A wedding venue website that takes enquiries, tastings and show-round requests, and sends the payment link

This guide is for the owner or coordinator of a UK wedding or events venue. It covers what Hitched and Bridebook cost and keep, the rules a wedding venue website must get right, how to sell tastings and take deposits online, and what consumer law says about deposit and cancellation terms. Disclosure: we build Orbit Commerce, so weigh the Orbit section accordingly. Every price and rule was checked against its source on 8 November 2026.

What do Hitched and Bridebook cost a venue, and what does your own site own?

Both sell a place in the search couples use to shortlist. Bridebook’s free Limited Profile stays live but, its support pages say, can only be found by searching the exact business name (Bridebook Business support, checked 8 November 2026). Above it sit Essentials, then VenuePro Classic, Expert and Platinum; the UK venue pricing page compares the tiers but prints no prices, and contracts roll on “according to your chosen billing increment” (partners.bridebook.com, checked 8 November 2026).

Hitched is part of The Knot Worldwide Inc, which calls it “a leading UK wedding planning destination” (The Knot Worldwide, 7 January 2026). We found no published price for a venue listing on Hitched on 8 November 2026, so ask for its quote in writing.

The directory owns the couple’s attention while they shortlist; your website owns everything after the first click: the facts they check, the enquiry, the tasting they pay for, the contract and the deposit. Bridebook’s 2026 UK Wedding Report, from more than 7,000 couples, puts the average venue at £6,040 excluding catering and £9,695 with it (Bridebook, updated 13 July 2026, checked 8 November 2026); Hitched’s survey of 2,020 newlyweds puts the whole wedding at £21,990. Couples shortlist on seated and standing numbers, a ceremony licence, exclusive use and a “from” price: put them on the page.

What does a wedding venue website have to get right by law?

There are four things to get right on the page, and the contract terms come in a later section.

Approved Premises for civil ceremonies

In England and Wales a civil marriage or civil partnership takes place at a register office or at premises approved by the local council. You apply to your council for a grant of approval, naming the room or rooms, with a building plan and a fee the council sets; the council inspects, and the approval lasts at least three years (gov.uk, checked 8 November 2026). Its conditions: a responsible person, the registrar’s approval of the arrangements, no food or alcoholic drink in the room for one hour before and during the ceremony, no religious content, and a ceremony open to the public.

Outdoor civil ceremonies were first allowed under temporary rules in summer 2021 and made permanent on 6 April 2022. Before the temporary rules, a ceremony had to be indoors or in a permanent outdoor structure such as a bandstand (gov.uk press release, 15 March 2022). An existing approval covers linked outdoor areas with no new application or fee. You still need an approved indoor room, the spot must be within the grounds, and the superintendent registrar must confirm beforehand that it is “seemly and dignified”. The guidance also asks you to consider how the same number of guests would fit in an approved room or a covered structure outdoors in bad weather (gov.uk guidance for venues, updated 6 April 2022, checked 8 November 2026).

Capacity statements and the fire risk assessment

“Seats 120 for dinner, 180 standing” is a statement about fire safety. Under the Fire Safety Order whoever controls the premises is the responsible person and must carry out and review a fire risk assessment (gov.uk, checked 8 November 2026); since 1 October 2023 it must be recorded in full (gov.uk, section 156 of the Building Safety Act 2022). Publish the number your assessment supports for each room and layout, and update it when the assessment changes.

The premises licence for the bar

Selling alcohol, putting on music or dancing, and serving hot food or drink after 11pm are licensable activities in England and Wales. A premises licence comes from your council: an application fee of £100 to £1,905 by rateable value band, an annual fee, and a designated premises supervisor with a personal licence (gov.uk premises licence, checked 8 November 2026). A venue without one can use a Temporary Event Notice: £21, fewer than 500 people including staff, at most 15 a year for 21 days in total, with 10 clear working days’ notice (gov.uk, checked 8 November 2026).

Accessibility information

A venue is a service provider under the Equality Act 2010 and owes disabled guests reasonable adjustments: changing a practice that puts a disabled person at a substantial disadvantage, dealing with a physical feature that does, and providing an auxiliary aid, at no cost to the disabled person (Equality Act 2010, sections 20 and 29, checked 8 November 2026). So publish an honest access page: step-free routes, the accessible toilet, parking distance, a hearing loop if you have one.

How does a venue website work on Orbit?

Orbit is an ecommerce platform, so you run the product catalogue as a catalogue of spaces:

• Each space is a listing: a product whose price field holds the “from” price. Its facts sit in custom fields shown on the page (seated, standing, ceremony licence, exclusive use), and the gallery takes the whole shoot, up to 2,000 files a product. In the page builder the listing template carries an enquiry form in place of the buy button, asking for the date.
• Show-rounds and date checks are enquiries. A free visit comes in through the enquiry form on the space’s page, with the date the couple has in mind. Every enquiry is emailed to you and kept in your dashboard; the Form Builder plugin from the plugin store adds your own fields, such as guest numbers.
• Tastings and open evenings with a price are bookable. A £95 menu tasting is a service product: a length, places per slot, the notice you need and a cancellation fee as a percentage with your policy in plain words. The couple picks the date and time on its page, pays the full price at checkout, and can reschedule or cancel from My Bookings in their account, with the refund shown first. Service hours are one weekly schedule for the whole shop.
• Packages are a price list page. The page builder’s price list and pricing table blocks are typed by hand and link to the enquiry form, so update them when prices change.
• Real weddings go on the built-in blog, on your own domain, each post tagged for the space and linked to its page. A Blog Listing block puts the latest on the home page.
• Gift cards, if you run a restaurant or afternoon teas: a product in set amounts, emailed to the recipient when the buyer pays and redeemed at checkout.

