Wedding Reception

Venue Search: Northbrook Park

A couple of days ago we began our venue search with Northbrook Park. It is about 40 minutes away from our home town, which is not as close as we would like but not a disaster. When we arrived we were immediately impressed with the appearance. It is a gorgeous building with ivy growing all up the walls. The grounds are just as amazing, which I think is really important.

The staff were fantastic. They weren't even phased by the fact that we had arrived slightly early. They simply handed us some drinks and tensed to us immediately. Friendly staff are one of the most important things in my opinion.

We were shown two rooms in which we could have our reception. The first was the Orangery. This is their biggest room that can seat up to 250 people for a sit down meal. We wont have anywhere near that amount of guests, but it is nice to have the space to work with. In all honesty thisroom didnt do much for me. It was quite nice, with lots of shaped windows, wooden floors and an overall rustic feel. But I hated the ceiling which was a sort of glass panel with random bits of white fabric hanging down. It sort of looked as if they were hanging the washing up to dry. And it wasnt really what we had been looking for. We were aiming more for grand than rustic.

But the second room (shown here), the Vine Room, was brilliant! It was the sort of grand room I had in my mind, but unlike other venues we've looked at on the internet, the walls aren't dark wooden panels. It is a white room with large windows, so it is very light and cheerful. It also has chandeliers and a fireplace which adds to the grandness and the Christmas feel. I can definitely imagine my wedding taking place in that room.

The cost for a wedding reception up to 125 people in December on a Sunday is £3000 normally, but since we are planning it this year and it is therefore considered a 'last minute' wedding (even though we still have 6 months left) we get 15% off. So in total it would cost £2800.