Hello again! I know I have been a little slow on posting lately, things have gotten a bit crazy recently and I when I get home late at night, I haven't been able to get myself on the computer. My to-do list is exploding with posts to write and on top of the list has been sharing our wedding venue search with you. As I had mentioned before, Beau and I are looking at getting married in England. Everyone has their opinion and we know we only moved here in September, however, we live here now and will still be here next Summer during our wedding. We feel like, why not share our new life with all of our friends and family in our new country, an English Wedding! We wrote down lists of things that were important to each of us, we thought it would be really fun to have a London city welcome reception and then bring guests out to the country for the wedding day. After I saw this sweet wedding that Mary Lee Herrington planned, I knew I wanted to take a look at The Olde Bell Inn.
On a rainy Saturday we borrowed Beau's boss' car for our first trip outside of London. I won't lie, I was a bit nervous to watch Frans drive on the other side of the road {eeekk!} but he did great and we made it safe and sound! The Olde Bell Inn is located 45 minutes outside of London in the adorable village of Hurley, near the River Thames. The Inn is a mix of multiple small inns that contain a pub, restaurant, hotel rooms, gardens, libraries and event spaces, it is pretty great. Some of the Inn dates back to 1135, you just don't find these places in the States! When we drove up, even though it was a rainy gloomy day, I was pretty in love with the adorable little inn. I kept thinking, "wow! what would our US guests think!". You can walk the entire village area in maybe 10 minutes, its pretty darn cute!
In regards to wedding spaces there are two options: The Malthouse and the Tithe Barn. The Malthouse is a Victorian Style building that also contains 14 bedrooms. It is a great location to host a rehearsal dinner, wedding brunch or after wedding late night drinks! I loved the library and could certainly envision a large kings table placed in the room with a fun family style dinner for our rehearsal.
The Malthouse also has an adorable garden area attached that you could set up lawn games or even host a cocktail reception hour on. Isn't the bright green grass pretty! Yes, England gets plenty of rain to keep our lawns fresh.
The decor around the house was like walking into a photo shoot, however, it is the real deal. Antlers on the wall, old maps, large candelabras, old books, the Malthouse is a really cool little place, I loved it.
The largest area to host a wedding is in the Tithe Barn. You can host your civil ceremony and your reception in the barn. The old wooden beamed barn has large barrel chandeliers that add a nice character to the space. I never envisioned Beau and I having a barn wedding, I have always thought we are much more of the city couple. My mind changed a bit when I kept envisioning a mix of city and country with fairy lights, a black and white checkered dance floor in the barn, and it grew on me! The Tithe Barn can seat 180 guests for a sit down dinner, not a bad size space.
These are the old streets that the Inn is located on. Fingers crossed with a little sunshine, I bet the wedding pictures would be so adorable, however, I think I may need to wear my wellies under my dress!
We took a walk around the village and I kept commenting on the small petite doors to the houses and shops. I think I might be to tall for some of these houses, wow!
Ideally we are looking for a small church near our wedding venue to have a blessing or church ceremony. St Virgin the Mary Church is located only a five minute walk from the Inn, doesn't this look like an old church in a movie!
We wandered around for a bit and I couldn't help but snap a picture of this AMAZING manor home located near the church. I almost wanted to knock on the gate and see if they would hire out their lawn for a welcome party, it was pretty fantastic!
The River Thames is just down the street from The Olde Bell Inn, guests would love a little walk and an ice cream cone from the cafe near the water on a pretty June day.
The Olde Bell Inn is certainly a pretty amazing wedding venue! I really loved it! You can have all your guests around you, there are plenty of rooms, the food was delicious and the service during our short day trip was really great. I think this is a wonderful option for a couple looking to get away from the city, however, we decided not to move forward with it because of the size of our group and we think we may keep it in London. If we did decide to leave the city for our wedding, it would be fantastic. I really loved it! I hope we can head back soon for a weekend get away!
I'll be back next week with a few more venue adventures!
xoxo~Becca
The Tithe Barn was my favorite! Good luck on the rest of your search
ReplyDeleteBarn wedding is always the best.The tithe Barn was very beautiful and amazing,the outside was cool.Most i love is the Malt house garden it was great.Looking forward for more updates.
ReplyDeleteBefore choosing wedding venues you should take advice from people around you.
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One of the most important task in Wedding is to choose affordable and best wedding venues which will be memorable for lifetime.
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Really wedding is one of the most excitement and memorable day of life for both bride and groom so select perfect wedding venues with great care to make it grant event.
ReplyDeleteI love inns that have a lot of history, and it's a bonus if the surrounding area has just as much history to boast. I also find inn weddings and receptions more romantic and intimate because of the setting. This is a beautiful venue!
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