Venues for Weddings in Bracknell

My best friend got engaged recently, and I was just overjoyed that she asked me to be not only a Bridesmaid, but a Maid of Honour! What a privilege; we've been best friends since we met in the playground at the age of 5, and while other friends have come and gone, we've always been there for each other. I think her sister was a bit miffed that I got the honour but never mind, hey..!

I knew one of my duties as being Maid of Honour was to organise the hen party. I have had lots of time to think about this - always knowing that I was going to be involved - so I already had plenty of great ideas. What I wasn't expecting is that the Bride wanted my help in choosing the Wedding venue! Her job often requires her to work evenings and weekends so asked if I would go and check out venues for Weddings for her, and then she would go and see the ones I liked. She knew she could trust my judgement, and her fiancé was able to accompany me on occasion too.

Both the Bride and Groom's families are very local, and being real family people they were both keen to have a local wedding to ensure that everybody could come. So I was pretty much limited to looking at venues for weddings in Bracknell.. Now I wasn't exactly spoilt for choice. A lot of the Wedding venues in Bracknell double up as conference centres, with the emphasis being on conference centre.  I knew this was not the sort of atmosphere my best friend would like, so I carried on my search and looked for something a bit different.

After taking many wasted trips to conference centres (isn't the Bride lucky she didn't have to waste her time doing that!) I found the perfect Wedding venue in Bracknell. Just north of Bracknell and near to Ascot, lies Stirrups Country House Hotel. This bespoke 19th century property has been beautifully renovated, keeping aspects of its original Tudor origins while bringing it up to date with modern features and fittings. Every element of the Hotel is just ideal for creating the perfect atmosphere, and being licensed for Civil Ceremonies it means that the whole day can take place there - no need for the family to travel far and wide!

I was completely sold after one trip there and urged the Bride and Groom to both go at their first opportunity. They arranged to visit this perfect Wedding venue in Bracknell that was hiding away, and fell in love with it instantly as I had done. They met with the Events Organiser and paid their deposit within a week of my first visit. Both she and I couldn't believe that I had managed to find this wonderfully perfect venue for a Wedding in Bracknell, never has a Maid of Honour outdone her duties so well!

Mother’s Day Lunch/ Mother’s Day Meal

Every year I treat my Mum to a special lunch on Mothering Sunday. I’ve tried cooking it in the past, but trust me, it’s much more of a treat when I take her out! She appreciates the effort I put in taking her out, but that doesn’t stop her from finding little niggles to complain about. I swear, this woman is impossible to please! 

I tried many places over the years for our Mother’s Day Lunch, but I found it hard to please my mum in every aspect of the day. If the food was nice then she didn’t like the setting, if she liked the setting she didn’t like the staff, if she liked the staff the food was a let down... Like I said she is simply impossible to please! I don’t know why I kept trying, but I’m so glad I did persist in my search to find the perfect venue, because I did find it. And the woman, who was impossible to please, suddenly had nothing to complain about. 

We’ve now been having our Mother’s Day meal at Stirrups Country House Hotel every year for the last 3 years, and it’s something Mum looks forward to as soon as March begins! The setting is simply beautiful; a country house hotel set in the Berkshire countryside, close to Windsor, Ascot and Bracknell. With perfectly manicured lawns and gardens the spring flowers are a delight to see, while the atmosphere and service from the staff is simply unrivalled. Everybody is so friendly and wanting to go out of their way to make everyone’s Mother’s Day lunch exceptional. And the food, well what can I say... It is always expertly cooked and you know you can rely on it to be delicious every time. 

With all of this combined, our Mother’s Day meals at Stirrups Country House Hotel are always a joy and completely surpass my Mum’s expectations. And now that she has nothing to complain about, spending quality time together is all the more a nice experience! 

Stirrups Hotel- 2013 Valentine’s Breaks

I am a big romantic at heart, so when it comes to Valentine’s Day I really like to go all out to show my loved one just how much they mean to me. I know, I know, I could do that any day of the year... But there’s just something special about the 14th February. It’s the combination of the cold and often snowy weather that just encourages you to get cuddling, and offers and discounts on chocolates and wine from the beginning of February which I take full advantage of in the lead up to Valentine’s Day, perfect to put you in a good mood!

