Planning a Dry Hire Wedding

What is a dry hire wedding? Year on year, dry hire weddings are becoming increasingly more popular across the UK. Couples love to have the complete control and flexibility that dry hire offers, whilst being able to carefully manage their budget themselves. Countryside manor house venues, like Oakley Hall in Hampshire, provide the perfect blank canvas for you to design the dry hire wedding day of your dreams.

Quick Answer for Busy Couples:

Planning a dry hire wedding involves 9 essential steps: setting your budget (typically £20,000-£60,000), choosing the perfect venue, creating your vendor team, designing your style and décor, planning catering and bar services, coordinating entertainment and photography, managing logistics and timelines, understanding legal requirements, and handling final preparations. Each step requires careful consideration but gives you complete control over your special day.

Below you'll find our step-by-step guide on how to plan your dry hire wedding. Every venue is different, but hopefully, you will find the below to be a good general overview of what to expect. So take a seat in your favourite cosy spot with a cup of tea and learn more about the dry hire wedding planning journey!

How much does a dry hire wedding cost in the UK? The first thing you need to decide when planning your dry hire wedding is your budget. Whilst for many, money can be an uncomfortable topic to discuss, it is ultimately the deciding factor for your wedding plans. Whether you're paying for the whole day as the wedding couple or if family members are contributing, the conversation needs to start at least 12 months prior to the date you'd like to host your wedding.

Once this has been confirmed, you can then set realistic expectations for your day by budgeting for the various components to a wedding. The benefit to dry hire is the complete control you have of your budget and wedding. You can choose your venue, caterers, décor and entertainment and scale up or scale down on the luxuries based on your finances.

Dry Hire Wedding Cost Breakdown for 2025:

Depending on the location and time of year of your wedding, the average dry hire wedding in the UK is between £20,000 and £60,000. This big price can be overwhelming, so let's break it down into the different components:

Venue Hire Costs: You would expect to pay between £10,000 to £30,000 on your dry hire venue. This price is based on where in the UK it is (London, for example, will be significantly more expensive than a venue in Scotland), the day of the week (weekends are pricier than weekdays), the time of year (winter & autumn months are generally cheaper than summer & spring months), the duration of the dry hire and what's included within the venue hire. For example, some venues include accommodation or exclusive use.

Catering Expenses: The second biggest fee that you will likely come across is your catering, which can sometimes be equivalent to or more than your venue hire. Depending on the quality of your caterers, the menus they offer, the experience and expertise their team have and the services you require on the day, you would be looking to spend between £15,000 to £45,000 for 300 guests.

Additional Wedding Costs: Then come all of the smaller components to your day. Photographers and videographers are between £5,000 to £10,000, a DJ is between £1,000 to £5,000, and décor and florals are between £3,000 to £5,000.

What should I look for in a dry hire wedding venue? When choosing a wedding venue, there's a lot to think about and consider. Dry hire weddings typically have larger guest numbers, sometimes reaching up to 500 guests, so it's crucial that you choose a venue that can host this many people comfortably.

You will also have to decide where in the country you want to host your celebrations. Would you like to stay local close to your family and friends or would you prefer to go further out? If you choose the latter, you will have to consider travel for your guests and potentially accommodation whether this be onsite at the venue or at a local hotel.

Essential Venue Requirements for Large Celebrations:

You may find that your caterers will also have specific requirements from your venue to be able to provide their services and match your expectations. For example, if catering for over 500 guests, they will need a big enough kitchen with plenty of cookers, hobs and refrigerator/freezer space. Another example, if you want Halal or Kosher cuisine, your caterers will need more space to store and prep the ingredients separately.

Why Oakley Hall is Perfect for Dry Hire Weddings:

You'll find Oakley Hall in North Hampshire, just 15 minutes from the centre of Basingstoke. Our Georgian manor house has easy access to London and the South (from the M3), the West (from the M4) and the North (from the A34 and M40). For guests travelling from abroad, Oakley Hall is less than 90 minutes from Gatwick Airport, less than 60 minutes from Heathrow Airport and 60 minutes from Bournemouth Airport.

Our manor house is home to 50 beautiful bedrooms & suites, including the private 3-bedroom Garden Cottage, and approximately 200 car parking spaces. The facilities at Oakley Hall can accommodate up to 350 wedding guests. The large capacity Garden Pavilion has its very own kitchen which is fitted with a walk-in fridge, 3 ovens, a 6-burner stove and a freezer - providing plenty of space for your caterers to work their magic. The Garden Pavilion also boasts a private bar, in which the alcohol can be hidden/removed to fit certain cultures, and a private entrance.

Countryside manor homes are a perfect fit for dry hire weddings. Whilst the historical architecture and interior design add beautiful character for weddings, the larger space and renovated modern facilities are ideal for weddings with large guest numbers and specific requirements.

