Wedding venue – sorted! The Zankyou Real Bride Tells All

by LaurenOctober 26, 2011 1

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We have finally chosen our wedding venue! We spent hours with my parents driving around Essex, looking at dozens of country houses and five star hotels until they all began to blur into one. We had drained a whole tank of petrol, nothing had grabbed us yet and when I noticed David had turned a peculiar shade of green I thought we should call it a day.

We had one last appointment to make, it was on the way home, and so we decided to pop in. After almost getting the car stuck in a ditch (SatNav!) we eventually pulled into the sprawling driveway to Spains Hall, leading us to the most spectacular view of the house. An imposing but beautiful example of Elizabethan architecture, it truly took our breath away.

©Spains Hall

As we pulled into the car park (hidden away from the house – a big plus for us), Jo was already waiting for us. She knew exactly who we were, what we wanted from our venue and even how long we had been engaged. She began with a tour of the venue. Perfect, as many other places we had considered began by sitting us down and thrusting a list of options and prices at us which is hard to comprehend if you have no idea what the venue looks like.

The first stop was the Elizabethan Hall. It was in these first five minutes that we knew Spains Hall was for us. The Elizabethan Hall is part of the main house and can be hired out for the ceremony. It is a grand, wooden panelled room, with antique family portraits, swords, and even suits of armour on the walls! It is a world away from the boring, floral decorated ceremony rooms that we had been looking at. It’s bursting with character and there is no magnolia in sight!

The Elizabethan Hall at Spains Hall ©Spains Hall

Towards the back of the hall there are double doors, leading into another room, with stunning views of the gardens! Jo told us that this is where we would each meet the registrar and where my Dad and I would wait before walking up the aisle.

As we were taking in yet more wonderful family trinkets and antique paintings, Jo called us over to the corner of this room to show us where the bride would be getting ready. Heading towards a wood panelled corner I was slightly confused, until she fiddled with something that I could not see, and the wall opened towards us! What manor house would be complete without a secret door!

Up some regulatory creaky stairs, we appeared in the most beautiful bedroom I have ever seem. Decorated in yellow and pale blue, with an en-suite with roll top bath and gold taps, and of course, the same breathtaking views over the gardens. Jo informs me that this is the room where my bridesmaids and I will spend the morning of the wedding. There is a table set up for breakfast and a little fridge for champagne.

Back out into the gardens and a short walk across the driveway are the stables, where the reception is held. The stables are decorated in direct contrast to the house, they are clean and modern, with soft lighting and sparkling stone floors that invite you in to an enormous space, with floor to ceiling windows and doors showcasing the beautiful English countryside.

The stables were set up for a wedding, which was again, super helpful for us as so many venues had asked us to “imagine” what it would be like on the day. At Spains there was no need. Everything was set up as it would be on the day and we could really see this being the perfect setting for our wedding. Jo proceeded to show us the bar, colour changing lights and even the sound system so we knew it was all top notch. There is a heated outside seating area, q separate room for the bar and buffet, should we require and even a cloakroom.

The room, prepared for our guests! ©Spains Hall

Jo then sat down with us and proceeded to talk through what we wanted. There are no set packages with Spains, they tailor each and every wedding to the couple, so every one is different and they really have seen it all. We had not eaten all day and mentioned this to Jo in passing. Within seconds, the kitchen had sent out coffee and chocolates! It was so refreshing not to have to undergo the hard sell. There was no mention of money at all.

Jo simply wanted to know how we envisioned our day going. She made pages and pages of notes and then sent us on our way (with some more chocolates for the road).

The very next day I received an email from Spains, detailing everything we had talked about and some finance options. The aftercare was fantastic. I must have made hundreds of calls to the team asking to take things off and replace with others. Each time an updated invoice would arrive in my inbox within the hour and the staff were so helpful with helping us to decide what aspects of our day were important and what could perhaps be sacrificed.

So now we have booked, paid our deposit and are ridiculously excited about the big day. I feel so confident in the ability of the staff at Spains and am so glad that we made ourselves go to that final viewing!

What do you think about Lauren and David’s choice? Do you know Spains Hall? Let us know, with a comment below!