Anyone else looking at venues in Shropshire?

I'm on the Shropshire border - which regions are you looking at?

I'm also on the Shropshire border. North Shrops/North Wales border.

We are getting married in Shropshire and having our ceremony in Chester. Let me know if you're around this area and can give you some pointers.. I have a stack of wedding brochures, took me forever to decidewhere to have everything!

Hi

Thanks for responding. Here is a list of where we have seen so far... quite a few. They each have pros and cons although we have a short list of contenders...

We're ruling out Shugborough, Walcot Hall, Weston Park based on cost. I'm wondering if any of you guys knows of somewhere we haven't thought of. I think Soulton, Davenport or the Old Vicarage are favourites so far, although they all had great aspects.

Soulton Hall
Hadley Hall Hotel
Haughton Hall
Albright Hussey Manor Hotel
Mercure Shrewsbury
Old Vicarage, Worfield
Davenport House
Shifnal Park Hall Hotel
Rowton Castle
Madeley Court
Hundred House Hotel
Lilleshall

To be blunt I've ruled out the ones that seem to Churn through weddings (I can see the benefits of experience but it's really not for us). I like the ones that feel like they are giving a more personal service and the standard of food is very important to us. My fiance loves the idea of getting married in a castle but Rowton's churn rate really puts me off (as beautiful as it is).

If anyone knows of anywhere else (maybe a little more off the beaten path) I'd appreciate a recommendation....

or if anyone wants more information on our experiences at the above I'm more than happy to expand on them

Madeley court hotel is gorgeous, I grew up right next to it. Did my school work experience there as a chef in their kitchen lol. Also the shifnal park hotel is lovely, my dad and his mate often DJ weddings there

I loved Rowton but ruled it out on cost - there is somewhere called Pendrall hall, which is nice and less "well known". Not sure how far out of your area that is though.

It sounds like your after something a little different - is there anyone in your family with Land on which you might be able to put up a Marque and create something unique?

OOOHHH just noticed you have The Hundred House hotel on your list. When I went there with my catering college the food was AMAZING, also they had a room set up for a a wedding and it looked lovely.

They still have swings in the rooms? lol

Madeley Court was fully booked for next year (we want a Saturday) so we didn't bother looking round it.

Rowton is lovely but they're doing 300 Weddings this year and have no more than one per day... it's a little conveyor belt for me which is a shame because it really is a beautiful building. I guess you have the benefits of their vast experience in making sure nothing is forgotten but I just want something a bit more personal. I hate the thought of having to be out of the bridal suite by 11 so they can clean it because the next bride might turn up as early as 11.30 (if its a civil ceremony etc).

I'll look into Pendrall Hall - thanks for the tip. Their website seems to be down at the mo.

We DO have a perfect space for a Marquee and we're looking at the costings for that as well. I'm a little concerned it will be a lot of work and we might forget things, plus it might be the same cost or more.. working on it as an idea though if anyone has any thoughts for how to make a marquee wedding fabulous!!!

The Hundred House Hotel is a lovely barn but we're a bit concerned about space especially if it rains. I think if we had about 20 less people it would be pretty good. The Lady that showed us round was lovely though. We didn't look at any rooms ... wishing I had now! didn't know about the swings......

Lilleshall was my 2nd choice. I went to Rowton Castle, loved it but it had too many restrictions for what I did and didn't want and they aren't willing to budge on stuff as they can just as easily book up exactly what they offer months/years in advance so aren't interested in anything else. Don't get me wrong, lovely place but I wanted a castle and it was more stately home-like. We were sat in there having a coffee and my niece actually said "Where's the castle?" LOL!

Have you seen Whittington Castle (I'm getting married there) or Ellesmere college (Sounds rubbish but is a lovely huge building!) They have a wedding fayre there this Sunday too.

Ok have you looked at

ironbridge museums,

wroxeter hotel

buckatree hotel

Lol they should automatically show people the swings!!

Swings in the bedroom? Is that some kind of sexy thing I'm missing out on :/

Lol I think I saw it on sex and the city once.................far to much effort for my liking ?

We have looked at many venues on the West Midlands side of Shropshire and finally gone for the Old Vicarage at Worfield for July next year.

Part of the charm of the place is that they don't seem to churn out weddings, altough ironically I did start to panic slightly when I couldn't find any reviews/pictures of weddings that have taken place there....so I hope it's going to be ok!

So anyone that can offer any views or reviews on the Old Vicarage I'd be grateful.

Thanks

It's a contender for us for exactly the same reason. How many guests are you having?

We're having about 70 and I'm just really struggling to see how it would work with the layout.

Everyone we've spoken to there so far has been brilliant

Hi

We are hoping to keep it to 60 guests for the day (63 max as they tell us that if we want chair covers they only have 63 chairs that can take the regular chair cover). The conservatory is beautiful but I know what you mean about the room layout, I guess if you have 70 you'd need to open up into the other room that they call the old bar.

We were more concerned with the layout for the evening but we're just getting on with it now. We have 100 ish for the evening and we really wanted a band, they have agreed that the bad can now go in the conservatory (at first they said no) rather than in the old bar. They have also said they will have a small marque where the hog roast will be done with some seats in so hopefully there will be enough space for people.

I have eaten there a few times and the food has been fantastic, although I was advised that they had changed their chef so really should go and try it out again.

I like the fact that they dont charge ridiculous exclusivity fees but you still get the whole place to yourself by having the 14 bedrooms. I went over in the summer and saw the room layed out for a wedding, it looked lovely, I have some pictures if you want to see them I'm happy to email them to you.

We heard really good reviews about the food, so we went to eat there recently and it was pretty good. BF really liked it. Some of the dishes were heavenly (I could live off the crispy chicken) but some of them seemed like the chef was trying a little too hard. You wouldn't get that with en masse catering though so I think you'll be absolutely fine for a wedding.

We thought about going there and having a marquee but if we could get away without that it would keep the costs down. I think you'd need it with 100 though. We've got the same numbers for the evening.

I think the 14 rooms are perfect. just the right number. I'd love to see the photos if you could send them to ********@****.**.** please

Hi

I've just searched the vicarage in worfield and the blog about wedding venues came up.....

We're just about to book our wedding at the vicarage and have a few doubts/quibbles, did you get married there? And how did you find the service, food, etc. I hope you don't mind me asking but there isn't a huge amount of feedback to view online.

Many thanks

Hayley

For something a bit different.. Harper Adams agricultural college near Newport, pretty building, beautiful big ceremony rooms.