Many of our close friends and family will know that Ali and I have found the process of finding the 'right' place to get married and celebrate our commitment quite hard.  We have been searching for more than four months and with that a lot of time spent on researching, emailing, visiting, negotiating, and discussing.

The struggle to find somewhere was mainly down to three reasons:

Firstly, we had no idea what kind of venue we wanted when starting our hunt (this meant we needed to see an array of different types of venues to allow us to see what felt right). 

Secondly, and most obvious, was that those venues we did really like ended up offering us stupidly high prices once VAT and extras were added up (and with me being as tight as a ducks ass, I was immediately put off). 

And lastly, when we did narrow down our venues to a shortlist we both quickly realised that actually, we really did not feel comfortable with the stuffiness, strictness, and rather 'over the topness' being offered by these places. Whilst of course they would have made for amazing settings and would have provided guests with the 'wow' factor, we deemed the ability to let our hair down and be ourselves in a more natural and 'us' setting far more important. We were also adamant that we wanted to bring in elements of our own personalities, which unfortunately, none of these venues didn't allow for (or if they did, we would have to pay the price). This meant it was back to square 1....

Funny enough, when we started to look around the second batch of venues we kept going back to the very first place we looked at. It just seemed to fit in! Although, there were some logistical issues which prevented me from committing (outside space, where to go after the ceremony etc etc).

And then, one day, when discussing 'where we should do the deeds' Ali said something which stuck so vividly in my mind and was just so romantic. When I asked him where he would be getting ready on the morning of the wedding, he said something along the lines of...

"At home. I want to get ready in our home, and then walk down the road I always walk down saying to myself, I am getting married today."

And it was then, that I said we should get married at our local Stoke Newington Town Hall. 

 

 (for copyright purposes photos not taken by me, but edited by me)

This is a place we have been to and passed many times. A place which I see every time I go and come back from work. A place which allows Ali to wake up and jet off down the road singing, 'I'm getting married in the morning'....

It has meaning to us (this is the town where we first bought our first home and confirmed that we would be committed to each hopefully for a very, very long time). It will also continue to have meaning for us in the future. You can marry anywhere, but for us, it had to be somewhere which will hold a history towards the making of our married life.

We will have a relaxed ceremony, then enjoy a warm toasting with some sparkly in a lovely room before you all throw confetti on us as we make our exit and go off to the second venue (which i will reveal later).

Woooo hoooo.... now time to do the exciting wedding stuff!