by the way your aunt has reserved it for your cousin’s wedding in two years time.
It seems a waste not to use a great venue that is ideally placed, but you also don’t want your wedding to blend into a seamless blur of identical occasions. Here are seven tips on personalising your wedding venue to create a memorable space.
Change the table layout
If your venue always uses formal round tables of eight, ask to put them in storage and hire banquet style tables for a noisy sociable reception instead. Place your top table at the opposite end of the room from the standard layout.
Alter the sense of space
Your perception of a room can be changed simply by what is in it. Suspending items such as chandeliers, paper lanterns or bird cages from the ceiling can lower the focus of the room, while towering table centres can draw the eye upwards. Altering the lighting by using candles, coloured tables lamps, sparkly fairy lights, or up lighters can also change the feel of the room.
Find a new photo location
If your group photos contain a lot of the same people as another wedding, you don’t want the background to be the same too. Ask your photographer to look for an unusual setting for your group shots, and if you can’t find anywhere, consider temporarily installing a structure such as an archway to create a unique photo location.
Use coloured or patterned fabrics
Hanging fabric is a quick and easy way to give a room a new look without completely redecorating, and you can also hide any features of your venue that you aren’t especially keen on. Even using brightly coloured table cloths and runners instead of the usual white will make your reception appear unique.
Choose a striking theme
If you have a definite theme that dominates every aspect of your wedding, this will become the focal point for your guests rather than the venue itself. If items such as your cake are central to your theme, display them proudly in the middle of the reception room.
Pick an unusual season
If the venue in question is usually hired during the spring because of the beautiful outdoor terrace, think about having a winter wedding there. Perhaps you can make use of the roaring fire that is usually full of spring blooms. Venues look and feel very different during the various seasons so look for an atypical season for your particular venue.
Add personal touches
You may have grand design plans but it is the little things that your guests will remember most. Place fancy toiletries in the ladies bathroom, add jars of sweets to the tables in the bar area, and ask the venue to use coloured or quirky glasses rather than their standard ones. These little touches will help to make your wedding unique.