Buxted Park Hotel, Uckfield
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Weddings at Buxted Park Hotel, Uckfield.
Here in the heart of Sussex, this magnificent Georgian Palladian mansion set in 312 acres of superb parkland roamed by fallow deer and traversed by the River Uck has played host to the rich and famous for centuries.
Everyone expects their wedding to be special – At Buxted Park you’ll wish your day will last forever.
Every wedding at Buxted Park is as unique as the couple celebrating their special day with us. Every detail will be crafted around your precise requirements, ensuring your day is exactly as you imagined.
We’ll make suggestions and we’ll offer ideas, but most importantly we’ll listen closely to what you want. We will then help you to plan the wedding you’ve always dreamed of having.
In a beautiful house and setting such as Buxted Park , the possibilities are endless, regardless of the season. You can have a small intimate celebration, or the grandest of affairs, taking over the entire house exclusively for your very own country house party.
Buxted,
Uckfield, East Sussex TN22 4AY
T: 0845 072 7412
F: 0845 072 7413
buxtedpark@handpicked.co.uk
Filed Under: Sussex
As soon as we drove through the eagle-headed gates of Buxted Park, we knew we would be getting married there. The fountained understated front entrance actually looks like it should be the back and vice versa as the back of the building with its’ columns and rolling views across the lawn and beyond across the grounds is spectacular. It really has to be seen to be believed as the photo’s on their website don’t do it justice.
Inside, is also something special. we understood it had undergone a multimillion pound re-furb and this had been done in a style similar the Malmaison chain where by they had managed to make it look modern yet totally authentic, think marble, leather, velvet etc. The bedrooms we very nicely furbished, and each of the suites were breath taking. We had the Winston Churchill Suite which had a marble bathroom bigger then most peoples gardens, a walk-in wardrobe (for the bride-we also booked this room the night before for me to get ready in with the bridesmaids), chairs, sofas, and of course a huge bed. Some, like the Queen Mary even had a separate sitting room!
We had hired Buxted Park on an exclusive basis which meant that we got all 44 rooms (they had lots of ground floor/ disabled friendly rooms) and so could have our nearest and dearest stay over on the wedding night (some like mother-of-the-bride, chief bridesmaid etc also stayed the night before) This was fab as it meant that A. people didn’t have to worry about looking for a hotel or in our case because we treated people to the rooms, having the extra cost of paying out for one, and B. it meant that the older members of our families could pop back to their rooms should they need a little nap or to retire early-this was especially great for my Grandad who had recently had a heart attack and had to go to bed after the meal (we arranged for his dessert and coffee to be taken to his suite).
Exclusive hire of Buxted park is, in our opinion, an absolute must if you are not from the local area as unlike everywhere else we looked at you could have the ceremony through to disco all under the same roof so there were no weather restrictions and we didn’t have to worry about the wheelchair bound or mobility challenged members of family travelling too far (at Syon House this involved carrying wheelchairs down stairs and a trek along a gravel path to the conservatory-totally unsuitable!)
We got married in The Orangery (different rooms held different numbers) which was a lovely long white conservatory/orangery with stone floor and a mirror on the facing wall which was great because it reflected back to the congregation everything that was happening and in turn WE could watch their happy faces. Incidentally, the women from Crowborough Registry Office who performed the ceremony were very nice, friendly and seemed genuinely pleased to be sharing our special day). Once the register had been signed we walked up the isle togther to our chosen music (‘All You Need is Love’ by The Beatles) and we all headed outside where Pimms were served (for the non-alcoholic option we had Virgin Mojito’s) in the sun and we were whisked off by our photographer (David Freeman). The building makes a fabulous back drop, we chose the coloumed balcony for my family and the grounds as the back drop for my husband’s as they we more in number.
Afterwards, we went into The Ballroom a spectacular chandeliered red and cream room where the speeches and wedding breakfast were held. We had wonderful wine (chosen at Buxted park Wedding Fair with help of the brilliant sommelier Alex) and lovely food (Warm Salad of Confit duck with Garlic Croutons and Hoisin Vinagrette/Roast Rump of Sussex Lamb truffeld Sweet Potato and Rosemary Jus (this was an amalgamation of the two dishes we liked)/Homemade Lemon Tart with Blackcurrent Sorbet) We had left it to Buxted Park to decorate the tables and they looked fabulous (we had Arum lilies on each table courtesy of our florist Julia Crosthwaite at The Flower Studio who also put tea lights along the fire hearths, and we had hired plain white chair covers so in our instance the plain but classy table arrangement worked well. After the meal we wondered through the houses other rooms inc 2 bars (the Crystal Bar one temporary) and a large comfy sitting room (The Coat of Arms Room) after taking cup cakes and tea/coffee in The Orangery, whilst the band (The Sugar Hill Jazz Band) set up in the Ballroom. I believe the DJ (Ian from Disco Fever) also set up his equipment at the same time.
Suzanne (who is EXCELLENT) had been our Venue Co-ordinator/wedding planner but for the day Lisa was on hand to announce us to the room (for dinner/dance) and generally make sure everything ran smoothly and we had requested that Mark ( a stylish Frenchman) was the Floor Manager for the day as he was very professional (even wheeling round my uncle-in-law when the wheelchair-lift key went missing (our only real complaint)and giving my husband a Havana Cuban cigar to replace the one he had “Ha! That is not a cigar!” He said “THIS is a cigar!!” All of the staff were really good up to the point that you didn’t really notice them (which must be the sign of good training). One of the chambermaids even put my mum’s fascinator in for her and they were good natured even tho a handful of us were in the bar til gone 3am!
As well as all the other rooms they had a reasonable sized cinema in which we had playing a disc of pictures of us growing up to entertain the guests. This was something which we completely forgot about what with all the other things to think about so i would recommend announcing it over the meal so that nobody misses it or having a poster printed for outside the cinema announcing what’s being shown-It was a good way to break up the evening and get different groups of people mixing together. If you had a high proportion of children at your do (we didn’t!) it would also be ideal for cartoons to keep them entertained.
At 9pm we had BBQ food (we had requested this instead of lasagna/chilli etc or finger food) and then my husband had arranged as a surprise, a firework display at the back of the house which just rounded off the day part of the proceedings nicely. We had a late licence til 1am for the disco, and afterwards those who were still up (a surprising number of people) chatted in the Coat of Arms Room and drank in the Crystal Bar.
The next morning we all met for a fabulous Full English Breakfast buffet style (plus cereals, fruits, pastries etc) in The Orangery and those who could manage it went for a final walk around the grounds before saying our long goodbyes. We had visited Buxted Park on numerous occassions before the wedding and we always found it to be a special experience, and it will always have a special place in our hearts. In case you haven’t noticed, i can’t reccommmend it enough. Go there, you won’t regret it!