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About
On Hitched.co.uk since 2023
Last update: April 2025
One of England's most iconic landmarks and crowned best Manor House and Boutique Hotel wedding venue of the year! St Osyth Priory, offers a historic wedding venue for couples looking to celebrate in Colchester, Essex. The estate takes its name from the 1,400-year-old legend of Osyth, the daughter of Frithwald. Just over an hour away from London by train, with direct lines from Liverpool Street Station, this accessible venue is the perfect setting for a wedding steeped in grandeur.
Facilities and Capacity
St Osyth Priory is nestled on a 350-acre estate home to rare breeds of deer, sheep, and cows, enhancing the majesty of the area and making for more unforgettable moments. This gorgeous wedding venue holds a civil ceremony licence; However, there is a church just three minutes away for a traditional ceremony. You can also host celebrant ceremonies or other religious blessings within the extensive grounds, surrounded by glorious nature. The property features many beautiful spaces for your festivities, including Darcy House - The Gallery, The Great Hall, the historic Chapel, under the Gatehouse, on the Precinct, and in the gardens. This choice allows for extraordinary memories and incredible photo opportunities. Darcy House can seat 110 guests upstairs in the Gallery for your wedding breakfast and 110 loved ones downstairs in the Grand Hall. There is a lift inside and wide corridors for easy access, so everyone can move about in comfort. The venue's flexibility allows couples and event planners the freedom to have marquees or structures in many areas of the grounds if they wish to host an extravagant soiree. There are striking, scenic, and historic accommodation options throughout the estate for you and your guests. You can also book one of the self-catering retreats to return for your anniversaries to come.
Services Offered
Hosting your wedding at St Osyth Priory means you will have nothing to worry about. The team of exclusive wedding planning experts will be there from the very start to guide you. On the big day, an event manager will be present to coordinate your festivities and ensure everything runs smoothly. The Head Chef, who formerly served the late Queen Elizabeth II, will be overjoyed to continue providing phenomenal menus for your special day. The team will be of service to all dietary requirements, ensuring exquisite dishes everyone can enjoy. Your day will be bespoke to you, your partner and your guests.
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Contact St Osyth Priory and their preferred suppliers
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St Osyth Priory -
Courtyard Bridal -
Day and Knight Photography -
Thirty Three Px
Frequently asked questions
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Reviews for St Osyth Priory
Can we do it again?
The whole wedding completely exceeded our expectations, we spent so much time planning and putting effort into the details and to see it be brought to life by the St Osyth Priory team just blew us away. I'm only disappointed that we don't get to do it all over again!
Once again, a huge thank you from us! Words really cannot express how grateful we are! We will remember our day for the rest of our lives and can't wait to return for an anniversary!
Perfect day, Perfect venue.
Magical Venue!
Amazing Venue and Team
Livi and Lizzie were amazingly supportive and easy to deal with from start to finish, special shout out to Livi who ran our wedding day seamlessly, we couldn't have asked for a nicer team to deal with. The rest of the team supporting were absolutely top notch, the food was amazing and we got so many comments and compliments from guests throughout the day.
The accommodation available on site is stunning (we we're lucky enough to also use the newly renovated Gatehouse East which was amazing).
St Osyth Priory will forever hold a special place in both of our hearts, we're so glad we found the venue and look forward to continued visits in years to come.
If you're looking for a venue and team for your wedding, we couldn't recommend St Osyth Priory highly enough.
Best day ever!
Such an incredible team and venue
Dream duo - Livi & Lizzie
We personalised our wedding quite abit & nothing seemed too much trouble. Any concerns we had were swiftly dealt with. Livi & Lizzie are a great asset to St Osyth Priory.
I’d say 2 organizers onsite for weddings would be better as it’s impossible for 1 person to be everywhere. This is not a reflection on Livi & Lizzie capabilities :)
We hired the entire venue and all accommodation available at the time, it’s premium price especially for the area, but it’s premium luxury in every way & the condition of the venue is flawless, maybe partly due to how new the venue is.
Top Tips:
discuss ceremony seating plan & indoor backup plans in detail (in case of inclement weather)
There are works ongoing across the venue, so something to factor in when planning
We wholeheartedly recommend these suppliers:
Flowers @amnesia_flowers
DJ/ Master of ceremony/ photobooth @dj2four7
Photography & videography @cjdreamzs
Drummer @magicfingers_beats
Makeup artist @jo.xoartistry
Hairstylist @hairupbydevonne
Performers @rockitwithrho_entertainment
Went beyond to make sure everyone's dietary requirements were catered for
Wedding of Dreams
`The best day of our entire lives!
Everything was simply perfect and we are so grateful for the amazing team, especially our venue co-ordinator Livi for going above and beyond to make our dream day happen and run smoothly.
The venue itself is absolutely stunning and when we first viewed it, every part of it took our breath away. We knew immediately this was the venue for us. Our guests were also blown away with the beauty of the venue, as well as our suppliers, especially our photographer and videographer, who felt absolutely spoilt for choice with the options for perfect beautiful backdrops.
Our friends and family are still raving about the day and have said it has been the best wedding they have ever attended.
We will never ever forget our wedding day at St Osyth Priory and have the most beautiful memories that we will cherish forever. We just want to do it all over again!
Thank you from the bottom of our hearts.
Mr & Mrs Durrance
Our dream wedding
As we were on quite a tight budget and a pair of control freaks, we DIY'd as much of the day as we could; we were able to set up the dining tables the day before; we also set up the disco and photo booth in the bar area. We had hundreds of different sized glass jars filled with flowers which were placed on every flat surface, even in the toilets! L & L ensured that all of our food allergies/requirements were catered for; nibbles and custom made cocktails in the sunken garden were moreish. Our BBQ wedding breakfast was the best meal we've had at a wedding! The presentation was just as we'd requested when we met the chef at our initial meal tasting; the waiting staff were brilliant with a good sense of humour.
We had the use of D'Arcy West during the morning of our big day. The building is beautifully decorated with a huge kitchen, where I put the finishing touches to our wedding cake. As we stayed overnight, a continental breakfast had been left in the fridge.
L & L went through the whole process in detail, as a result we ended up with a wedding day just as we had hoped for. There were a couple of little hitches but these went unnoticed by our guests. As we live locally to St Osyth Priory we're looking forward to going back to celebrate our anniversaries.
Seamless from start to finish. The perfect venue
We have had countless compliments from all of our guests saying what a beautiful venue this was and how outstanding the food was, including our evening food.
Even our suppliers (who had been in the industry for many many years said it was one of the best venues they had been too).
Every detail has been executed to perfection. Every room smells great and they even had little baskets in the toilets.
We have had some of our pictures back and the backdrop has made them look like they are straight out of a wedding magazine.
We would highly recommend and we are so pleased with how everything turned out.
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St Osyth Priory Real Weddings
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Calling all newly engaged couples!
We’re delighted to invite you to our Open Viewing! Join us on Saturday 3rd May from 1:00 pm to 4:00 pm and explore the beauty of our historic estate as you begin to plan your dream wedding...
Please complete your details in our online form to confirm your sign-up. We will contact you the week before with further details and directions.
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