All in one wedding or venue plus catering?

HI ladies! I am quite new to the forum so I hope I'm not starting a thread which has been started before. I am planning for a Summer 2013 wedding. I am not fussy about days or dates so long as it's some time in the Summer of 2013. I just wanted to get some advice from you. At the moment, H2B and I are looking at venues and pricing around. We are investigating hotel packages as well as hiring out a venue and getting in caterers. Is anyone planning to steer away from the traditional hotel wedding and hire out a venue and get caterers in? I am just wondering will it work out far more expensive to do it this way as it would mean decorating the venue from top to toe, whereas there would be much less need to decorate in a hotel as the hotel usually provides much of this. Any opinions or experience on this would be much appreciated! Thanks

Hiya from our own experience anywhere we looked at like that was working out more expensive because there was a Fee to hire the venue and then the cost of the Caterers on top, we only spoke to two caterers though so didn't explore it hugely. We had decided we didn't want a hotel and ended up finding the perfect venue that had their own caterers which only worked out at the same price as a nice hotel would have, theres great choices out there if you're looking for something different, Clonabreany House, The Mill House Slane, ballybeg house, summerhill house.... The list goes on. Best of luck with everything.

Thanks for the reply misssunshine. We are hoping for something different but only if it no more than the traditional hotel wedding. I will price a good few caterers so to get a good spread. I like the idea of decorating the place ourselves but worry about the added costs. We are on a very tight budget but are prepared to work hard to stretch funds and make things magical

Well fair play to you, that sounds lovely. Lots of research for you so, you'll find the perfect place is out there for you.