TIME is certainly of the essence for newly-engaged Nottingham couples as popular Nottingham city centre wedding venue, the St James Hotel, sees a huge increase in bookings this year.
Wedding venues are notorious for being booked up a year or more in advance - but the St James Hotel is seeing a significant increase in the number of couples not wanting to wait a long time for their big day.
Events co-ordinator at the hotel, which is located opposite the historic Nottingham Castle, Pat Roadley said: “Over the past few years there has been a noticeable increase in couples looking to book their weddings sooner rather than later and already in 2016 a large number of people have been looking to have their wedding this year as opposed to a longer engagement and a wedding in a year or two’s time.
“The majority of couples we meet start to look at venues as soon as they get engaged. Many couples see the wedding venue as a top priority when planning their big day – it is where they are going to begin their married life.
“Once a couple has booked a venue their whole wedding becomes a real thing with a date they can count down to, which I think is why more and more couples want to have it fixed sooner rather than later.”
Amy and Martyn Kingston, of Gedling, were married last month (March) at the St James Hotel after getting engaged only six months earlier.
Amy said: “We wanted to book the venue as soon as possible when we got engaged because we didn’t want wedding planning to drag on for years.
“We went to see the St James Hotel on Christmas Eve and as soon as we saw the room we knew it was the venue for us. We both fell in love with it straight away and didn’t want to waste any time in pinning down a date.
“Both me and my husband are from Nottingham so being able to get married with Nottingham Castle in the background was just magical for us. The mix of the grand ballroom and the modern hotel is really something special and we’re so lucky we were able to book the venue three months before our wedding.”
Pat added that 2016 is already shaping up to be a bumper year for weddings at the St James Hotel.
She said: “There is always a rush in January because lots of couples get engaged over Christmas or New Year, but this year we’ve had almost double the amount of enquires than this time last year.
“Bookings have increased as well. Last Saturday we had a full day of wedding venue viewings and by the end of the week six couples had booked with us.”
Richard Johal, general manager of the St James Hotel, said: “It’s a pleasure for the St James to host a couple’s wedding. It is such an important landmark in people’s lives and we are honoured and flattered each time a couple decides to choose us as their venue.
“It’s great to see wedding bookings going so well already in 2016. Two years ago we completely refurbished the whole hotel so it’s really rewarding that people really like the renovations and want to choose us as the venue for their big day.”
Find out more about weddings at the St James Hotel by visiting their website: www.stjames-hotel.com
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