Stirk House Hotel

It's so hard to pick just one! We had a festival style wedding once though which was out of this world. After the ceremony and wedding breakfast, everyone headed outside to where we had a stage set up with dancefloor, and different bands playing all day. There were haybales, a prosecco tent, an outside bar, and even fireworks! Once the bands finished around 10am, everyone headed inside for a silent disco in our main function suite. I'll always remember this wedding, as it was so unique and really personal to the couple.

I always advise couples to book the registrar as soon as the venue is booked, to make sure they can book a time that works for them. With this in mind, for the Winter weddings, I also recommend to not book the wedding too late. This is because it will usually start getting dark around 4pm, so we need to make sure there is enough time for photos!

Anything that is personal to the couple though, whether that is some of the decorations they have made themselves, or different kind of favours for their guests. I remember one wedding where they had photos of their parents and grandparents wedding days on a table which was so lovely. Also, one wedding had hangover kits made for guests which were put in their rooms before arrival. Such a great touch and I'm sure much appreciated by their guests!

Charming, Character, Modern, Special, Unique

It has to be the Stirk House Tree. We have a really old tree in the grounds, which has decking around it. The tree itself is huge and absolutely stunning. The views during the day from there too create the perfect backdrop for photos. Then, at night time, the whole tree lights up. We have over 5,000 lights wrapped around the trunk and right up into the branches. It really is something completely different to anywhere else. There are some photos on the profile for you to look at!

Yes, we had the actor Ross Adams who plays the character Scott Drinkwell in Hollyoaks get married at Stirk House in April 2018 to his now husband Phil. They were such a lovely couple, and often came to wedding fayres, to try the food, and Ross also had his groom shower here. On the day itself, there were many of the cast here too from the programme as guests. Both the groom shower and the wedding was also featured in OK Magazine. A very proud moment for us at the hotel!

It would have to be the mini fish and chip cones. They are so tasty!

I love cheese and onion toasties!! They are soo tasty and just what you need at the end of the night

We have a beautiful conservatory area at the hotel. It's an extension of the original building, but not quite fully attached to the wall. This has meant that the Virgina Creeper that surrounds the original building can continue to grow year round. The leaves change with the seasons, so it looks beautiful whatever the season. It creates a really nice backdrop for photos inside, if the weather is not so good outside. It also has a seating area too which is often enjoyed by wedding guests, especially during the summer. And again, we have fairy lights in here too so it also looks completely different at night all lit up!

The staff and the service they provide. The hotel is family owned, so it's not part of a corporate chain, and means we have much more flexibility than other venues without having to implement strict "do's and don'ts". The staff all work extremely closely together, and makes for an enjoyable place to work. This is reflected in the service we provide - each staff member is always going above and beyond to provide the best possible service to the customer, and this has been recognised in some of the awards we have won. We also often have comments from suppliers, about how much they enjoy working with us as a venue and a team, as we are also here to assist them and make their job easier too!