Venues for Weddings, Naming Ceremonies, Vow Renewals and Celebrant Weddings in Didsbury and Stockport
Celebrant Weddings in Didsbury by AllyRosalie Celebrant in the Heatons, Stockport and surrounding areas.
As a new celebrant business committed to serving our lovely local community I am on a mission to find out who in the local area is providing services that allow us to celebrate all the milestones in our lives. So this is my third blog exploring our local community and where you can find all you need to celebrate life and love right on your doorstep.
A relaxed and informal atmosphere that feels high end at the same time.
SPOTLIGHT ON
Didsbury House Hotel and Eleven Didsbury Park Hotel
Owners: Eamonn and Sally O’Loughlin
Wedding Coordinator Jenny Hart
I had the pleasure of meeting Jenny the Wedding Coordinator. Now the first thing to say about any venue is, judge by who is in charge. Will they get back to you after the booking has been taken in a timely and efficient way? I have to tell you with Jenny the answer is absolutely, yes. She is brilliant. I spoke to her about what Didsbury House and Eleven Didsbury Park offers to wedding couples.
The Venue – First Impressions
This is a homely place – a home away from home where you can really relax. If you’ve booked a wedding here, you feel like the place is yours for the day and then you can share breakfast in the morning. The whole hotel has got a real authenticity to it. The lounge is so comfortable – it wouldn’t look out of place on the Titanic for me . But there is no ostentation here. The interior is tasteful and comfortable. It’s currently going through yet another refreshment to keep everything at the highest standard.
The venue doesn’t need anything adding to it as it already has a really gorgeous feel to it, and they have contacts with great venue dressers. I got the sense that this would be a pretty stress free experience.
A stress free planning experience
You don’t have to think too much at a time when you have to make so many decisions. Jenny will talk through your vision for your day- whatever that is – wedding, anniversary, naming ceremony, birthday – and recommend accordingly who would be best placed to realise it for you. I was so impressed by how quickly she got back to me. Questions are going to be answered and meetings will be organised.
Another advantage is how flexible it is. There are a number of rooms suitable for a range of occasions.
They offer BBQs, buffets and sit down dinners – so you can be as sociable as you like depending on how formal or informal you’d like to be. The buffet is at the back of the Blue Room and you can sit and relax on the terrace or in the bar, or mix it up a bit.
It is very classy but, as I said, not ostentatious. You feel comfortable the minute you walk in. You’d fit in whether you are wearing jeans or cocktail evening wear. I don’t know how it does it, but it does. Fireplaces create a cosy warmth and there’s a lovely fire out on the terrace with heaters to enjoy the evening in their gardens and there is air conditioning for the summer months to share a few drinks when people need to cool down.
What rooms are available?
Ceremony Room – great for weddings and can be decorated to your taste. I can also imagine a lovely retirement party or big anniversary happening here. The tables and chairs can be arranged as you’d like them. I’ve seen this room both with tables and without and it looks great either way.
There is a bar
The lounge- which has a dance floor
An outside terrace with heating
Eleven Didsbury Park does have the capacity for a wedding in the garden but bearing in mind we live in Manchester – it would always be wise to consider booking the Ceremony Room as the Plan B. The price includes that anyway so if the gardens were available and it was sunny – lovely.
Of course there is the capacity for all your guests to stay the night. The rooms are gorgeous- and the breakfast? Well now that is divine. I know because I’ve had breakfast there and could barely move afterwards.
Do I need a registrar or can I have a Celebrant led wedding here?
As long as you have completed the legal requirements at the registry office you can have a celebrant wedding in Didsbury House, which has no limits on time and no limits on what you can do. That is the joy of booking a celebrant. The venue is licensed by Manchester Registry Office for up to 80 for the ceremony. That means you can, if you want to, have a registrar come to you, but of course I’d always suggest a celebrant wedding- but then I would. Overall capacity is 120 so you can have more join you to celebrate long into the evening.
