We first came and looked at Eastwell Manor back in January as a potential venue and we both fell in love with it. We wanted our ceremony to be held in the Rose garden which once summer arrived, we knew would look absolutely stunning, with all plants and flowers in full bloom.
We Sat down with Helen and went through what dates would be available, and booked it from there.
We popped back a few times to get a feel for the rest of the venue and asked if we could view the bridal suite. This in itself is absolutely breathtaking. And has a really cute little room for children to stay with you, if you so desire.
The venue itself has plenty of character, and alot of little places for fantastic photos.
We stayed the night before and had a lovely meal, with fantastic service.
Fast forward to the day, weather sadly was debatable, and beyond our control. The outside area was dressed for us, and right up until the last moment, we planned on having the ceremony outside, but that wasn't meant to be, the heavens opened and it had to be moved inside, where Helen and the team stepped up to dress the room for the ceremony. So a massive thankyou for doing so.
The wedding breakfast went off without a hitch.
The only real criticism we had was the wait between course's, fully appreciate when serving 50 plus guests this is tricky, but we found our guests wandering off during the wait.
The rest of the day went off without any real problems, the team at Eastwell are brilliant, we cannot fault them, and any issues presented to them, seemed to get resolved in a very quick and timely manner.
Sadly, we did have take make a complaint, we were advised that we would be moving rooms at some point whilst getting ready from where we had stayed to the bridal suite, to finish getting ready. The room wasn't available, so during the ceremony, our stuff that was all over the room we was in, was gathered up and started to be moved.
This got stopped, but to be told this whilst your getting ready to greet your guests, is quite concerning, so Jim the Toast Master, had to step in and resolve it to take the worry from us.
This caused alot of confusion, and things got mixed up, so when it came to us, going to our room to freshen up after the photos and wedding breakfast, we had people knocking continuously to collect belongings they were missing. So a slight misunderstanding there.
But now to the positives, the Staff are fantastic, incredibly friendly and very responsive to all questions and queries, and we would obviously like to say a massive thank you to them for the wonderful service we received even when we were sitting outside till the small hours of the morning. We didn't feel rushed to vacate, and go to bed. They just carried on clearing and preparing for the next day's wedding.
Helen, you really did help make our day very special, we are truly grateful.
Also, we really would like to thank Jim, our Toast Master for the day. This guy is really something else. Incredibly helpful, absolutely fantastic with us and our guests, played along with our joke on the mother of the bride Doris, Wound up our best man as requested, and did everything in his control to keep the day running smoothly and our guests entertained. So if you decide to book with Eastwell Manor, make sure you have this guy by your side! Hes a real credit.
I highly recommend this venue to any couple wishing to get married, it really is a remarkable place, along with a remarkable team who are willing to help day and night.
