Yes, I had considered other cities, the problem being that we all come from the above airports (LHR, MRS, CDG, GOT, NUE, VIE, ZRH and NTE) and therefore needed to find a destination not too expensive to fly to(i.e. under £150), over a weekend (5-7OCT), and with the option to leave on a Friday after work. therefore AMS or BRU seemed a good compromise.
NUE is tough to reach from NTE, and MUC is out of the budget.
FRA was another option, but I am not a fan of the nightlife there, so I left it out