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Weddings

About

The Bedford Swan Hotel is a refined wedding venue located in Bedfordshire, England. This hotel sits in the town's centre and on the edge of Bedford's River Ouse, offering a stunning setting for your day's festivities. It dates back to the 18th century, so it's ideal for couples who have envisioned a day with some historic charm.

Facilities and Capacity

The Bedford Swan Hotel is licensed to hold civil ceremonies and welcomes events of all sizes. It offers two different function rooms, with a maximum capacity of 150 guests. The Coach Room is well-suited to ceremonies but can also be rearranged for wedding breakfasts and receptions. The State Room, meanwhile, is filled with natural light and also features striking chandeliers for when the sun goes down. A large fireplace adds a hint of cosiness to the sophisticated decor. Once the festivities have drawn to a close, the newlyweds and their guests can retire to the hotel's 113 rooms for a restful night. Outside, the hotel offers a red brick exterior and arches that act as the perfect photo backdrop.

Services Offered

The wedding team at The Bedford Swan Hotel is on hand to support you as you plan your dream day. They offer a selection of all-inclusive packages that are carefully designed to suit all manner of budgets and needs. You're invited to work with the hotel's own catering team or choose an outside vendor that better fits your vision. There are also facilities available for both a live band and a DJ, depending on your preferred style of entertainment.

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Frequently asked questions

Venue type:

Small hotel
Historic
Large hotel

Ceremony options:

Civil ceremony licence

Dining options:

Seated meal facilities
Corkage option
Private catering allowed
Alcohol licence
Buffet meal facilities
In-house catering

Evening entertainment:

Dance floor
Entertainment licence
Live band facilities
Evening reception facilities
DJ facilities

Overnight accommodation:

Overnight accommodation for wedding couple
Overnight accommodation for guests

Venue staff assistance:

Wedding coordinator

Venue leisure facilities:

Swimming pool

Other features:

Accessible facilities
Car parking
Confetti permitted
Pet-friendly
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4.8 out of 5 rating
41 reviews
  • Quality of the service
    4.8 out of 5 rating
  • Response time
    4.8 out of 5 rating
  • Professionalism
    4.8 out of 5 rating
  • Value for money
    4.8 out of 5 rating
  • Flexibility
    4.8 out of 5 rating
100% Recommended by couples
Jodie
Jodie M. Sent on 03/11/2022
5 out of 5 rating

Perfect Place for a perfect day.

Absolutely brilliant, couldn’t ask for a more caring team for my wedding, right up to the last moment, fixing a couple errors I made (on the day!) and getting an item brought in specially for our day are just a couple examples of going the extra mile we experienced! Responsive and professional! Highly recommend
Valerie
Valerie C. Sent on 12/09/2022
5 out of 5 rating

A great venue

My daughter's wedding was held in the Coach room here this weekend. The team were excellent in their availability but unobtrusiveness. If you want a venue where people can stay, get first class attention and good food, this is well worth considering
Nicola
Nicola O. Sent on 26/09/2022
4.6 out of 5 rating

Perfect wedding venue

We had our wedding at the Bedford Swan Hotel in the state room and we highly recommend it. It's a beautiful hotel with lovely decor throughout and the rooms are perfect. Sommy the Wedding & Events Coordinator is brilliant, I had so many emails to her back and forth leading up to the wedding and she always responded in a timely manner. Charlotte and her team were fantastic on the day of our wedding, making sure everything ran smoothly and setting up the room exactly as we wanted. The most important thing for us, was that our guests had a good time and they did. It's a beautiful hotel to have your wedding, we have so many amazing memories and are so glad we chose this hotel for our wedding venue.
Andrew
Andrew P. Sent on 26/04/2023
5 out of 5 rating

Wedding day to remember

We had our wedding at the Swan in April 2023.

Absolutely amazing day, really friendly and accommodating team and we genuinely couldn't have wished for anything more perfect to us and how we wanted our day to be
G
Gemma H. Sent on 25/08/2022
5 out of 5 rating

Wedding perfection!

We cannot thank the swan enough for all their support in making our day perfect for us. The hotel itself is stunning. The rooms are beautifully decorated with options of different sized rooms for the wedding. The state room was perfect for the size of our wedding party that we had in mind.

We had the state room for our ceremony, wedding breakfast and evening reception. Each turn over for the room didn't feel like it was a turn over. It was changed so effectively and quickly and exactly to how we had asked the tables to be done. Whilst they were turning the rooms over the lounge area was perfect for our guests to relax and enjoy the day to it's full potential!

The ease of the turnover was due to the quality of service provided. Every member of the team we worked with were so helpful and supportive! From the meetings with Sommy, where she listened to exactly what we wanted and helpped us sculpt the perfect day. To the support of Stuart and Charlotte on the day of itself. Stuart phoned leading up to the day and went through the day to ease any questions we had and Charlotte met with us the day before to gather anything we had brought decorations wise and how we wanted things set up. As the bride, it was such a relief to not have to worry about any of the set up of the day and they checked in throughout the day to ensure we were happy. Thier attention to detail was superb!

