A BIG mistake that we deeply regret
I would love to have written good feedback for this venue but sadly our wedding was not enjoyable for us at all and we wish we did not book to have it here. We were promised a totally different experience to what we actually received on the day. The staff were not professional with us at all. From the moment we booked communication was difficult and nobody was attentive to our needs or asking about where things need to be etc or what the plan for the day was or anything. *****’s main concern as me and my bridal party arrived was keeping the door closed so the venue didn't get cold, instead of warmly welcoming us. We had several bags and dresses to carry in so we needed the door open so we could do this. It was in fact very hot inside and I politely on more than one occasion asked for the heating to be turned off everywhere as it was on full blast and seemed like it had been for a while. I had to chase her several times throughout the afternoon for things, one of which was the 'PA system' we were told was in the hall and the blue room, it turned out to be just a bluetooth speaker which was baffling. I also had to ask for the wifi password several times. It felt like not much was prepared for our arrival. As a bride I should not be chasing any of these things and it was all just very stressful when I should have been focussing on getting ready. Before my wedding I was asked around what time we would want drinks and some sandwiches sent up which I thought was a really lovely gesture. When I asked about it on the day I was told there was no food or drink but they could run to the shops to get us some (I really wasn't fussed or desperate for it but why say you're going to do this and then have nothing?). The saddest part was my husband had arranged with the venue to have 100 red roses and some gifts delivered to me but nobody actually opened the gates to let the delivery people in so I never received my gifts and my husband was left very upset and called me to apologise as I was getting ready. A waste of money and just a really sad memory to be honest. His mistake for trusting them with it.
Although it was the first thing I had asked when we arrived, sadly the heating wasn't actually turned off in every room and the result of this was that the blue room was horribly hot during the ceremony and by 8.30pm when dancing began in that same room it was a complete sauna, guests were dripping in sweat as were we. We physically could not dance in there. It was roasting and you're not allowed to open the windows, after a certain time in the evening (around 7-8pm) they close the shutters. Nobody was on hand to help turn it off and by this time it was far too late to cool the room down with all that heat and all those people. In stark contrast the marquee was freezing with no heating and our guests kept leaving the dinner to warm up inside, I was so embarrassed afterwards when friends told us they were all freezing cold as people never forget these things and their memory of our wedding will be this. It’s also worth noting that security is placed at the front door in the evening and it is locked so you and your guests have to leave your wedding from a side entrance. None of this was explained to us before we booked. Neither was the fact that you cannot have music and dancing in the marquee and everyone must come inside by 9pm, the music inside also cannot go over a specific decibel amount either. This wasn't explained when we took the tour and we only found this out once we had given over the deposit. Whilst our guests tried to enjoy canapés and socialising ***** stood by the front door making sure it was shut every time anyone went in or out. We are still in a pandemic, we needed fresh air. I think the main concern was not letting any noise of people talking reach outside? it's very strange as there are no neighbours for quite some distance, I understand this is probably a requirement for them but people need to know this before choosing to have one of the most important days of their life here. Another staff member ******** was around for part of the day and we thought this was to help coordinate things but it seemed more like supervision and checking what was going on. We were made to feel totally unwelcome and our guests noted that the staff at the venue were not polite and were more interested in policing the event rather than making sure everyone was accommodated and happy. It was very embarrassing to hear this from our friends and family who should have enjoyed themselves.
***** allowed us to hire the venue on a dry hire basis and bring our own drinks (which I think they do not normally do and her partner was not actually very happy about) but at one point ******** started to shout at our guests that they weren't allowed to pour drinks, but this is what we had agreed with the venue, the message was not passed on to the staff working that day and this caused a huge misunderstanding between some of the guests and my father, all this was going on as we tried to enjoy our wedding day. After a while no staff were visible for help apart from the security at the front door and he was the only person who was helpful and friendly the entire day. Another massive disappointment was that we were told we could use the fireplace, it was sold as the guests can come inside and be cosy and have the fireplace on but when we asked to put it on we were told maintenance hadn’t been done on it so it could not be used. Just awfully disappointing. Another important thing to note, not necessarily negative but good to know - the venue is very bitty. You cannot have your dinner in the same room as your dancing etc, the dinner is in the marquee and dancing is only allowed inside the actual building. It’s not really fit for purpose as a wedding venue because of the noise restrictions in my humble opinion and this should be made very apparent when booking. We had about 100 guests and it felt like way too much for inside the actual house, even though they say it has capacity for 120. The ceremony room cannot fit more than around 60 people (comfortably) in my opinion, even though they say 100 can fit, we had around 80 and it was too crowded. We were glad when it was over which is a terrible thing to say about your own wedding. If we could do it all again some other place, we 100% would.