Dear Emma,
Our reception venue has just been flooded and we haven't got anywhere to have the meal and party afterwards. We only have thirty guests – we wanted it to be a small and intimate wedding, but now we're stumped and nowhere else has anything free on the day. Help!
S
Dear S,
Oh no! That sounds awful, I am so sorry to hear that. If you have wedding insurance, you need to get in touch with your insurer straight away.
One thing I can say though is that not having a reception venue when you have a relatively small guest list is not a total disaster, even though right now it must feel like one. It depends on where you live, but you could do something really crazy along the lines of something I heard about only yesterday when I interviewed a wedding planner.
He was telling me about an amazing wedding where the couple chose not to have a reception venue at all. They hired a few Limos and went to a series of locations around London – all dressed up to the nines. They had cocktails and canapés in one place, a light meal in another, drinks in another location and then a sit down meal somewhere else. At the end of the day they went to a club and danced the night away.
It might not be feasible to do all of those things, but you might be able to adapt your plans and make a feature of not having a venue like they did. Thirty guests might be accommodated by a restaurant if you hired it out completely, or you could look into catering at home. Be open with your friends and family about what has happened and I'm sure they'll rally round for you.
Good luck!
