Now we all know we shouldn't judge a book by its cover, but in the case of Dulwich College, me and the other half did absolutely judge it on its cover, it's impressive, late 19th Century cover. We had seen it on a few wedding venue websites and loved the dramatic grandeur of its Great Hall and other original features, plus the capacity numbers were exactly right too.Driving up to the red brick pile, with its many pointy turrets and imposing church-like aesthetic, we both gasped with delight, said how much we wanted to live there, and agreed before even entering the building that this was where we were going to have our wedding. With no shadow of a doubt.We started off in the Old Library, situated a short walk from the main hall. It's licensed for civil wedding ceremonies, which we personally really like in a venue, as it means no big old costs to transport all your guests. It's a very nice size room, seating a max of 120 people. For a winter wedding, it's perfect. The dark wood paneling is lovely, as is the big arched ceiling and fireplace at one end. However, we wanted lots of candles during the ceremony, and here you aren't allowed any, not even hurricane ones - apparently the registrars in the area don't allow them because of religious connotations. Silly rules!Styled up with some nice chairs and moody lighting however, and the old library would make a lovely ceremony space.Next we were shown the Great Hall. The venue's pièce de résistance, the reason we fell in love and schlepped across London. It really is breath-taking. It's HUGE ceilings, deep, plush decor and large floor space really give you food for thought with how you can dress the room. At one end there is floor to ceiling windows, the other end the same with a stage in front of the window - we were thinking either the top table up on the stage (maybe a bit 'showy' for some people though) or something like the below - a gorgeous visual display like this LOVE light installation.The Great Hall fits 200 people for a sit down dinner and 250 for a drinks reception, so it's a very good size (we would be filling it with our list at the moment!).Now this is where it all came unstuck for us - you CAN NOT dance in this room. None. Not even a tiny little jig. Nope. No siree. Because, apparently, the floor would not support 250 people stomping their feet. It's not a sprung dance floor and therefore deemed unsafe. It was at this point our faces dropped and we were no longer in love with Dulwich College.We begged, pleaded, got down on our knees to see if they'd let us dance in the hall, but alas, they wouldn't. We did come away f-ing and blinding, wondering why the hell they hadn't changed the floor, but couldn't answer our own questions. It's bizarre, and surely they lose a lot of business because of it. They certainly lost us.There is other rooms you can use for the party bit of your wedding, but our thoughts were that it would be the ultimate crime for all the guests not to see this amazing hall - and the evening guests wouldn't. They'd be fobbed off with a relatively plain room (bel0w).So you have been warned lovely reader.So yes, you can't dance in the Great Hall. Instead, there is the Lower Hall, directly under the Great Hall, which can be used for the party bit, or in fact a reception area between the ceremony and the party. The Lower Hall is still a good-looking room - the tiled floors and plastering work is very nice - but it only holds 150 people, and is the hallway, if you like, of the main building, so the door just leads straight outside.The other option they offered us was the Cloisters which, if you ask me, sounds a LOT more glamorous than it actually is. Let's call a spade a spade... the cloisters are just a set of through-rooms/corridors connecting the big buildings. Cold, no personality, all windowed, lots of stone - NO NO NO NO. The person showing us round certainly gave it the hard sell but unfortunately it didn't work on us.However, with some cool lighting and flowers, it could look lovely if all the other stuff doesn't bother you. We just wanted everyone to see the great hall (remember, this is just our opinion). The cloisters hold up to 200 for a drinks reception.

***The lower hall***

***The Cloisters***

The good thing about Dulwich college is that you can use outside caterers - something we've found hard to negotiate with other venues. The hire costs vary depending on what day of the week you choose and whether you use the in-house caterers (we didn't try the food, but apparently it's very nice) or not - from £3,200 to £4,800 (2013 prices). There are other costs involved too - for the ceremony and over-runs on timings, so check them out.Check out the Dulwich College website here.Here's the other half and my ratings...