Calling all Essex girls!!

Hello.

There are a few of us Essex brides. thefuturemrsclarke, myself, sarah-kay (she got married last week) and cotteesgirl (I think thats her name!).

I've only been to 2 dress shops, both in Rayleigh. Diana Silverosa and Precious Moments but I'm not sure what size their samples average too. There's also a few I know of in Southend but the names escape me for now! Colchester might be a good bet as there seem to be dozens of bridal dress shops there.

Hope that helps you.

Hi kj82. and raef. im an essex girl to. its hard to say with regards to dress shops, some although there samples might not be an 18 they are big enough for you to fit in to and providing they have a lace up back you can usually get into them fine. new beggingings in brentwood have larger sizes and was a really nice shop , do not go to matchmaker in brentwood. they had nothing i liked above a size 14 and the woman in there wasnt helpful at all. i really didnt like that shop. and it was really expensive. im getting my dress from a shop in leigh on sea , which is a lovely little shop and really helpful. have you any idea on what sort of dress you would like? i only went to leigh on sea because id seen 1 in a mag that i couldnt stop thinking about and that was the closest place that stocked it.

theres a wedding fayre on next weekend at the holiday in in basildon, may be worth a look to get you some ideas. il happily meet you if you want its only down the road from me. and any other hitcher thats going.

hows things with you raef have you managed to get anything sorted out.

? to fellow essex girls!

tbh i cant help with dresses as i got mine from miles away, however for flower/table decs/general art and crafts i can recommend a place called Byfords...its near colchester and a warehouse where things are really cheap. We got our table confetti for 50 pence per bag but you name it they have it, definately worth a look if you are ever up this way! good luck with the planning

Im new to this but I am from essex....so HI!

So far we are still looking at venues. Have oooo many brochures but its all so expensive.

We're looking for that country house feel and between 70-80 for a sit down dinner and 100 or so for any evening buffet.

Any names for great essex venues we havnt heard of yet that dosent cost a bomb would be greatfully recieved!

Not sure what part of Essex you are in, although I did a wedding at the White Hart in Great Yeldham that was very nice and not too expensive.....images are on my website if that helps...

Peter

We got married at Smeetham Hall Barn which is on the Essex / Suffolk border, we live in Loughton. fab but gets booked up a long time in advance!

Im in Havering..elm park area. Have been looking at Chelmsford and kent too so far. As long as its wthin drivable distance from london will be okay I think

Thank you. We have looked at Smeetham Hall...but not sure about having own caterers...seems like more hassle. We were looking for a package. How did it work for you? Was getting own caterers cheaper?

Hello sarina. when are you looking to get married? this is my venue and its fairly reasonably priced, im paying 2950 for a 3 course meal for 52 and a buffet for 150 , thats including room hire but not drinks. its www.mountavenuebanquetting.co.uk

im in basildon but work in hornchurch. any questions let me know x

Hello My lovely Essex Ladies...

I'm based in Essex and here to help (when I can!)

Dresses... have you tried Make Up For Memories‎

As for venues I know lots in this area just need to know budget (you can email me and I will try and help).

Again with other suppliers depending on budget I've worked with a wide range to suit all budgets and all are fantastic suppliers

Hope I can help

Kim x

Cheaper than what? We chose Smeetham Hall Barn because we did not want to be tied into having to have food and drink supplied by an in house dept. I am somewhat of a control freak ? We chose to go with probably the most expensive (recommended) caterer in the region and supplied out own alcohol as Smeetham does not charge corkage and we wanted very, very good wines and vintage champagne which we could source much more reasonably than the catering company could supply it. Because Smeetham don't charge corkage the prohibit any catering company from doing so and so they had to serve it and yet did not actually get to supply it ?

