Essex brides... Orsett Hall

Hi Tinkers, welcome to Hitched.

I got married at OH back in August. Had a lovely day but it wasn't without its hitches. Was there anything specific you wanted to know about OH?

Hello Tinkers1!!

We are having our reception at Orsett Hall! ? We're getting married in Feb 2012 so we haven't confirmed everything yet but so far I am quite happy with how things are going. I recently went to their wedding fayre in November and it was really lovely - we even got a tour of the kitchen and got to sample some food - but I suppose you've tried the food if you've been to weddings there?? It's lovely! Their next wedding fayre is on 27th Feb so you might want to pop along.

The wedding planners are v helpful (I've already asked them loads of questions!!) and we are having the resident DJs and photographer who are really nice. They also have an on site florist and cake person which is quite handy.

My only little moan would be the way in which they expect you to reserve the allocated bedrooms. Each wedding gets 10 bedrooms to start with and after paying our desposit to secure the wedding, we were then told afterwards that to secure the bedrooms we had to pay an extra desposit of £45 per room! Firstly I assumed our main deposit secured the bedrooms as I wasn't told otherwise and also as we are having 11 rooms (including a bridal suite) that's quite a lot of money and for us it was too early on for us to know who would want a room. Anyway in the end they agreed they would keep the rooms for me without desposits and they would let me know if anyone shows an interest in our wedding date (there are currently no other weddings) so I can then get the deposits paid if it looks like all the rooms will be booked up. I think it would have been better to know about that in advance of paying our deposit so I could have negiotiated with them before handing over any money! I thought this info would be helpful to you if you did decide to book with them as perhaps you can haggle a bit!

Apart from that though I am really happy with everything else. Another plus point I'm not sure you are aware of - Orsett Hall are currently building a chapel - so there will be a separate room for you to get married in if you are having a civil ceremony. They are also building a separate restaurant too. They had started these when I was there in November and they said they are hoping it all to be finished by April. I hope this helps! Let us know how you get on and what you decide.

xx

Thanks for your replies. Which rooms did u have your weddings in? I love the Pavillion. Gonna do the whole day there so I take it you get married in a seperate room? I didnt know they were building a chapel, how lovely. XX

I hired the Gold Room and everything is in there - they turn it round whilst you're having photos for the wedding breakfast and then the bar is open whilst they clear it for the evening.

Lulu - I knew they were building a restaurant but didn't know about the chapel either.

We're having the Gold Room. It's just the right size for us. The Pavillion is lovely though and it has a bit of it's own grounds doesn't it?

I think the idea of the chapel is so you have the option of getting married in a different room instead of having it all in the same space - depends what you prefer really. I think there's going to be an extra hire charge for the chapel though (we've been offered it at no extra charge as we've already booked) They had the plans for the restaurant and chapel available to see at the wedding fayre but I didn't really look at them. I'd imagine they'll have them on display at the fayre in Feb though.

RaeF - nice to see you on here again! Glad you had a lovely day at OH! I'm sure I read your post after your wedding but I can't quite remember exactly what the hitches were. Did everything go to plan with the room set up? And how was the food?

I'm still here, no getting rid of me yet! ?

The room set up was fine - everything was as it should have been so no complaints there. But I did give fairly comprehensive plans!

The main complaints were regarding the wedding co ordinators and the food. The wedding co ordinators disappeared after the ceremony - I only saw them once throughout the whole day and that was just as I was about to walk down the aisle. My guest book and evening bits didn't make it out until I noticed they weren't out and had to send someone to get them. Even then they needed my H to go and find them (despite the box being labelled clearly with our names, room and the date).

Also, my Dad and 7 year old niece both have Coeliac disease so we specifically tailored the menu around them. B had only recently been diagnosed so we didn't want to make her feel different to anyone else. Anyway, on the day they couldn't confirm the sauce for our salmon was gluten free (this was a specific requirement in our contract). No canapes were GF other than smoked salmon and cream cheese so there was no choice there (again, the contract said GF canapes). The evening buffet had nothing GF - they brought out separate plates for my dad and B but not until gone 9 which is too late for her to be eating! Also, the rolls they gave them were rock hard and therefore inedible. The main food on their plate was salmon which had they eaten it would have been the third time that day. Luckily my mum is prepared and had brought food along they could both eat otherwise we would have had a very hungry 7 year old (my dad is used to it, he can cope!). I found it quite upsetting as we'd specifically stated GF many, many times and they couldn't provide it. My mum has since been in contact with OH about this and they have apparently changed certain suppliers so hopefully other people won't face the same thing. We've also been back for a meeting with them about this.

I know that sounds quite bad but we did have a lovely day other than these couple of points. Had we not had dietry requirements we probably wouldn't have had any complaints - the guest book was annoying but it wasn't a huge problem.

Have you got an MC with your package? We had Ken and he was invaluable! He told us all the traditions throughout the day (don't pull the knife out the cake - it's supposedly bad luck!), arranged extra sarnies for the vogs and generally kept everything running like clockwork. I would just ask about the on the day co ordination, if anyone's meant to be there with you or not. For us it would have helped to have had someone we'd spoken to previously to refer to.

In answer to your question though - the food is gorgeous when they get it right!

Wow, epic post - HTH

Hey!

Thanks for your reply RaeF! I'm sorry to hear the problems you had with the gluten free food. I hope they have realised their mistakes now and it was good you got to have a follow up meeting with them about it. I don't think I have anyone with dietary requirements but I will bear this in mind if I find out I do! Yes we do have an MC included so that's good. Thanks for the other comments v helpful and something I will definately think about. It's worth knowing about who's co-ordinating what on the day - I am a bit of a control freak so I'll feel better if I know!!

Yay! Glad the food is good. I did get to try a few bits at the wedding fayre and they were yum! ?

Thanks again for your help!

You're welcome - just shout if you have any other questions.

Can I ask what day of the week you got married/getting married? There's quite a difference in the price for a week day isnt there? x

I got married on a Sunday - cheaper to hire but more expensive for the registrar fees!

We are getting married on a Saturday. The room hire is cheaper on a Sunday like RaeF said. I think it's even cheaper for a week day but I think a Fri is the same as a Sat. I can't remember exact price differences but I can look it up when I'm home tonight and let you know.

Hi, I'm really sorry I haven't come back on here sooner! I haven't forgotten I said I'd have a look at hire charges for you but the last couple of weeks seem to have flown by! Anyway I found the room hire list for the Gold Room and the cheapest day for room hire is a Sunday. Fridays are cheaper than Saturdays but Sundays are even better! Also if you don't mind what time of year you get married you can save quite a bit by getting married off season (Jan- Mar & Oct & Nov) We've saved £1,000 on the room hire just by choosing a Sat in Feb rather than one in the summer! There were no prices for a Mon - Thurs wedding though it just said POA so I suppose you'd have to get in touch to ask. Hope that helps!

I can only comment in that I've been there twice for balls, and its been a great fun experience, and a lovely location.

I've never had any problems at Orsett Hall. Everything always seems well organised and the staff are friendly enough

Hiya!

I'm getting married at orsett hall! i'm hoping to go to the wedding fayre the end of this month

Yeah I am going to the fayre. I am still undecided wether to get married here or abroad. If we choose here, Orsett Hall will probably be our venue. Have you booked it? When are u getting married?

xx