Ultimate Wedding Planning Checklist
Engaged Now, What To Do Next?
Congratulations!
If you’re reading this blog (our first blog of 2025!), we would like to extend a big congratulations to you and your someone special who are thinking of getting married sometime in the near future. Whether you recently received an engagement ring or hoping to get engaged over the next few months, we’re sure you’ll be starting the wedding planning process very soon. Whilst the wedding planning stages may seem daunting and overwhelming, we urge you to enjoy it as much as possible! There are so many avenues to receive support and advice to make sure that you can be as organised as possible, including right here with this wedding checklist!
Share the news!
Once you and your husband/wife/partner-to-be have revelled between yourselves, it’s time to share this ever-such exciting news with your nearest and dearest. And what better way is there to do that than with a beautiful engagement party at a luxury countryside venue? Engagement parties are the perfect way to get all loved ones together in one room. Picture cheersing with a glass of bubbling Champagne and indulging in a delicious meal in either our favourite restaurant - The Glasshouse Restaurant or one of our stunning function spaces. Our immaculate grounds and gardens also offer the most scenic backdrops for engagement photos!
No matter how many people you wish to celebrate your engagement with, we are certain that Oakley Hall will be the perfect spot to create these unforgettable memories. Groups of 20 or less can be seated in our modern yet relaxed award-winning Glasshouse Restaurant. Larger groups will be able to choose from one of our beautiful function spaces, including the traditional Georgian Library, the bright and spacious Garden Suite or one of our spaces upstairs which offers stunning views of the Oakley Hall gardens. Our function spaces can host up to 120 guests, and our Garden Pavilion can host up to 350 guests if you’re wanting an even more extravagant engagement celebration!
Book an engagement shoot
Many couples who are engaged wish to capture their exciting news with an engagement shoot. Over the years we have seen many couples utilise the unique grounds, gardens and even the interior of Oakley Hall as a beautiful backdrop for their photography. The manor house of Oakley Hall is nestled within the breathtaking Hampshire countryside which boasts acres of woodland and gardens. Our vast grounds provide the perfect setting for couples to walk hand in hand to capture that perfect shot.
Oakley Hall can be more of just a background for your engagement celebrations. Our various function spaces can host your get-together, whether that be as an intimate meal with your nearest & dearest or for a lively party with plenty of dancing. And with 50 cosy bedrooms onsite and the award-winning Glasshouse Restaurant at your doorstep, you and your guests can celebrate in style (even before the wedding!) and let our family take care of yours.
Think about your wedding style
Once you have celebrated your engagement, it’s time to start planning a wedding! This big day will be one of the most significant events you’ll be planning throughout your lifetime, so it’s important to discuss the key factors with your husband/wife to be at the very start. Our suggested top priority would be your budget. Nothing can be decided until you and your wedding planner have your budget sorted. And once this has been set you will also need to choose a wedding date. Ideally this will be decided well in advance to guarantee that your date will be available and that your guests can make it on the day.
Once these two decisions have been calculated, debated and confirmed – that’s when the fun begins! Create your guest list, to do list, wedding gift list, explore a range of wedding venues - e.g. destination wedding, think about your menus. For all aesthetic decisions, we would recommend creating a vision board, which will help put all of your thoughts into one place – wedding dress and suit styles, wedding theme, colour schemes, flowers, wedding favours, cake designs. Some couples like to match their colour schemes and flowers to the season that their date falls within, for example silvers & blues for Winter, oranges & reds for Autumn, pastel pink & green for spring or bright shades for Summer.
The wonderful Wedding Planner & Events team at Oakley Hall have a combined service of 40 years. where we have seen a wide range of styles and colour palettes. Our Co-ordinators can recommend the best florists and decorators to help make your dreams come to life. We will also be able to provide you with pictures taken from previous weddings so you can see what looks good in each room! Whilst Oakley Hall offers wedding show rounds every weekday and most weekends, we also hold Wedding Open Days regularly throughout the year. Wedding Open Days are the perfect opportunity to visit any property that you’re interested in because the ceremony & reception spaces will be dressed & decorated, helping you to see how they’ll look on the day itself.
Start wedding venue planning
From our many, many, many years of experience we can say that there is absolutely no harm in planning a wedding early - even if it’s just collecting inspiration from Instagram! The more the planning timeline is, the more likely your reception venue and suppliers will be available for your day and the more likely your friends and family will be able to hold the date. It will most likely make planning the wedding easier too because it will be spread across multiple months or even years.
Your Wedding at Oakley Hall
On your first viewing to Oakley Hall, you can’t help but notice the grandeur of the winding driveway, the 18th century porte-cochère and the acres and acres of surrounding grounds. And if your mind wasn’t blown away already, it certainly will be the moment you step through the entrance of the property. Whilst keeping many of the original Georgian features, including ornate fireplaces and parquet wooden flooring, the interior of the manor house has been transformed into an elegant space. We have eight unique wedding spaces for you to choose from, each with their own characters and stories to tell. The Library is home to hundreds of novels written by the romantic greats, the Garden Suite offers a bright and light space with direct access to our gardens and the Garden Pavilion is a modern, permanent marquee with built in fairy lights and private bar. Our home also offers 50 beautiful bedrooms for you and your guests to relax in, including a 3 bedroom Garden Cottage and 2 luxurious Four Poster Suites.
One of the benefits to being an independent, family-owned wedding venue is that we offer a high level of care and flexibility to your day. Whilst we offer two set packages for you to choose from, you can also opt for a bespoke package which gives you the creativity to tell us what it is you want. From a intimate wedding ceremony for a small group of 30 to a big celebration with over 300 we can work with you to design the wedding day of your dreams. Oakley Hall is also available to hire on an exclusive basis, meaning that all spaces, bedrooms and the entirety of our grounds can be yours for the day!
There’s no denying that you will likely feel stress at some point during your wedding planning journey – it’s a huge event after all! If you choose to host your special day with us our Wedding team will be on the same page, with you every step of the way, answering any questions or queries you may have. We want to make this journey as easy for you and your partner as possible, just tell us what you want and we’ll work with you to make your wedding day the most unforgettable celebration of the year!