I was keen to ask Jenny about celebrant weddings in Didsbury House Yes, she said – it’s very open to a celebrant led wedding. Especially for the peak dates which get booked up so quickly. So if you do your legal bit in the registry office before or after, you can have a lovely personal celebrant led wedding here. Jenny said there is a lot more flexibility with a celebrant-led wedding in terms of times, personal storytelling and contributes so much to the relaxed nature of the day. As a celebrant I would only ever book in one a day so there’s no stress if times get pushed back. You can relax, knowing when you are ready, I’ll be there.
I advise couples to book really really early as the registrars get so booked up – up to 2 years in advance. It’s easier to book a slot at the office and then have your ceremony as you like it. Even with a celebrant led wedding. Registrars can do the legal bit either at the venue or a couple of days before at the Registry office and then the main ceremony can go can go ahead at the venue.
What will it cost me?
Well that depends on the time of year and the day, which it does everywhere.
On a Saturday in August with 27 bedrooms and 50 guests having a reception drink, 3 course meal, wine and evening food would come at the £15,000 package. But the bedrooms get sold back to the guests and you can get back about £4000 from that. £150 per room plus breakfast.
However on a wet Wednesday in November that would come down significantly so it’s worth thinking about. The price does not go up during school holidays. So – teachers be aware of that! That’s not something that happens often for you.
Fridays and Saturdays and bank holidays are the most popular so book early- although Jenny said that Thursdays in August are also popular.
Can you book it without the bedrooms?
The venue is for exclusive use for Friday Saturday Sundays. You can just hire the boardroom for smaller events but if there’s availability. If you want a low key dinner and drinks for a few people and a wedding breakfast you can just hire the Blue Room, which comes at a significantly lower rate which may surprise you.
If you are a resident they also do a gorgeous afternoon tea with vintage crockery and silver platters in keeping with the surroundings. It’s not something available for non residents but what a treat for the next day after celebration.
What are the values that underpin the business?
This is important to me as a Celebrant. I want to work with really good people and great organisations who have their business run on ethical values. I know it matters to a lot of people. It always gives me reassurance to know that the people I am trusting with the biggest day of my life, are people who are ethical and fair minded and really care about the couples as people and not just clients.
It is clear that this is a really ethically fair place. I was really impressed by the owners’ focus on their couples to postpone the date at no extra charge during the pandemic and refunding deposits. They spent a lot of time looking at how to make the guidelines work for everyone. They were working with each couple to give them the bespoke solution they needed. To that end it’s also noticeable the staff are happy in their job because they are treated well. Jenny has been here for 10 years and that says a lot.
Inclusivity is very important to me so I asked Jenny about this.
As a venue they are favourably listed on G wedding Directory Civil partnerships and welcome weddings and civil partnerships. I’d love to do a civil partnership ceremony here actually.
They accommodate people with additional needs and have careful negotiations about how to best cater for each need. They have had weddings with signers and have full access for wheelchair users with a side ramp and a room with access with no stairs. There is a screen at the back of the Ceremony Room that can be used- either for visuals or of course, the script of the wedding can also be projected on.
There is a sound system for playing music so you could bring your playlist on your phone, but no looping system as yet. You can of course also have a band and DJs to dance the night away your way.
Dogs for the ceremony and photos are allowed. Good news for those of you including your fur baby in the ceremony.
My overall conclusion.
This is a lovely venue, which feels like a high end venue that’s not out of reach and one that I’d fully recommend. Go and have a look. I think you’ll be impressed. Oh and don’t forget to hire me as your celebrant! I always offer discounts for all ceremonies for NHS workers, teachers and residents of the Heatons.
Contact: Jenny Hart, Wedding Coordinator
Didsbury House Hotel and Eleven Didsbury park
E: events@didsburyhousehotel.co.uk
T: 0161 448 2200
Eleven Didsbury Park
T: 0161 448 7711
Contact AllyRosalie Celebrant for Celebrant weddings in Didsbury, Stockport and surrounding areas.
T: 07785360404
Website: allyrosaliecelebrant.com
Discounts available for NHS workers, Teachers, Residents of the Heatons, Stockport
Contact me: allyrosaliecelebrant.com for more information.
