Help me find a wedding venue within 1.5 hrs of London?

Cloves

Dear All,
I’m looking for some help regarding a venue as the one we had our heart is off the list… we went to meet the conference manager who was like a teenager straight from high school! We have been looking for an alternative for a few months now but quotes coming back are just too high and now we are both thinking we may never get married!
Basically we live in London, but would really like an old English house with nice gardens for our wedding. We are aiming for about 40-50 guests and would like to spend about £3k all up for the reception – however given our minimum numbers we are finding this really hard?
Our preference is for late May, and we are looking for Friday/Sundays to try and get some discounts/offers
Having said that… would really appreciate any advice on weddings you have been to, anywhere you have seen which you think would be a good venue? We would prefer somewhere within 1.5 hrs of London and a relaxed setting!
Thank you for your help!

picklepick

so you discounted the venue just because of the conference managers age? or was there some other reason aswell?

clearing_out_my_pockets

1.5 hours driving or by public transport?

You say you're having problems because of guest numbers - how big / small do you need?

Cloves

It was quite a few reasons actually...

- firstly the sales manager we were talking to left and the lady taking over wasn't that friendly e.g " I cannot tell you who will meet you at the hotel tomorrow as we are very busy and whoever is available at the time will meet you"
- The new conference manager was very young (18?) and he didnt have the answers to anything which really worried me
- We found out none of the fountains in the gardens worked
- Their food and beverage manager (who was lovely) was leaving

The whole thing just made me quite worried.... sorry, I didnt mean to discount the ability of the young hotel manager but i think that was just the bit that worried me the most!

Cloves

clearing_out_my_pockets wrote: »

1.5 hours driving or by public transport?

You say you're having problems because of guest numbers - how big / small do you need?

We are planning 50 max - so we are too small for most of the places we like! Even for Friday/Sunday they are requiring 60...

Most of our searches have been based on google though, which is why I thought I would ask for some advice on "hidden gems" which may not be on the internet!

1.5hrs... by either car or public transport I'd say!

MrsManda

have you had a look on the National Trust and English Hertiage websites for options?
Depending on where in London you're starting from you could look at houses in the Midlands, cambridgeshire etc...
Some suggestions:
Marble Hill House
Ranger's House
Wellington Arch

The National Trust has a variety of places to hire as well. Most of the houses are huge but they have orangeries, conservatories, enclosed gardens etc... so it's not a case of needing to hire out the entire place. Unfortunately National Trust doesn't list prices for all of their properties on their website, you have to request the information. Here's the link to places you can hire for weddings: National Trust

As an outsider: Osborne House

This seems to be a good website for ideas as it appears to be centred on london and has a search function where you can select criteria: Funkywedding venues

honeypop

www.shendish-manor.com
50 mins from Central London, just off M25. An old manor house with lovely gardens.

www.garston-manor-weddings.co.uk/
Similar distance to the one above, also an old manor house with beautiful gardens.

Mrs_Moore_To_Be

My brother is getting married here - would this be in distance?
http://www.oldthorns.com/

Cloves

Thanks for all the replies so far, will have a look at them tonight!

Mrs_Moore_To_Be

Good Luck! x

RainbowDrops

Any preference on North, South, East or West?
Does the £3k budget include venue hire, or is that just for food & drink?