written by marciaweekes on 30/11/2022
This review is a tale of two halves which gives an overall experience we had for our wedding in September 2022. The venue is stunning - that is not in question. The on-the-ground team were amazing and did all they could to make our day special. We had the best two days at Gosfield Hall and a very emotional and beautiful wedding. Our wedding coordinator, is a credit to Gosfield Hall - her attention to detail, support for us and our guests, humour, and care was exceptional. We hope Gosfield Hall / Country House Weddings recognise this. Others have been exceptional since we booked our wedding in the summer of 2019 (unfortunately, due to Covid, we had to rearrange dates twice), but they have since left the organisation. However, whilst the on-the-ground team were exceptional, the management of Gosfield Hall left a lot to be desired. Please be cautious if you are looking to book your wedding with them, and ensure you read the terms and conditions thoroughly before you pay any deposit. I recommend you sit and review it with one of their onsite teams to ensure absolute clarity. They will aim to use the terms and conditions against you, if not during the planning stage of your wedding, then post the wedding. They tried to make us pay nearly £7,000 to move our wedding date from 2021 to 2022 but soon changed their mind once we outlined the legal advice we had been given. They also, post the wedding, levied a charge for a missing umbrella and a room key (which, in the grand scheme of what we paid for the venue, is minuscule). We had no awareness of the provision of umbrellas and that there was no rain; therefore, no need to use an umbrella during our event seemed lost on the venue management. The room key (which we were aware of) had been returned the following week rather than on the day of check-out. We recommend you walk the site with your wedding coordinator, asking them to point out what potentially 'missing items' you could be held liable for at the start of your stay. Without a doubt, the most disappointing aspect of our engagement was the receipt of an email from the venue manager intended for the previous night's wedding party, where charges were levied due to what was claimed to be evidence of smoking in four rooms. The email went on to state the following: "Unfortunately we are going to have to charge you as we were unable to use the rooms for Friday's wedding as the smell was so strong." Initially, this was confusing as our wedding was on Friday, and all rooms were fully booked. Furthermore, the groom and best man got ready for the wedding ceremony in one of the rooms that could not be used, and there was no noticeable smell of cigarette smoke which would have been evident to us as non-smokers. We became aware that the venue management of Gosfield Hall is willing to knowingly make false statements to justify the levy charges to clients, so we were not surprised when we received our levies. We escalated our concerns about their communication and charges to Country House Wedding Directors. Their initial response did not answer our queries, so we followed up and requested a more thorough response. Although these levies were subsequently refunded, and we were offered a complimentary meal and stay, which we declined, we are yet to receive a response to our second communication to them and have now waited three weeks for an answer. We do not believe this will be forthcoming. So, in summary, beautiful venue with a fantastic on-the-ground team but poor management and leadership who will try to get more monies from you for incorrect, missing items or interpretations of their loosely worded terms and conditions, which means we are unable to recommend this venue.
written by Megaylor on 16/11/2022
Please be careful when booking this venue and the other venues they own. They will tell you there Is only one date left and they have loads of viewings booked. You will pay a premium price for then a few months later to see “all remaining dates” reduced. It’s very misleading sales techniques. My advice is to please have a look at the offers they do which they release up to 7 months before. It could save you thousands. Also when you book they ask if you want to book rooms make sure you say no and add them on after you received your booking confirmation that way you can cancel up to 30 days. If you book at the beginning they say you cannot cancel them. (This is 7 months in advance) I wasn’t told this and was just asked a bunch of questions by a sales lady and then sent these conditions after. Either way get them to send you the terms and conditions before paying any money or answering the questions they ask that way you may not be stuck. Manager and staff are so rude and very unhelpful.
written by Ibrahim397 on 07/09/2016
Beautiful venue and surroundings. A real shame about some of the staff and the poor customer service. They made things so stressful for us the day before, as well as shrugging off a complaint after the wedding. If you're paying to stay at the Rocco (honeymoon) suit just make sure you can actually have a shower the next day! The stand in manager emailed us and accused us of lying and that she had checked with her staff and it wasn't missing, even though we sent them a picture we took that morning! Customer service is awful.
written by YazminLeblanc on 15/01/2016
Most of my day was great and was only let down by the front of house manager that was assigned to us. I would get in a toastmaster to make sure your day goes ok. Major plus points: + Ok value for money considering the quality of the food and being able to have the whole day there (i chose to have my ceremony elsewhere). + Bar staff are absolutely fantastic. They get to know your drinks and there was never a wait for the bar. + Serving staff were also great. + Quality of the food. You couldn't get better. Negatives: + Front of house manager kept on going missing and we knew her timetable better than she did. + The bathrooms mostly consists of baths and it takes forever to heat up so no chance for you or your guests to have a nice shower before or after the event. To be honest our day would have been perfect if we were assigned a better person for the day. Toastmaster would have been a bloody good investment!
written by joedog on 28/08/2015
Wow what can I say as a mother of the bride. FAB-U-LOUS. Thank you to the person I dealt with and all her staff for showing everyone what a real wedding is all about, soooooooo professional. All our guests commented on the beautiful surrounding the amazing food and staff. God bless you all for making my daughters wedding day so special xx
written by GideonVelez on 12/02/2015
I stayed in the Grand Salon Suite, which looks lovely on the website. The main twin bedroom is lovely and the twin is ok but the bathroom only has a bath, there is no shower and the toilet flush is loud enough to wake everyone. Not acceptable at the price. Also another gripe was that the dance floor was very small and the bar closed at 1am on our New Years Eve party! Some questionable meat served up at he wedding breakfast but on the whole the food was average. Other than that it is a lovely old building in a great location.
