We held our wedding at Thornton Hall Hotel in September 2024 and, unfortunately, we cannot recommend it based on our experience. While the venue itself is beautiful, the service and organisation on the day were extremely disappointing and fell far short of what was promised — especially given the significant investment we made.
Despite paying for several upgrades and extras, many of these were either delivered poorly, not delivered at all, or caused unnecessary stress and disruption to our day. Key issues included:
- Food: We paid extra to upgrade to a tapas menu, but the execution was not as agreed — many guests missed out on parts of the meal and vegan guests were mistakenly served meat dishes. Children's meals also weren't as agreed, and our child with allergies missed out on an agreed dessert. On top of this, the food service was significantly delayed, which was extremely stressful as we had already planned for a late meal and guests were left waiting for long periods.
- Venue Space: We paid an additional fee to move to the larger Torintone Suite based on assurances of private use of the bar area. However, the space was not ready in time for our guests, who were instead forced to use the public bar.
- Entertainment: Due to delays caused by the venue, our live band lost an hour of performance time — a huge shame and something that cannot be replaced.
- Extras: We hired external vendors for garden games and a pianist, but poor timing and poor organisation from the events team meant we couldn’t properly enjoy both.
In addition, it was clear that the event coordinator on the day had not been given a proper handover. He was relying on outdated notes from earlier planning meetings and lacked key, up-to-date details about our arrangements. This caused unnecessary confusion and stress right before the wedding started. To make matters worse, his attitude was rude and dismissive; he did not acknowledge or apologise for the mistakes that were evident throughout the day.
While we eventually received a partial refund after a long and frustrating complaints process, the amount offered does not fairly reflect the number of failures or the considerable stress and upset caused — both on the day and afterwards. It took several weeks for the venue to even respond to our concerns, and when they did, their attitude was dismissive — claiming we would have to “agree to disagree” on many points, and stating they could not comment on certain issues because "the event coordinator was not there at the time," which only highlights their lack of professionalism. This is simply not an acceptable way to handle a customer's once-in-a-lifetime event.
The saving grace of our day came from our independent suppliers — not the venue. Our incredible photographer went above and beyond to help find missing flowers the venue had lost and helped coordinate many parts of the day when the venue team fell short. Our venue stylists made the room look absolutely beautiful, our evening band were fantastic, and our pianist made the ceremony truly special. Thanks to them, the day was not a complete disaster — but it is incredibly disappointing that so much stress and upset came directly from the venue itself, when it should have been seamless and joyful.
We would strongly advise future couples to be very cautious. Beautiful surroundings mean little without reliable service, strong organisation, and genuine care — all of which we sadly found lacking.
We would not recommend Thornton Hall Hotel for a wedding or any important event where service standards, communication, and professionalism are key.We held our wedding at Thornton Hall Hotel in September 2024 and, unfortunately, we cannot recommend it based on our experience. While the venue itself is beautiful, the service and organisation on the day were extremely disappointing and fell far short of what was promised — especially given the significant investment we made.
Despite paying for several upgrades and extras, many of these were either delivered poorly, not delivered at all, or caused unnecessary stress and disruption to our day. Key issues included:
- Food: We paid extra to upgrade to a tapas menu, but the execution was not as agreed — many guests missed out on parts of the meal and vegan guests were mistakenly served meat dishes. Children's meals also weren't as agreed, and our child with allergies missed out on an agreed dessert. On top of this, the food service was significantly delayed, which was extremely stressful as we had already planned for a late meal and guests were left waiting for long periods.
- Venue Space: We paid an additional fee to move to the larger Torintone Suite based on assurances of private use of the bar area. However, the space was not ready in time for our guests, who were instead forced to use the public bar.
- Entertainment: Due to delays caused by the venue, our live band lost an hour of performance time — a huge shame and something that cannot be replaced.
- Extras: We hired external vendors for garden games and a pianist, but poor timing and poor organisation from the events team meant we couldn’t properly enjoy both.
In addition, it was clear that the event coordinator on the day had not been given a proper handover. He was relying on outdated notes from earlier planning meetings and lacked key, up-to-date details about our arrangements. This caused unnecessary confusion and stress right before the wedding started. To make matters worse, his attitude was rude and dismissive; he did not acknowledge or apologise for the mistakes that were evident throughout the day.
While we eventually received a partial refund after a long and frustrating complaints process, the amount offered does not fairly reflect the number of failures or the considerable stress and upset caused — both on the day and afterwards. It took several weeks for the venue to even respond to our concerns, and when they did, their attitude was dismissive — claiming we would have to “agree to disagree” on many points, and stating they could not comment on certain issues because "the event coordinator was not there at the time," which only highlights their lack of professionalism. This is simply not an acceptable way to handle a customer's once-in-a-lifetime event.
The saving grace of our day came from our independent suppliers — not the venue. Our incredible photographer went above and beyond to help find missing flowers the venue had lost and helped coordinate many parts of the day when the venue team fell short. Our venue stylists made the room look absolutely beautiful, our evening band were fantastic, and our pianist made the ceremony truly special. Thanks to them, the day was not a complete disaster — but it is incredibly disappointing that so much stress and upset came directly from the venue itself, when it should have been seamless and joyful.
We would strongly advise future couples to be very cautious. Beautiful surroundings mean little without reliable service, strong organisation, and genuine care — all of which we sadly found lacking.
We would not recommend Thornton Hall Hotel for a wedding or any important event where service standards, communication, and professionalism are key.