Cambridge area

What type are you after, for how many and how far are you prepared to marry outside of Cambridge itself?

Lots of options, need to know your criteria.......

Welcome to the forum......it is addictive...

Hello

Congratulations - have you set a date?

Im just outside Cambridge

We have gone for the Cambridge Belfry they have a few good packages and the hotel is lovely.

Venue wise it depends what your budget and numbers are?

There are lots of nice hotels in and around Cambridge

Alot of hotels in the area advertise their prices on there website and deals etc.

Kelly x

Helloo! I'm from just outside Cambridge and we're marrying at Hotel Felix which is gorgeous!

There are quite a lot of venues in the city itself - Double Tree by Hilton, University Arms, Royal Cambridge Hotel plus of course the colleges for receptions and evenings (although the minimum numbers have to be quite large I found)

So excited theres other Cambridge Brides! :-) Woo!

Well we would be traveling to Cambridge from Ely area anyway. We're wanting just under 100 for wedding breakfast and 150 for evening, my other half is wanting roast for wedding breakfast, not really sure on price but not wanting to pay thousands but we can afford something better than the cheapest, if that makes sense, it is very nice knowing there is more Cambridge brides out there. We're hopefully getting married June 2014 xxx

Oh have u taken alook at the Old Hall on the road inbetween Ely and Soham its gorgeous, not sure on price though.

Best thing to do is take alook at venues websites and ask for viewings with a wedding coordinator.

We looked at a few and took into consideration where guests are coming from and the hotel and its facilities.

Have you also looked at the Maltings?

x

Not interested in the maltings, I don't see wht the fuss is about, can't wait to visit the old hall but got a feeling it's expensive x

Hallo! I saw your post and I just had to reply to this - originally I just wanted to read in the forums and not even sign up...

From what you describe what you want (especially considering your guest numbers) I would really strongly recommend you look into colleges. As a general rule you can't get married in a college unless one of you is a member, but most colleges (except for Trinity as far as I am aware) allow receptions/wedding breakfasts/evening parties if you are not affiliated. As far as I understand you are not looking for a ceremony venue anyway, so this shouldn't be a problem.

There are so many advantages to colleges: gorgeous historical settings with the most picturesque buildings and rooms, pretty much all of them have beautiful gardens - there are plenty of nice photo backdrops no matter what the weather is like, loads for your guests to discover and a very classy atmosphere. Most college kitchens provide very high standard food for weddings (it is the conference catering you will get, so don't worry about any horror stories of bad student food...) and the venue hire and catering is very reasonably priced.

There are however a few things you will need to take into account like shortage of parking spaces (downside of having a central Cambridge location), most likely you will have to pick a date out of term, it is quite likely you will have to finish around midnight, some colleges don't allow amplified music (either outside or both in- and outside) and you probably won't be allowed to provide your own drinks (or you will have to pay a corkage fee).

I don't want to go off and write a complete essay on college weddings now, but if you want to know more about up- and downsides and which colleges are nice and so on, just contact me and I can try to help you. Oh, by the way, I will get married in Pembroke College in August 2013

I live just south of Cambridge(Royston) so just thought I'd say hello. I don't really have much advice on venues as we only looked at 2 ( one of which was Wimpole Hall which we have booked). As Ulli says the colleges are lovely but I would have thought June was too early for them to be available.

So do i! :-) Helloo!

As Ulli says the colleges are lovely but I would have thought June was too early for them to be available.

I just thought I'd say Hi too.. I live in Sawston - which is just outside Cambridge.

In general, I think Cambridge is pants.

Most Colleges (I work for the University) will hold civil ceremonies and the receptions afterwards but they are most certainly not cheap (and I have a good few contact in a good many of them so get a little discount). Having said that they are very pretty.

I think weddings in Colleges have to be out of term time - I know that there is usually a congregation ceremony at the beginning of July.

One of the less 'old' COlleges is Homerton and I know that they do ceremonies - and it's a very pretty COllege.

I've looked so far at Abington Hall, Doubletree Hilton, Cambridge Belfry (which, in my opinion could do with a lick of paint - it's looking a little tired), Madingley Hall (I used to work there - too posh though in my opinion).

Good luck

Lyn

Admittedly we are getting dicounted prices as my fiance is a fellow, but I just looked up the prices for non-members and in my opinion 600 pounds for the hall hire and around 40 pounds per person for a high quality 3 course dinner definitely is a competitive price (Setchfs, they are usually up for negotiotions, so probably you could get a roast and arrange a lower price for food I assume, the menu options included in that price are very "haute cuisine"). Of course it is not cheap, but if you are looking for cheap you won't find a historical setting with beautiful gardens and great food, especially not in the Cambridge area - if that is what you are looking for. I just think the colleges are good value for money and probably cheaper than other comparable venues.

Oh, these prices are for Pembroke College, but I think the other old colleges are similar, not sure about the newer ones. Anyway, Setchfs (or anyone else interested in the colleges), as I said before feel free to get in touch if you have questions - I am a PhD student in Cambridge and have been to many of the colleges (and no, I am not secretly advertising for colleges, I just think it's another interesting option to look into - just trying to help ?...)

Admittedly I was looking at holding the whole thing at a College. So that probably put the price up a little. One College quoted me nearly £1k for a hog roast...

oddly enough I have been to lunch many a time at Pembroke College - I work just across from there in a building that deals with Graduate Students.. small world eh.

College weddings are lovely - I got married in an Oxford college and I've been to several Cambridge college weddings.

But at the end of June, they're likely to all be tied up with May Balls and then graduation. It can't hurt to ask, but I wouldn't get your hopes up.

Hi,

My daughter got married las year and we had a fantastic day. She got married at South Farm, Royston and we cannot fault it. The whole place is really pretty, ceremony room gorgeous, food amazing, setting stunning so plenty of pretty settings for photos, and all went so smoothly thnks to great staff who get on and make day run beautifully. We had taster session before to try food and went for main meal but they do various packages. All food is home grown there and delicious. We would thoroughly recommend it.

Hope that helps

Lynne

Hi,

I run a wedding band in the Cambridge area called Off The Cuff. We are a 4 piece professional wedding band playing a huge range of music from the 40's to today's hits, and we also have a request service too.

Our website is here - Wedding Bands Cambridgeshire

?

Thanks

Matt Strafford

Hi Ulli,

I hope you get a notification for this.

My fiance studied extensively in Cambridge (3 degrees) and still gives talks there from time to time.

He studied at two colleges and we're happy to have the ceremony in one of them. We have been given a few dates outside and in term time that are available in the months we want. The halls have limited availability and are just too expensive. How can we negotiate with them please. My fiance is not one to ask for a discount.

It's been almost impossible to find anywhere at a reasonable price in Cambridge.

Thanks.