We were very fortunate to have a very large budget and we chose Smeetham for a number of reasons, e.g. exclusivity (ie no body but us all weekend), I wanted a barn wedding as have been to loads of manor house/hotel weddings and I didn't want that for our day, we had 115 for a sit down meal and a lot of venues see to cap out at around 90 ish,freedom of choice in suppliers and the couple that run Smeetham are fantastic!! Cost was not so much of an issue.

We are getting married at Smeetham! A bit like Mrs Lilly said we were looking for lots of flexibility more than anything. I think the beauty of it is you can choose your own caterers (from their list) so you can have a more expensive sit down option or a BBQ or hog roast or something like that.

Hi everyone, Im also an essex girl-chelmsford! Im getting married at prested hall- www.prested.co.uk. Where abouts is Byfords? xx

Mrs Lilly and Amethyst hope your well today.

I just meant Im on a very tight budget and wasent sure if getting a wedding package might be cheaper over all than organising it all seperately with diffrent suppliers or if by getting own suppliers they woudl be competing against each other. So may work out cheaper.

Flexibility as you said does sound good though. I think will make an apointment and go see them!

Https://www.chelmsford.gov.uk/index.cfm?articleid=6161

Hylands House in Chelmsford is brilliant value for money, especially if you just want the ceremony there.

I think it's around £400 for the ceremony and an hour in the grounds...

Pete x

Hello ladies

i'm an Essex girl too! My sister got her dress from Special Occassions in Stanford - le - Hope: https://www.essexwedding.org/ Really helpful shop; def worth giving them a try.

K

Hi!!! I live in Essex but planning to get married in Nottingham (home town) however, want to do tons of stuff in Essex! I'm visiting 'Bridal Boutique' in Southend on Friday (as I love mori lee) and they were great over the phone. Will let you know how it goes! Also there is a wedding fayre at the Brentwood centre Feb 20th and 21st apparently... it's a biggy. My soon to be sister-in-law got married at Parklands. It was lovely, great food and the honeymoon suite is a private little cottage on the grounds... you leave by car... drive you around for a bit and you have you're own cottage! No idea what the cost is though!

x x x

Hello!!

I'm fairly new on here! But from Chelmsford

Looking at Getting Married at Three Rivers Golf and Country Club in 2011. Parents opinion is needed first before we book it

Me and my OH went to Crondon Park last night for their wedding fair, it was really useful, and they had a photography company there called A Mobile Studio, there stuff was amazing, and so reasonably priced. Just thought I would mention them here as we are seriously considering them

A friend of mine got married at Newlands Hall in August this year, and that place was gorgeous, you can get married inside or outside! It's in Roxwel, it's in between Chelmsford and Harlow.

Hope all the planning for you lovely Ladies is going well

Addie

Also ladies,

There is a wonderful videographer called Iain Wag. His websitew is www.in-video.co.uk. The site looks a bit pants but trust me his work is fantastic! He costs £995 and is there as you're getting ready until late after your first / Dad dances are through and beyond. I've seen a couple of DVD's he's done and he is well worth contacting! I want him but he won't travel to Nottingham unfortuneatly as he is so busy in Essex.

x x x

Hello.

Am an essex bride. 12 feb 2011.

Getting married in Marygreen Manor in Brentwood. Picked it because its quite small and cosy, and has everything in one place. The package deal they offer starts at about 3500 i think, we went for the premier package which id 5995 on a saturday for 50 day and an additional 50 evening guests.

I am currently living in Dagenham East, but was born and raised in elm park!!

Hello Ladies,

Myself and the fiance went to lots of viewings last week...spent a fortune in travel as neither of us drive!

We were looking for a venue for civil ceremony and 80 for wedding breakfast with 110 for evening.

Saw Channels (barn). Was a bit upset as having taken bus's, trains and a cross country hike to get there only to be told there was a wedding on and they couldnt show us the venue even though we had made an advance apointment. Think the manager realised we werent very impressed with this and ended up showing us the barn via the rear garden and through little staff areas, The manager was realy helpfull agreed that we could plan the day anyway we wanted and they would be happy to help. He was even nice enough to give us lift to the train station. It was very pretty and was great to be able to see an actual wedding happning. Only thing is golfers use main building which is only a few yards away. No direct qoute given.