How do I find the best suppliers for my dry hire wedding? To start the search for suppliers, your venue will usually provide you with a list of those whom they recommend and have worked with previously. These vendors will know the venue well and will have a good working relationship with the venue's team.

Couples are usually welcome to bring in their own suppliers if they choose. When starting to research, it can be overwhelming with the amount of businesses online. Stick to those who have a good social media presence, good online reviews and are good at communication from the very start.

Key Suppliers You'll Need:

Caterers (often your largest expense after the venue)
Decorators and florists for transforming your space
Entertainment providers (DJs, live bands, cultural performers)
Photography and videography teams
Specialist services (Mandap hire, lighting, cultural ceremony requirements)

Top tip: Book your key suppliers at least 12 months in advance, especially for popular summer wedding dates.
The best vendors get snapped up quickly!

What are the most popular dry hire wedding décor trends? One of the many benefits of dry hiring a wedding venue is the complete control you have over the style and décor of the facilities. This is where you can really let your personality and cultural heritage shine through.

Whilst Oakley Hall holds an impressive and grand aesthetic within itself, each of the wedding spaces has been decorated with a neutral tone to complement pretty much any colour scheme that our couples choose! Rich reds, luxurious golds and shades of white have been popular colour schemes amongst our previous couples and have certainly looked breathtaking in the Garden Pavilion.

The Perfect Blank Canvas:

The Garden Pavilion is an elegant permanent marquee which is fitted with light grey carpets and a white draped-fabric ceiling that shines with LED fairy lights, providing our couples with the most beautiful blank canvas to design their wedding day. The fairy lights and up-lighters dotted around the room (which are both included within our dry hire package) can be changed to a specific Pantone colour to match the colour scheme of the wedding.

Cultural Ceremony Considerations: The highest point of the ceiling of the Garden Pavilion reaches 3.9m, making it the perfect fit for larger Mandaps for your ceremonies and other cultural decorative elements.

Budgeting for Wedding Décor:

What you choose for your wedding décor is completely up to you, but budget is a factor that will need to be considered, where Mandaps alone can cost up to £5,000. Just like any other vendor, you will need to conduct research and meet with suppliers to ensure that they can provide the décor you want. You may find that one supplier can provide everything you need or you may need to hire multiple suppliers to source different components of the décor.

DIY Wedding Décor Options: Many couples prefer to 'DIY' their wedding décor from handmaking table plans and centre pieces to growing their own wedding flowers, so this could be a great option for you if you want to spend less whilst adding those personal touches that make your day uniquely yours.

How do I choose the right caterers for my dry hire wedding? In many cultures, food is more than just a meal - it's a celebration of tradition, heritage and family. So it's incredibly important that you find the right caterers for your wedding day. Some couples are lucky and seem to find their caterers even before they find their venue, whilst others find themselves searching for weeks or months.
Your caterers will be cooking for you and your guests, representing your culture and setting the scene for your wedding day - so there's a lot to consider when making this decision.

Deciding on Your Catering Style:
First, decide on what you actually want. A Gujarati banquet for 300? A buffet with traditional Pakistani dishes? Interactive stations boasting lavish Afro-Caribbean cuisine? Once you have confirmed this you can begin searching for your caterers.

Essential Questions to Ask Caterers:
When meeting with various caterers, you'll need to understand how they operate and what they can produce, both for your own benefit and to pass on to your chosen venue. Learn about their experience:

Have they catered for this many people before?
Have they previously worked with your chosen venue or somewhere similar?
Have they catered to guests with the same cultural requirements before?

Menu and Service Questions:

Do they cook using traditional methods?
Can they adapt dishes to meet your expectations?
Can they easily cater to guests with dietary requirements?
Can they be flexible with your menu choices?
Will you be able to have a menu tasting?
How many servers will be there on the day?
How much do they charge?
Have they got the necessary licenses and insurance?

These questions will help you decide on caterer for your wedding day.

Alcohol Considerations for Cultural Weddings:
For some cultures alcohol is not permitted, so it's important that you ask your venue if they can cater to this before booking. Depending on the venue, they may be able to remove the alcohol out of sight or make it inaccessible. Couples might prefer for their caterers to serve the alcohol rather than the venue's staff so encourage an open conversation with your venue and caterers to ensure that this can be arranged and is ready for you on the day.

What entertainment works best for dry hire weddings? So, now that all of the necessities have been decided it's time to think about all of the additions that you want on your wedding day - the elements that will make your celebration truly memorable.

Choosing Your Wedding Photographer:
Most wedding couples will have a photographer who will be there throughout the day to capture every moment between you and your guests. When you start researching photographers, you will come across hundreds, if not thousands, on Google and social media.

To help narrow your selection, consider:

Your budget: What is the maximum you're willing to spend? How much do they charge? Will you need to pay travel costs and food costs?
The style you want: What editing style do you want your wedding album to have? Do you want posed photos or 'in the moment' photos?
The experience they hold: Would you prefer for them to have experience with dry hire weddings before?