My partner and I have been together for 9 years now, and each Valentine’s Day has been special in its own way. Quite often we’d just go out for dinner or take a day trip, and most thought would go into the gifts we gave each other. But this year, 2013, I wondered if I could combine the gift with the outing on a special Valentine’s Break. I fancied a night away in a romantic hotel, just the two of us. I wanted a peaceful location, a friendly and intimate atmosphere, good food and wine – all for a good price. 

I started doing some research and found that many hotels in the Windsor & Ascot area were offering packages for 2013 Valentine’s Breaks, but the best one I found that was perfect for us, was at Stirrups Country House Hotel. This country house hotel is the perfect countryside retreat, in a tranquil and romantic setting. Their package offered for 2013 Valentine’s Breaks is a fantastic deal; Dinner, Bed & Breakfast for £160.00, including a bottle of Champagne and Chocolates in the room on arrival! I paid to upgrade to a Junior Suite – with a 4 poster bed! There’s nothing more romantic than a 4 poster bed... This sorted the outing, gift and thought, all in one special combination.

I’ve managed to arrange all of this without my partner knowing, he thinks we’re just going out for dinner to our favourite local restaurant. I can’t wait to surprise him with our special Valentine’s Break to Stirrups Country House Hotel!

Modern Wedding Venue

My wife and I recently attending a wedding at a large country house hotel in Surrey.  From the outside, it was truly stunning – the manicured lawns, trimmed hedges and far reaching views made it a truly spectacular site!  Though large on the outside, the interior was in a layout that worked perfectly in the 1800’s as someones home, but somewhat fell short as a wedding venue.  Due to horizontal rain that weekend, the reception drinks had been moved inside.  As the wedding breakfast was set up in the main banqueting hall, the reception drinks were held in the rather narrow hallway (not ideal considering that there were 100 of us!)!

Due the slightly cramped conditions, we joined a few others on a light meander around the hotels other downstairs public rooms.  Though I can understand in that in an old building, antique furniture and faded chairs and sofas add a certain charm, when there are actually rips in the said chairs and sofas and the carpet and curtains are actually stained, shabby chic becomes a lot less chic and a lot more shabby!  In a recession I can understand that venues are restricted on their refurbishing budgets but for a premium venue charging premium prices, I did feel the outdated decor did let it down.  Obviously they get people to see through the mess under the ruse of character, a bit of modernising wouldn’t go amiss.

Having visited Stirrups Country House Hotel at the beginning of the year, you can see straight away what a difference spending on the fabric of the building makes.  Though an old Country House, the owners have stylishly upgraded it to the 21st century to give the whole wedding venue a modern feel but without losing the character.  For example, this more modern wedding venue has recently refurbished their main function suite and the modern tartan pattern offsets beautifully with the large oak beams to create a large but truly intimate space for a civil ceremony or wedding breakfast.  Likewise with large manicured gardens surrounding the property, you don’t lose out on the wonderful countryside vistas for photos.  It just goes to prove you can be a Country House Hotel and a modern wedding venue – they are not mutually exclusive!

Luxury Wedding Venues

Your wedding day is one of the most important and special days of your life, and it should run just how you want it. After all, it may be one of the only days where everything can be all about you. It's the opportunity to completely spoil yourself and cater everything to how you like it. An important contributing factor to this is being able to find the right Wedding Venue, ultimately you will be spending most of your day there so it needs to be perfect.

If you're looking for a luxury WeddingVenue to fulfill your dreams of your special day, Stirrups Country House Hotel could be the venue for you. An exquisite country house tucked in the beautiful Berkshire countryside, Stirrups offers everything you'd expect from a luxury Wedding Venue. From personal attention from your experienced and doting wedding co-ordinator to the sumptuous 4-poster Honeymoon Suite, Stirrups has all the attention to detail you need to make your day luxurious. Your wedding will always be the only one in the hotel that day so there is no chance of being overshadowed or interrupted by another wedding party, all the attention will be lavished on you!

Sip champagne on the extensive manicured lawns while having your photographs taken by the elegant water feature, before moving through to your Wedding Breakfast which will have been laid up with thoughtfulness and consideration. Tailor a 4 course menu to suit your desires and you can create a bespoke dining experience for you and your guests. This luxury Wedding Venue will spoil you and make you feel cared for and special. What more could you ask for!

This Wedding Venue proves that luxurious doesn't have to mean extravagant. Keeping to its traditional style, Stirrups makes you feel welcome and at home, with all the luxurious finishing touches you desire for your perfect wedding day. 