Wedding dates are checked by you and confirmed in writing, and the deposit goes out as a payment link, which the next section walks through.

How do you take the deposit and the balance online?

Through a draft order and a payment link from the dashboard.

1. Open Create order, add a custom line (“Reservation deposit, the Barn, 12 June 2027”, £1,000) and create the couple’s customer record from inside the order if they are new. Save it as a draft until they confirm.
2. Copy a payment link that works for 7 days and send it with the contract, tick Send invoice to email a payment-due invoice, or mark the order paid when the bank transfer lands.
3. When the balance falls due, create another order with the balance as its line and send the next link.

A £1,000 deposit paid by UK personal Visa or Mastercard on the Solo plan costs £20.25 in card fees (2% + 25p), with nothing added on top of the card rate; a bank transfer you mark as paid carries no card fee. The payment schedule lives in your contract, and each stage goes out as its own link when it falls due.

What does consumer law say about wedding deposits and cancellation terms?

A couple booking a wedding is a consumer, so Part 2 of the Consumer Rights Act 2015 governs your contract. Section 62 says an unfair term is not binding on the consumer, and a term is unfair if, “contrary to the requirement of good faith, it causes a significant imbalance” in the parties’ rights and obligations “to the detriment of the consumer”. Section 68 requires written terms in plain and intelligible language (legislation.gov.uk, checked 8 November 2026).

The CMA sent an advisory letter on 2 March 2016 to more than 100 wedding and event venues (the letter and the press release, gov.uk, checked 8 November 2026). It said terms are less likely to be fair where a non-refundable deposit exceeds what is needed to reserve the date, advance payments exceed your actual costs, or cancellation charges recover more than your likely loss. They are more likely to be fair where deposits “act as a reservation fee for the services and so are a small percentage of the total price”. Cancellation charges are more likely to be fair where they reflect your net loss “minus the amount it has saved from not providing the services or finding another consumer”. The CMA’s unfair contract terms guidance and the government’s short guide for businesses, both updated 22 July 2026, add that prepayments non-refundable whatever the reason are unlikely to be fair.

Where the law stops a wedding going ahead, as lockdown rules did, the CMA’s view is that the contract is “frustrated”. The starting point is then a full refund, including deposits labelled non-refundable, with limited deductions for wasted costs (the CMA’s open letter to the weddings sector, 7 September 2020). And since April 2025 the CMA can decide for itself that consumer law has been broken and fine a business up to 10% of global turnover. It named “unfair and unbalanced contract terms” as a first-year target, alongside a ban on fake reviews (gov.uk, 7 April 2025). Testimonials on your site must therefore be real. Have a solicitor read your terms once: this is general information, not legal advice.

Where Orbit fits

Orbit Commerce is a hosted platform, and everything above is on every plan: listing products with custom fields and galleries, the enquiry form, bookable services and the Bookings calendar, draft orders with payment links, the blog and gift cards. Solo is £25 a month, or £19 a month billed yearly, ex VAT, with one staff account and 100GB of storage; Team at £85 (£64 a month billed yearly) has 10 staff accounts. Every plan has a 14-day free trial with no card. Product Reviews is a plugin that runs on every plan and lets couples leave a star rating on a space’s page, approved by you before it shows; the Google Reviews element is a paid add-on priced on its plugin store listing. The theme store lists free and premium themes by industry; pick one for a venue and change its colours, fonts and logo in the dashboard.

The pages behind each claim: bookings, orders and payment links, products and custom fields, the blog, reviews and gift cards. Related reading: selling services and gift cards from one UK shop, what UK law requires of your policies, and 25 of the best UK online shops.

Read next: taking phone orders and deposits with a payment link, a holiday cottage website that takes direct enquiries and selling flowers online with next-day delivery.

Questions people ask about wedding venue websites

Do wedding venues need their own website if they are on Hitched or Bridebook?

Yes. The directories own the couple’s attention while they shortlist, and a Bridebook profile that is not on a paid plan is found only by searching the exact business name (Bridebook Business support, checked 8 November 2026). Your own site owns the enquiry, the paid tasting, the contract and the deposit.

Can a wedding venue keep a non-refundable deposit?

Only a fair one. Under Part 2 of the Consumer Rights Act 2015 an unfair term does not bind the consumer. The CMA’s view is that a deposit is more likely to be fair when it is a small reservation fee, and that cancellation charges should reflect your net loss less anything you recover by reselling the date. Take legal advice on your wording.

How do I take a deposit for a wedding date?

Confirm the date in writing, then create a draft order with the deposit as a custom line and send a payment link that works for 7 days, email a payment-due invoice, or mark the order paid when the bank transfer lands. The balance is another order when it falls due.

How do I sell tastings or open evenings on a venue website?

On Orbit a priced tasting is a service product: set its length, the places per slot, the notice you need and a cancellation fee as a percentage. The couple picks the date and time, pays the full price at checkout, and can reschedule or cancel from My Bookings in their account. Free show-rounds come in as enquiries through the form on the space’s page.

Which Orbit plan does a wedding venue need?

Solo, at £25 a month or £19 a month billed yearly, ex VAT: everything in this post except the plugin store add-ons is on every plan. Team at £85 a month has 10 staff accounts. Every plan has a 14-day free trial with no card.

To see it before deciding, build one space as a listing and one tasting as a service, and send yourself a payment link. The 14-day free trial, no card required, is long enough to do all three in an afternoon.