We had news last week that my family doesn’t want a wedding in Spain. It is brilliant news as it will take lots of pressure off my shoulders, but it also brings on one major problem: Where to accommodate so many Spanish guests?
Foxhills would have been okay in this respect, as they have a hotel, but their prices are so prohivitive that it would have made the whole thing very expensive. And Silvermere doesn’t even have accommodation, the nearest hotel being a Hilton and we already know that they are not particularly cheap.
So we kept on looking on other options and I came across Gorse Hill, a big hotel in Woking that have only recently got a marriage licence and are offering great “exclusivity” offers for this year.
It’s quite a big house, although not the ostentatious type (certainly nothing like Foxhills). It’s nicely decorated (it would have Tito Pepe seal of approval) and it feels cosy without feeling cramped. The most important bit is that they have 50 hotel rooms that will come very handy when we have to accommodate so many overseas guests!
We went in today to have a nose around and had the chance to speak to the wedding coordinator. He told us all the story about having just received the licence to hold civil ceremonies about 3 months ago, but unfortunately the £3,000 all inclusive package advertised in their website is only valid for weddings this year. And there’s no way we could organise a wedding in less than a year! But it doesn’t look like it’s going to be much more expensive anyway. Another good point is that it looks like we are going to be able to choose the date that we want (06.06.09) for the wedding, as they’re not getting many reservations this in advance. We will be popping around on Wednesday evening again with Jon’s parents to talk figures and to have another look around the rooms and facilities, so we will know pretty soon if we have a venue or not!
Countdown to the wedding! – “What’s in a name?” »« Countdown to the Wedding! – “On choosing a venue”
I loved gorse hill, it felt very comfortable and friendly, and certainly ticks all of my boxes.
It sounds like good value and everythign we need. The only remaing points to clarify are:
1) Boardroom for wedding ceremony – we need to see this and check that it will be suitable.
2) bridal suite – we havent seen it yet and must check that it is going to be suitable!!!
But from my point of view, it is a comfy homely venue with all the photo opportunites we need and it should be really great fun for us and the guests!!!
Looking forward to it !!!! 
xxx J