Accommodation in Berkshire

I am in charge of a charity gala ball to raise money for children in need. Sounds simple enough right? No! Not if the event is taking place in the UK with all the key guests coming from around the world. Now, not only did I have to find a venue suitable to host the Black Tie Gala Dinner we were after, I needed a place for all our overseas guests to stay.

Obviously working on a budget, to optimist the amount of money raised for a charity I needed to keep a close eye on costs. Thankfully my boss had decided to offer a helpful hand and choose the venue. Great! I now knew the area in which we would be in. Not being from the UK this was a hard task I had. Accommodation in Berkshire is what I had to go on. The internet didn’t really prove to be very useful. It searched up all sorts and I honestly did not have the time to pick through all the results with a fine tooth comb. Where could I go that would help? Tourist information! Why hadn’t I thought of it sooner! They must have had this sort of this on many occasion and would definitely be able to help.

Once I contacted them and told them my situation they were all more than happy to help me. This is why they existed! Accommodation in Berkshire for overseas guests travelling with their families to attend a Charity event in Windsor. That’s all I was after!

I needed something that would appeal to people coming from large cities, something that would show off the Berkshire country side, yet still be close to local attractions and London.

The ladies at the tourist board we, lack of a better word, outstanding! They were so efficient in finding contact details, prices, locations and facilities of all the Berkshire accommodation that fell under what I was looking for.

Finally – a short list. Names of hotels that I could give to our guests. It was their own responsibility to arrange their accommodation, but they needed a head start. And what I had was definitely one.
I had all the information on accommodation in Berkshire I could have written a book! Thankfully this wasn’t on my agenda.

What I thought was going to be an awful task, finding suitable accommodation in an area I had no experience with was daunting. After all that worry it was a walk in the park. Accommodationin Windsor, Berkshire is easy and accessible and after the event I had suburb feedback from our overseas guests, especially about a little gem they found called Stirrups County House Hotel.

A Luxury Hotel in Ascot

40 years of marriage with one of the most romantic men anyone could ask for, what could I do in return that could even slightly compare to all the magical things that have been done for me. I pictured it.... a romantic setting in the heart of Berkshires rolling countryside. A rural setting, log fires, old buildings with character, peaceful surroundings, cosy furnishings, manicured gardens, this is what I wanted. I wanted to feel as if I was going back in history so what better area to choose than one with lots of History itself. I was looking for a Luxury Hotel in the surrounding areas of Ascot and Windsor where I could nestle down and enjoy the countryside or venture out slightly and enjoy the delights of Berkshire and its best features. Perhaps we would enjoy a day at the races, at the long famous Ascot Racecourse, or maybe a day at Windsor Castle, exploring the enchanted way the long past royal members have lived. Finally deciding on a location I could start to narrow it down and look for a Luxury Hotel in Ascot.

There were so many to choose from, suddenly I felt daunted. So many names and reviews! Stirrups Country House Hotel seemed to feature often. I wondered what was so special about this Hotel, why were they soaring above the rest? What secret ingredient had they got their hands on.  With so many Luxury Hotels in Ascot, all having the same access to local features and amenities why was Stirrups standing so high above the rest? I’ve always been one for taking chances, I did no more research and booked a four night stay at Stirrups Hotel, just from the first impact this Hotel had on me. Well, what a delight! As a very comfortably retired couple we have stayed in many Luxury Hotels and this exceeded our expectations in so many ways. Defiantly modest when rating themselves. A home away from home. We were lucky enough to enjoy a day at the Ascot racecourse. Champagne flowing whilst the sun set over the course, catching the dust kicked up from galloping race horses. We felt like Kings and Queens drizzled in luxury. Ascot Village itself is an absolute treasure to come across. Historic buildings line the high street, glittered with small cafes and patisseries. The bustle in the morning was energetic yet calming as everyone enjoyed their start to the day, a true community with heart.

Stirrups Hotel really do themselves proud. A fantastic location! Equidistant from major key attractions, all with total ease of access.  We were both completely delighted with what we had stumbled across and would return to the Berkshire area again without hesitation, and most defiantly to Stirrups. Highly recommended by ourselves, I feel Stirrups to be the truest of Luxury Hotels in Ascot as it has all you would expect and so much more.
Trust your instincts, I’m glad I did!