Last Drop Village Hotel, Bolton, Lancashire

When looking for a wedding venue last year we were somewhat amazed that we could actually afford somewhere as nice as the Bolton Last Drop Village. Although it is a 4-star facility, the price came in only a couple of hundred pounds higher than a 3-star facility up the road, owned by the same company, MacDonald Hotels. Needless to say, we were thrilled.

The Last Drop Village is perched atop a hotel in Bolton and overlooks the city, giving a lovely view for photographs. It has 3 different function rooms and a license to hold civil ceremonies (as well as a lovely room in which to do it). The facility itself was top notch - we had our wedding breakfast and reception in a separate building from the hotel with a deck with stunning views of the skyline. The service and the food were fantastic and the staff were very helpful and quite happy to cope with stressed-out brides phoning up constantly with silly questions and strange requests. When we had to cancel a table 5 days before the wedding because one of our guests had fallen ill (and his family needed to be with him in hospital) they asked no questions and actually refunded us money even though we were past the date on which we could cancel or change the numbers.

Overall we had a lovely day which the staff at the Last Drop made easy to plan. They were very adaptable in terms of menus. They were forthcoming with suggestions for decorations and in recommending florists and cake-makers (although we ended up finding our own) and seriously reduced the stress of planning. As for the day itself, it ran on schedule and without a single hitch. And even though we ended up having to book an early ceremony because the registrar was quite busy (11am!! ack!) the scale of the facilities - 2 bars, a tea shop, a bookshop and a souvenier shop - meant that our guests had plenty to do between the wedding breakfast and the evening reception.

I cannot recommend the venue more highly.