written by on 13/12/2014
It was a fairy tale wedding, the venue was amazing, the staff were amazing, my room was amazing, the food was amazing! U could not rate it any other than 10/10 I would strongly reccomend! The whole day was perfect.
written by ugly on 07/09/2012
We were lucky enough to be invited to a work colleagues wedding ...and it was FABULOUS....not only did we have a glorious sunny day the setting was amazing.wonderfully manicured lawns awsome tubs and hanging baskets. Our meal was delicious the staff were happy and efficient and the accommodation was smart classy and clean....If I were to be married I would not hesitate to book this venue...I do not know the cost...but from my point of view it was 10 out of 10 all round....thanks for the memories
written by Steve1705 on 07/11/2011
A great venue,location excellent,our personal wedding planner second to non,food good,rooms very good,all in all a great place to geat married untill you get the extras taken out of your £600 retention money. Be awhere read everything that is sent to you from Gosfield Hall,when you go and review all the opptions avalable take a dictor phone with you and tape everything that is said,we asked for a jug of orange juice a long with the welcome drinks for the only 2 children that were there,cost £10.98 for 2 litres of orange consentrate,£3 at Tesco's. Nothing was said at the meeting about bottled water on the tables durring the meal,had something been said we would have requested jugs of iced water,cost £71 for 14 half litre bottles. After speaking to the head office 4 times each time talking to someone different and being told a member of staff will ring us back I am still waiting for the return call.. An excellent place to get married if you do your homework.
written by on 12/05/2010
a good venue for a wedding but it is not cheap - especially their house wine that starts at c.£30 a bottle!!
Food was very good and all guests loved it.
Rooms are nice, but again expensive so better to stay elsewhere. Its not close to anywhere though so they have a captive market i guess.
Last minute deals are good value (if you can get a date that is reasonable, not always easy) though.
written by on 25/04/2010
Completely agree with the last two reviews. We booked one of their last minute deals and in all honesty, the day couldn't have been more perfect if we'd had a year to plan.
The venue is breathtaking - and the bridal suite is simply palacial - our guests were staggered when they saw it and I am just gutted that we can't go back and stay there again! We literally fell in love with the place the minute we walked through the door and both outside and in make an utterly beautiful backdrop for photos which is great if the weather is poor.
Our front of house manager, Emma, was the epitomy of professionlism and the whole day was organised beautifully by helpful, courteous staff. The food was tasty and plentiful, our cake (made on site) was fabulous and even the breakfast the next morning was cooked to perfection.
We hired out most of the bedrooms and this is a real bonus as it means everyone can stay on site, relax and really let their hair down. We've had so many positive comments about our day and I really can't fault anything about Gosfield and would whoel heartedly recommend it to anyone getting married.
written by on 18/04/2010
My daughter was married at Gosfield Hall in October and we had a magical day we will remember for ever. I fully concur with the Ellis's review. We and all the guests had an absolute brilliant day and we had a live band in the room provided, although the dancing spread out into the bar at times. We also had use of all the rooms and booked all available bedrooms for our guests. Jan our Front of House Manager was excellent and ensured the day went smoothly and was available until midnight for any queries etc. I would certainly recommend this venue and if you can get a late deal, which unfortunately we didn't as we booked a year in advance, it is excellent value for money.
written by Mr and mrs Ellis on 29/12/2009
Well we ACTUALLY got married here!!! (unlike the VERY incorrect review before this!! Who hadn't!!)
We booked our wedding on the 12th November 2009 to get married on the 16th December 2009!! So this was just under 5 weeks to arrange the whole thing!! This was the most AMAZING AND FANTASTIC place that we ever dream t of getting married in!! Our front of house manager Jan was BRILLIANT!! She was so supportive and was there day or night if we had any worries or queries on the run up to the day, and was fabulous on the day too!! As was the rest of the staff, so happy and friendly and professional too!.
All of our guests have commented how our wedding was like a fairy tale, and said how amazing the place was. Even a few relatives that travel a lot to 5* hotels and wonderful places round the world, said how perfect it was!!Ive had loads of people tell me that it was one of the best weddings they had ever been too! So much so one couple have now booked their wedding their too. The honeymoon suite was outstanding as was the other rooms too!! The food was to die for in both the wedding breakfast and buffet and the breakfast the morning after. There was so much of it and it was beautiful!!It was the most amazing day of our lives thanks to Jan and the staff and the amazing place that is Gosfield Hall, Also the pretty Christmas feel and a perfect end to our wonderful winter wedding with a flutter of snow!! We would recommend this place to ABSOLUTELY EVERYBODY!! There is just not enough words to say how special it was and we want to shout from the roof tops about this amazing wedding venue!!!!!!!! PLEASE DO NOT BELIEVE THE BAD REVIEWS ITS JUST PERFECT!!!!
Written on: 09/03/2011
This review is spot on!!! The whole day is truly magical for both the couple getting married and guests. I consider myself lucky enough to have been a guest quite recently and it really was the BEST wedding I have ever attended.So much attention was paid to detail and it is extremely well organised. The food was fabulous, the staff were extremely friendly and knew their stuff and the rooms (stay over if you can!!!)were beautiful, clean and very comfortable. Fabulous setting - lovely for photos and brilliant disco in the evening. If you want a memorable and very special wedding then this (or one of their other Country house venues)HAS to be the place. I can honestly say - all who attended will remember this for some considerable time to come. Fabulous!
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Briwhite's Comment
Written on: 29/01/2019
Wish we had never booked at Gosfield Hall. Kept all my daughters money of £4250 when she had to cancel giving 7 months notice. When complained said it’s only penny’s why are you worried. Well £4250 is a fortune to my daughter. Avoid at all cost. Lovely when you book. But once they have your money. Could not care less. Spoke to loads of customers who have been ripped off by this company. Save your money xx