Wedding Venues

I thought I'd post about a couple of wedding venues today.
Firstly one of my favourite places so far is Oaks Farm in Shirley, Surrey. From a photographers point of view the place is a dream, especially if the ceremony takes place in the Orangery, the light is amazing! The light in the ceremony room is always one of my biggest worries but when I first walked into this room it was like dying and going to photographers heaven! But its not just the Orangery that makes this place special, the main barn is beautiful, the gardens are fantastic with so many places to take great photos and lastly there's a cottage on the grounds which can be used by the bride and groom to get ready in and also stay the night in, as far as I'm concerned this place has it all. You do have to use outside catering and entertainment but that's not always a bad thing as not only can choose your budget but also your menu. One extra added bonus is that the couple who run the place are lovely and even let us lowly photographers traipse through their farmhouse (which is in the gardens) and up into their bedroom to get an ariel group shot! What fantastic people!

Now I have to mention my all time favourite venue, I've only been to a wedding there once and I wasn't even working....it was of course my wedding venue! The wonderful Hadlow Manor Hotel in Tonbridge. The website doesn't do this place justice, especially the beautiful gardens, you have to visit the place to see it as it is but the best thing about this place is the staff. I've been to a lot of weddings and to be honest the staff are sometimes one of the biggest let downs.....I'm very sorry but there's always one person who acts as if they have been physically forced to do the job and if they manage a smile their whole face will suddenly explode! At the opposite end of the scale there are the ermm lets say the intellectually challenged who don't even know which is the red wine and which is the white! But at Hadlow there are droves are hardworking staff buzzing around making sure everything is perfect, you only have to think about needing something and they magically appear by your side surrounded by celestial light (actually I'm being ever so slightly over dramatic here but they are wonderful)
The other huge bonus of Hadlow Manor is their amazing prices, we were on a tight/small/stingy (whatever you want to call it) budget and Hadlow Manor take care of the meal and drinks of course but also included in the price (in 2008) was a hotel room the night before and the honeymoon suite the night of the wedding, the table flowers, decorating the tables, table plan board and names places for all the guests oh and a mc...now that's what I call service!

While I'm blabbering on about my wedding I'd like to take a moment to thank Thamesis Quartet for playing beautifully, Mickey Fordola our wedding singer (and not forgetting his DJ) for being outstandingly amazing and better than I could of possible imagine and lastly but most definitely not leastly Mintyslippers who I can't even begin to thank in words that don't evolve into a 10" thick hardback book, just check out their highlights to get a small glimpse of how wonderful their work is!
Right that's it for today as I don't want another post that takes a year to read!
Lorraine.