In August 2013, aj410 said:
We had our wedding here in November 2012 and were really happy with the choice.
There are a limited number of places to choose from in the area that are able to cater for over 100 without being too much like conference centres. We chose this place because the staff seemed willing to listen to what we wanted, rather than tell us what they thoguhtwe wanted.
The night before, my bridesmaids and I had a room which was cosy but comfortable (normally a twin, but with an extra bed added) and breakfast was lovely.
The actual day itself was great, the staff did a lot of behind-the-scenes stuff I hadn't even considered. They really are experts. I was escorted to see the registrar by the manager, who calmed me down even though we were late because my dress had just broken and we were running a bit late because of needing to do an emergency repair job. The room was set out just as I had asked it to be, and it lends itself to any colour scheme because it has cream drapes on the walls and ceiling, so out green colour scheme with white flowers looked great.
The only thing wrong was I had organised the day to be evening-wear dress code, so we had the wedding as late as possible while still having just enough light for a few big photos outside. However, the mulled cyder (specific brand I wanted, which they were very accomodating in sourcing for us), was served just as we walked out of the ceremony, instead of guests being ushered outside and then offered their drinks as they came back in. I think that may have been my fault (I'm not sure), I think I may not have been clear enough about the order I wanted things done in. It worked out ok in the end because we got some nice night-time shots instead anyway. That was literally the only thing that was not how I expected. Everything else was perfect.
The food was fantastic, and they even put up with us changing the menu two weeks before the day to give choices of main instead of beef for everyone. The three mini puddings each served in oversize shot glasses went down really well I think.
We used the hotel's recommendation of DJ for the night entertainment, and a band (GM5) from the same entertainment company who have an ongong relationship with the hotel. The band were great, and the DJ did very well considering we hadn't really had contact with him beforehand to advise him of our tastes, and hadn't even chosen our last dance until the day. I just saw him when he was setting up while the room was turned around between the meal and the evening party, gave him a list of do's and don't's and we were very happy with the result.
We stayed in the Hussey Suite that evening, which was absolutely lovely. The pink curtains on the four-poster bath (yes, you read that right) might not to be everyone's taste, but the bath was huge, as was the very comfortable bed. I liked that you can see on the website the difference between the rooms in the old part of the hotel, done out with traditional heavy wood furniature, and the newer style rooms in the extention part of the hotel, to suit your choice. Before the day, the staff were happy to show us the rooms so we could see the difference, pick our own, and then advise guests. You wouldn't think so, but when we were trying to select a venue, there were some places that acted like things like that were a big ask, and like we were taking up their valuable time for asking to see the style of rooms our guests might stay in, whereas at the Hussey we were made to feel like we could take our time to make decisions and ask as many questions as we liked, and not be subjected to hard-sell or anything.
We have been back for meals in the hotel restaurant a few times since, but I would like to go back to stay there again at some point for a soecial occasion like a birthday or anniversary.
Overall we had a wonderful day. The staff couldn't have done more to help out in anything we asked for, and the food and service was spot-on. We definitely made the right choice to have our big day at the Hussey.
Source: tripadvisor.co.uk