You need to look at whether you can fit up to 150 people in large rooms within your house, barns or converted outbuildings. In 2020, 85.5pc of all marriages in England and Wales were performed as civil ceremonies; therefore, those venues that can provide the complete package from ceremony to reception stand a better chance of success.
You will also need a kitchen area, bar, guest WCs, storage, an on-site office, service areas, parking and attractive gardens for drinks and outdoor ceremonies.
The cost of getting off the ground varies hugely, from a few thousand pounds to millions. Mr Foster has been involved in setting up a successful wedding venue in the New Forest that came in at £500,000. “I have also seen projects that cost £5m,” he says.
And getting the licence to host weddings doesn’t mean an instant licence to print money. “It’s a slow burn,” Mr Foster explains. “The complicated planning process can take a year or sometimes two, then you often have 12 months of building work.
“However, you can start selling wedding packages off-plan, using things like social media and clever CGIs (computer-generated images).”
Never forget about the British weather. “With any venue you have to consider the weather and where ladies in high heels are walking,” Mr Foster says, while deciding who is going to run the venue and the weddings is a key consideration.
“It’s incredibly difficult and time consuming – some people are great at it, others are not,” he adds. Hiring a manager is costly, however, so those who successfully manage themselves keep more of the profits.
For the past decade, Sir Jamie Benton Jones and his wife, Leila, have been running weddings from Irnham Hall, the south Lincolnshire estate which Sir Jamie’s family have owned since 1901.
“There’s no point employing someone else to run the wedding because that takes up all the income,” says Sir Jamie, who hosts each of the almost 40 weddings they hold each year, while Lady Leila handles the bookings.