Pink Wedding Days | Gay Marriage and Civil Partnerships Blog

Nestled in the heart of Oxfordshire’s glorious countryside, The Oxfordshire Hotel and Spa combines contemporary comfort with a very warm welcome. This really is a superb wedding venue and it’s where LGBTQ couples will be made to feel right at home. Couples can make a grand entrance at The Oxfordshire, thanks to its tree-lined driveway and stone-pillared entrance.  The Hotel has a golf course and spa facilities so you and your guests can unwind before the big day. With space for 200 guests, there’s plenty of room ample free parking. The Oxfordshire gives guests the option to extend their evening, too, by not only having a late-night license but by offering 46 Executive Bedrooms and 4 Suites.   Couples have the choice of a seated meal or a buffet.   Outdoor fireworks are permitted and oh, did we mention?  They have a HELIPAD .   With multiple wedding packages on offer, there’s something for all budgets and visions.  ...

The Pink Wedding Days blog has been selected as one of the internet’s Top 10 UK LGBT blogs! We’re absolutely thrilled to be recognised alongside the big names like Pink News and The Gay Times.  It was a lovely way to come off the bank holiday weekend, and it’s come just over a month since we were shortlisted for a UK Blog Award in London. You can see who else made Feedspots Top 10 by visiting their page.   We thought we’d take this time to say THANK YOU! to everyone who reads our blog and to every company who list their wedding venue or service on the Pink Wedding Days website. You’re all superstars x

Askham Hall in Penrith, Cumbria, is one of our absolute favourite LGBTQ-friendly wedding venues. This Grade I listed building is set in 40 acres of beautiful gardens and is the IDEAL place for a winter fairytale wedding.  There’s a real medieval feel to this venue: cosy warm spaces, castellated 12th-century tower hall and crackling log fires. Askham Hall is perfect for any season, any type of weather and any time of year BUT there’s something truly magical about a winter wedding at this charming and secluded Lake District estate.  Richard Perry Photography Richard Perry Photography Richard Perry Photography But it isn’t just that Askham Hall is a superb wedding venue but it also has some equally tempting wedding offers including 10% of any remaining 2018 dates – with a minimum discount of £1,000. January and February are ideal times to say ‘I do’ and Askham currently has a mid-week ‘Winter Wonderland’ package...

Three years ago The Republic of Ireland held a referendum on equal marriage and the public voted overwhelmingly in favour.  By November 2015, the first gay weddings were taking place.   It was a huge result for the country’s LGBTQ community as homosexuality had only been decriminalised in 1993.  The YES vote – which accounted for more than 70% of returned ballots – made Ireland the first country in the world to legalise equal marriage by popular vote. But whilst Irish support for same-sex marriage had surged in the years before the referendum, it was, for many, still a hard-fought campaign.   Referendums can be difficult – Brexit, anyone? – But there are few topics as divisive as gay marriage.  It can split families. It can divide communities. It forces us to see what people really think about homosexual relationships. Suddenly, Karen from three-doors-down isn’t just the nice lady who puts out your bins but OMG! THAT Karen who ha...

We LOVE that The Best Western Marks Tey Hotel near Colchester, Sussex, caters for all sizes of wedding.   It isn’t every venue that offers couples a choice of ten function rooms.  Whether your guest list includes a handful of names or a helluva lot of them, The Best Western Marks Tey Hotel can provide a range of wedding packages to suit all budgets.  The venue can cater for up to 180 guests at the reception with the added bonus of extensive grounds to enjoy.  Allow the wedding coordinator to intercede on your behalf to keep the planning as stress-free as possible OR if you’re looking for something a little more bespoke, more personal to you and your partner, then the wedding team can help facilitate your vision of the perfect day. Guests are welcome to stay overnight at the hotel , too, so there’s no need for the reception to end prematurely.  Why not take a moment before your big day to unwind in the hotel’s spa where you can enjoy ...

There are some fantastic gay-friendly wedding venues in the Pink Wedding Days directory , and we’ve always been proud to host such a diverse range of venues and service providers dedicated to giving couples the happiest day of their lives.  But choosing the venue or vendor for your same-sex wedding or civil partnership can be tough.  Sometimes we don’t know what we want OR we only know what we don’t want to see in our ceremonies.  It could be that we want to be surprised, to see something different or unique or a mix of the modern or traditional. Things are made more complicated by the sheer number of magazines, websites, brochures, magazines, fairs, television shows etc offering inspiration and choices.  It’s easy to become overwhelmed.  It’s easy to feel underwhelmed by the whole thing, too.  One thing you can do is give yourself some space before you start the serious business of wedding planning. Think of this time as a buffer betwee...

The average wedding costs around £27,000 . Couples could be forgiven for thinking that an invitation is favour enough without adding a small gift on top.  Wedding planning is stressful and shopping around for trinkets and tokens to add to place settings can seem an unwelcome drain both on time and budget.  But favours are still popular.  They do make a cute addition to the tables at the wedding breakfast, too, when they’re chosen to complement the reception's overall aesthetic or theme. One of the biggest trends in recent years has been serving retro sweets and chocolates as wedding favours. Sweetie carts and jars where you fill your own bags are a regular feature at receptions and are popular both with younger and older guests.  It’s easy enough to find out which sugary treats are fan favourites; you can read the results of a recent survey on the nation’s favourite candies and chocolates here. But is there still a place for the traditional...