The food was stunning and many guests complimented this. Leading up to the day, we had a pleasent food tasting experience talking through the menu and our choices. They were able to accommodate dietary requirements with ease.

Their professionalism and expertise was evident throughout the whole process leading up to the wedding and the day itself. Thank you.
Ryan
Ryan Sent on 12/02/2023
5 out of 5 rating

Fantastic Wedding Day

This was the perfect venue for us. We loved the fact that the bar was in the main room so our guests didn’t miss out on the live band.
The food was lovely, receiving great feedback from our guests.
The staff we cannot speak highly enough about. All prior planning was done ‘in person’ with Sommy, and then on the day Charlotte took great care of us.
The bar staff weee great too, ensuring that there were no queues at the bar which was a big need for us.
Any reasonable request was catered for and that’s what we loved about this venue.
The rooms are great and the hotel decor is fantastic. Very chic.
If you’re considering it as your venue, go have a look.
Thank you Bedford Swan for making our big day go without a hitch!
A
Anonymous Sent on 18/10/2017
5 out of 5 rating

We could not have asked for a better day

Lara, Thank you very much for all your help and support on Saturday and the months leading up the wedding. Everything ran exactly as we hoped, even the weather was kind to us.

Please thank all the staff at the hotel, nothing was too much trouble for them. Special thanks for the chef for a superb meal, to Andrew for running the event smoothly and to the barman Adam for all his help on the day and again on Sunday. We could not have asked for a better day thank you all again.
A
Anonymous Sent on 18/10/2017
5 out of 5 rating

Everyone enjoyed it immensely.

It was a beautiful day all round, I was very pleased that you were around and I was able to tell our guests that you were responsible for the fantastic event.

Thanks again for a wonderful evening. Everyone enjoyed it immensely.
A
Anonymous Sent on 18/10/2017
5 out of 5 rating

Efficiency was excellent

Thank you for all your attention to detail, the help and efficiency was excellent, especially in the lead up to the actual day.

Please pass on our thanks to Danielle for the way she ran the event on the day, everything went very well and according to plan, the table service throughout the meal was very good.

If you could say a big thank to the chef, Scott. Our food was very good. We were also very pleased with the guidance Scott provided when talking us through the menu options at the Menu tasting event, prior to the wedding.

As you know we were quite anxious about how the bar tariff and service would go. The bar manager, (in a pink shirt) ran the bar very efficiently.
A
Anonymous Sent on 18/10/2017
4 out of 5 rating

A great and memorable experience.

Lara, Just a note to say thank you for organising our daughter’s wedding and all the help you gave us. It was a wonderful day and a great and memorable experience.
A
Anonymous Sent on 18/10/2017
5 out of 5 rating

We had a brilliant wedding experience

We wanted to pass on our thanks to you for all the help, guidance and assistance you provided over the last 15 months.

The planning and preparing all paid off and we had a brilliant wedding experience at the Swan Hotel

Could you also pass on our thanks to Danielle who provided us with a fantastic personal service on the actual day.

Many family and friends have made positive comments on the venue and in particular the quality of the food. They have also praised the choice of music and evening buffet So all in all it went like clockwork and it all came together for one remarkable, enjoyable but most of all memorable day

Thanks very much and please send this e mail up the management food chain as I feel all your combined efforts should be recognised
M
Mrs Sent on 18/10/2017
5 out of 5 rating

Big thank you to you and your team

I would just like to reinforce a big thank you to you and your team from the whole family for the great support you gave us for Jessica's wedding. We have had many compliments from the fantastic food, comfortable rooms and the late night cups of tea. The older members of the family really appreciated the late night tea made by Adam. My auntie and her husband have already booked to come back to the hotel for a mid week stay.
A
Anonymous Sent on 18/10/2017
5 out of 5 rating

We had a fantastic time.

Thank you to all at The Swan for making our day go so smoothly.

We had a fantastic time.
A
Anonymous Sent on 18/10/2017
5 out of 5 rating

We really had a brilliant day

We would like to say a big thank you for all your hard work in making all the preparations prior to the Wedding and the day go as smoothly as possible .We really had a brilliant day and really do appreciate all the work you and all the staff behind the scenes put in on our behalf . A lot
of our Wedding guests commented on how friendly and organised all the staff appeared .
Scott and his team produced a wonderful Wedding breakfast and evening food and the bar staff were really great . Please do pass on our thanks . We will hopefully email on to people individually too. Thank you again Lara . Hope all goes well for your future events .
A
Anonymous Sent on 18/10/2017
5 out of 5 rating

Completely Amazing

Lara & the receptionist Katherine made it very easy. The food was absolutely amazing. Thanks to everyone at the swan for making our special day completely amazing.
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