Once confirmed, it's beneficial for your photographer to visit the venue before the big day to assess the lighting and picturesque spots around the grounds.

Additional Visual Services: You can also hire a videographer, a content creator, a drone photographer and a photo booth/360 booth. These suppliers tend to get booked up very far in advance, so we would advise reaching out to them at least 12 months prior to your wedding.

Entertainment Options for Every Celebration:

We have seen a wide selection of entertainment brought through Oakley Hall's doors for weddings, from DJs, live bands and singing waiters to magicians, fireworks and bouncy castles. The variety really is endless!

Important Venue Restrictions: You may find that some venues have restrictions as to what suppliers you can hire for your day. For example, not all venues have the space, permission or license for fireworks. So before booking any additional entertainment, it's always worth double-checking with your venue beforehand.

Insurance and Safety Requirements: For most suppliers, they will need to provide evidence of public liability insurance and those who require electricity (e.g. DJ's, some live musicians, bouncy castles and photo booths) will also need to have recent PAT testing on their electrical equipment. If you are ever in doubt about restrictions and expectations from suppliers, we would suggest speaking with your venue.

How do I coordinate all the moving parts of a dry hire wedding? As you may have already gathered from the above information, there's a lot to think about and bring together for your wedding day! It's essential for you and/or your wedding planner to create a wedding timeline that details the timings, suppliers and expectations for your day.

This must also be communicated with to your wedding venue so they can provide you with the space, staff and any extras that you need. We highlight the importance of effective communication between yourselves, the suppliers and your venue because without it you will face more stress, delayed timings and potentially chaotic service.

Professional Wedding Planning Support:

To help manage your wedding planning, we would suggest working with a wedding planner who will take most of the responsibility off your shoulders. If a wedding planner is not in the budget or not needed, then be as efficient as possible with your admin: reply to emails as soon as you can, keep organised folders in your inbox and create a spreadsheet with all costings, suppliers' information and deadlines.

Creating Your Wedding Day Timeline:

Your timeline should include:

Supplier arrival and setup times
Ceremony schedule (religious, civil, or both)
Photography sessions and family portraits
Cocktail hour and guest mingling
Meal service timings
Entertainment and dancing schedule
Breakdown and departure times

Communication is absolutely key.
Share this timeline with everyone involved at least two weeks before your wedding day.

What are the legal requirements for getting married at a dry hire venue? If your dry hire involves a non-English ceremony, it's important that you are aware of the legalities surrounding civil ceremonies and marriages in England.

Understanding Marriage Laws:

For a marriage to be legally binding in this country, your ceremony needs to be conducted by a registrar and held in a building that holds a civil ceremony license. To ensure that a marriage is legally binding, our couples often opt for a civil ceremony either before or after their religious ceremony. This allows them to incorporate both cultures throughout the day and be legally married.

Insurance Requirements:

When hiring a venue, all parties need to be covered should the worst happen. This is why the majority of suppliers need to provide evidence of the necessary insurance and, for some, PAT testing.

Wedding Insurance is Essential: We would also highly recommend that couples take out their own wedding insurance. Unfortunately, we have had couples cancel their wedding due to the unforeseen circumstances and they were not covered by insurance, which left them out of pocket significantly. Don't let this be you!

Required Documentation:

Venue licensing: Ensure your venue holds appropriate licenses
Supplier insurance: All vendors need public liability coverage
Equipment certification: PAT testing for electrical equipment
Personal wedding insurance: Protection against cancellation or unforeseen circumstances

What should I focus on in the final weeks before my dry hire wedding? It's just a few weeks until the big day and unsurprisingly the planning doesn't stop. It's now time to bring everything together and finalise any remaining decisions.

Final Weeks Checklist:

Take a look through your spreadsheet with your suppliers listed to work out who still needs payment, who still needs confirmation and who is all good to go. You will also be expected make the final payment to your venue around this time.

Weather Contingency Planning: Whilst we'd all love to be able to rely on the British weather, there is always the chance that it's tipping it down on the day so it's definitely worth having a back-up plan. Liaise with your caterers, wedding planner and venue to ensure there is enough space for your guests to socialise and for your additional suppliers to set up indoors.

Appointing Your Day-of Coordinator:

During the day itself, our team strongly recommends that you appoint a family member or close friend to be a point of contact for the venue and the suppliers. Realistically, there will be questions or queries that need to be answered during the day, and it's only fair to avoid bothering the bride and groom - it is their special day after all!

Choose someone whom you can trust to make decisions on the day and who can be relied on to resolve any last-minute problems. This person should:

Have your contact details and timeline
Know your preferences and priorities
Be able to make quick decisions
Have good communication skills
Be someone suppliers can easily identify