Next is Parklands. Had an apointment to see it at 1300...got a call that morning saying that the place had been booked for a wedding and could we come before 1200. We left within half an hour but only just managed to get to stansted (nearest train station) about 1150. Wasted journey and time as they refused to show us anything if we got there any later that 1200 and we still had to get a cab to them so we cancelled.

Then we went to Greenwoods hotel and spa...very expensive considering what they were offering. Poeple wandering about the place unless we book a premier package and only then they would block off bar to their other guests.Aprox £147 per head.

Next we saw our favourite. The fennes. Lovely grounds for an out door wedding beside a pond with a water fountain and a bridge with a gazebo next to it. Beutifull house with lovely bedrooms. Permanent marqees in a medium size and behind a door a huge marquee that you wouldnt guess was there with door closed! (used for live bands or bouncy castle etc) They were happy to cater to all our needs. £9k for food and venue (no alcohol) on a mon-wed bassis. Alovely cottage witha four poster bed and jacuzzi for the wedding night too!

Fourth was Pembroke lodge in Richmond park. Breathtaking views as its on a hill. Again had the issue that the main building is open to the public. Even the terrace you get to use is only seperated by a slight railing and anyonecan walk past but hall was nice not too big or too small. Qoute given for aprox £5500

Lastly Cooling Castle Barn was okay but not as great as was expecting from reviews and comments from poeple at work. They were not as accomadating as other places though. I wanted the bar closed during the day and opened for the evening. They refused. Got the feeling they were constantly churning out weddings of a particular type and as they were practicaly completly booked all the time they could afford to be inflexible. I realise a closed bar would mean less revenue for them and they are business but happened to it being our wedding?...maybe its just me but that put me off.

Now we're stuck cause loved The Fennes but its a bit out of our price range!

Hi Sarina,

Shame that you didn't get to see Parklands... it is lovely. Its around £4500 for a Mon-Thursday wedding there based on 50 adults. However it's exclusive which is good.

Spains Hall is nice, cost again range from £4000 - £9000 depending on what you want etc

There are lots of venues in Essex... what type of thing are you looking for, I might be able to help some morex

Kim x

Hi Sarina,

I agree with Kim, try to see Parklands. They are very busy but that's because its a lovely venue. Lots of grounds, exclusivity, a private wedding cottage like you describe and two cottages to accomodate plenty of guests. Beautiful food too. I know it's a mission if you don't drive but worth the effort!

Jess (aka robtherock) x

Hi,

I went to Special Occasions on Friday. Initially the shop looks a little tatty compared with lots of other dress shops but the assistants were so helpful and there was a huge choice of dresses to try on. Plus, the dresses were much cheaper than other places I've looked in around Hornchurch, Romford and Brentwood. In fact, one of the dresses I saw in the shop was £250 cheaper than in another shop!

They don't do the alterations but instead recommend people to do the alterations and the cost is again much lower than in the other shops I've looked in.

The only thing is though that they don't store the dress for you so you have to find somewhere for it.

Has anyone else had experience of using this shop?

I haven't yet found 'the one'. What I find frustrating is that I see dresses that I think I'll love on designers' websites and the shops who stock those designers don't stock those particular dresses and you have to pay to order them in to try. Difficult.

Please excuse the bold type - I can't seem to get the 'bold' off.

Paris. X

Hi Sarina

Just popped back on this board (I got married in2005) and saw this thread for Essex people. Like I said I got married in 2005 at The Lawns in Rochford /www.thelawn.co.uk/ Like you we looked at The Fennes but when we saw this one we thought it looked better and was a little easier to get to. The staff were lovely as was the food!!! Its a lovely venue although there is nowhere for you to stay overnight but plenty of room to get ready on the day.

Su