Orsett Hall Vs Friern Manor (Essex) can anyone help??!

I love both friern mannor an orsett hall. Both have something special about them.

if you need any help or advise on local suppliers do contact me as i might be able to help as i only live 10mins away from both venues so are very local to myself.

lexiw0912 i would think if you were doing your own catering and doing the dry hire option it would be pricey as venue charge is something like £7000 on a sunday at orsett hall.

The venue charge for Orsett Hall on a Sunday is £1250 - at least it is for this year anyway. No where near £7k!!

We found OH to be the cheapest place we looked at, but then we only got quotes from 4 places in the end - Vaulty Manor, Crondon Park, Braxted Park and OH.

HTH

The normal venue charge is £1250, however if you want the dry hire option of using your own caterers then its £7K so in long run cheaper to pay the £1250 and use their caterers

Fair enough, wasn't the case when we booked but willing to stand corrected.

For a Sunday, our total quote was around the £8,000 mark so if that is the case it's not even worth considering outside caterers.

I got the information from here: under function suits and charges:

/hotel-wedding-venues-essex.html

but im sure there is room for negotiation, depending when you getting married if out of season ect

i think they do it as they dont tend to have the exprience catering for asian wedding food and the number of guests ect and they know not anyone will pay that price if it works out same with using their caterers. I have only come across this as had a bride come to myself who was looking at OH and we decided it was not worth it and found somwhere else local.

Raef - also a 'chavy' OH bride who had to bite her lip! I agree that not everyone has the same taste in venues. if so the waiting list for a venue would be even worse than it is now. I'm getting married in the gold room too and have booked the Barnard Bridal suite.

Vik987 - like I said, fair enough and I was fine to be proved wrong. This was never the case when we booked 18 months ago though, and it's not often I check back on the website for new price increases funnily enough! ?

Chez2mk - welcome to the 'chav' club! Funny that person never came back, trolls never tend to... So, a third bride for the gold room! Good choice! We've also gone for the Barnard suite too - we loved it! You'll be able to see my photos in a couple of weeks and will update you as to how it all went.

Yes, dont you love people who 'diss' then disappear lol good luck for your day Raef and i will really love to see and read your report. If money had been no object (but unfotunately we live in the real world) we would have probably chosen Gosfield Hall. H2B loved it, but we didn't even go and look as it was completely out of our budget. I love the Barnard Suite and booked it on the spot as there is only one other wedding so far on our day and they hadn't chosen a bridal suite so we had the pick of all three.

Hello Orsett Hall brides!

Lexie0912 - just thought I'd let you know that I think Orsett Hall is very reasonably priced. We're booked to have our wedding reception there in Feb 2012 and we've been quoted under £9k for everything including room hire, reception drinks, sit down food & drink and eve buffet. Obviously food and drink prices might go up a little bit but I don't think it's going to increase that much. I think someone else on here has already said there is a £7k dry hire charge if you want to use your own caterers and that's what was written on the price list I got from them too so it does work out quite pricey if you do it that way. It's a lovely place though, love the Gold Room!!

RaeF - Please let us know how it all goes for you. You must be so excited!! Have a lovely day! ?

Cassmk2 - When are you getting married at OH?

I'm getting married at Orsett Hall on the 2nd July 2011. We booked it in April 2009 and i cannot believe that i am already under a year to go! The time has flown by and my h2b is already saying that this time next year it will all be over!! Bless him.

Seems like a blatant employee self-promotion for Friern Manor if you ask me!

I went to an evening reception at Orsett Hall and it was lovely - not long after they had reopened after the fire and the staff were fab and they've obviously spent a lot of money on the refurb...you'd probably get some gorgeous couple shots/small group shots on or by the stairs where the awesome cascading chandelier is if the weather is pants so don't worry!As my friends were due to get married the year of the fire and had to put plans on hold OH were also fab and agreed to hold all prices at pre-fire rates for them! They really did everything they could to make the day special for them.

Raef, I'm sure your 'chavvy' wedding will be much nicer than t121ace's silver spoon affair....god, I hate it when other brides think they have a divine right to slag off other bride's weddings! What a vile troll, come on here for one post and then disappear, how big of you!

xxx

Well I'm glad you have had a good experience Cocochiquita1984, always nice to hear! Are you an Essex bride too?

Lulu2012 and cassmk2 - Let me know if there's anything I can help with / supplier advice.

I'm not an Essex bride myself, I'm getting married in Rochester, Kent in September, but as H2B is from Essex originally we spend most of our time there! You're going to have a fab day I promise you!

xx

Hey!

It's amazing how quickly the time flies!!

That would be great in terms of supplier advice. My main thing at the moment is a photographer. I haven't a clue about who we should have yet (I'm hoping to find one at Orsett Hall's wedding fayre in November) but if you have any advice or recommendation on this that would be great. I was wondering if it would be a good idea to try and get someone who has taken pics at OH before, that way they will know the best spots to choose. I'd also like to ask for your advice on local florists and cake people too but I don't want to bombard you!! We probably won't start booking anything till the end of the year so if you have any time in the near future to let me know that would be great. Thanks!

Photographer wise I can definately tell you who not to go with! ?

Ours hasn't exactly been the easiest person to get hold of, and although we have a meeting with him tonight, I am still concerned he'll be a no show on the day!

Florist we have used is Cherubs Florist in Chelmsford. They did my brothers wedding flowers which were gorgeous. Very reasonable too.

Cake lady I cannot reccomend enough -her cakes are delicious and she is so friendly and helpful! Her name is Jacqui at Dream Cake Creations http://www.dreamcakecreations.co.uk/ - just yum, yum, yum!

I don't know if they're of any use to you Lulu2012 but I've used a couple of suppliers covering Essex and they've been fab from my experiences:

Make up by Kelly Hollands: http://www.kellyhollands.co.uk and her facebook group for more pics http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=94022758831&ref=ts#!/pages/Essex-UK/Make-up-by-Kelly-Hollands/177027474452?ref=ts&__a=10&ajaxpipe=1 she is also doing my wedding make up, had my trial a couple of weeks back and can post pics if you need any!

Chris Gilbert Photography: http://www.chrisgilbertphotography.co.uk and his facebook group for more pics http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=94022758831&ref=ts - was at a wedding he shot at the Reid Rooms and the pics were fab!

xx

Having attended both for charity balls, if I remember rightly they are both absoluetly lovely, but is Frern Manor not a lot smaller? and they put you in a marquee?

Whereas at Orsett Hall, you actually get to eat in the main building?

My memory may not be 100% on that. but I think I'm right and its something worth checking and considering.

S.

Thanks RaeF and Cocochiquita1984 - these links are great and I'm definately going to look these a bit more! Good luck with everything! ?

Yes that is right! I spent quite a bit of time comparing these! Yes FM is quite a bit smaller and has the marquee up for British Summertime but with Orsett Hall the rooms in the main building are a lot bigger. I've just found out H2B and me have been invited to a wedding at Friern Manor in October so I suppose I will get to see exactly what it's like soon!

> Yes that is right! I spent quite a bit of time comparing these! Yes FM is quite a bit smaller and has > the marquee up for British Summertime but with Orsett Hall the rooms in the main building are a lot > bigger. I've just found out H2B and me have been invited to a wedding at Friern Manor in October
> so I suppose I will get to see exactly what it's like soon!

Great, I'm glad that my memory is right. My personal opinion is that you can sit in a marquee anywhere. They kinda all look the same on the inside. So if you are paying out a good slice of money you really should be paying for the nice surroundings.

I also notice now that you are looking for photographers too, and this guy comes highly recommended - www.photographybyriddell.co.uk