Elderton Lodge, Thorpe Market
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Weddings at Elderton Lodge, Thorpe Market
Elderton Lodge nestles into its own six acres of naturally wooded grounds, beautifully aspected over looking on to 800 acres of Deer park. The 200 year old building, formally the shooting lodge to Gunton Hall is lovingly preserved by its local owners and run as a Country House Hotel offering 11 individual bedrooms and a delightful restaurant. The rooms have full modern facilities, while the restaurant offers high quality local produce.
We are a privately owned and managed Country House Hotel, situated along our own private driveway. The hotel overlooks the famous Gunton Deer Park, which is a designated conservation area and one which boasts many historical and Royal connections. Surrounded by over six acres of mature gardens and woodland we enjoy a beautiful setting offering tranquility and relaxation – a perfect location for your special wedding venue and ideal for those romantic photographic opportunities.
We have eleven individually and tastefully appointed en suite bedrooms, including two ground floor rooms (2 twin and 9 double bedded), some with spectacular views across the hundreds of acres of parkland. Our public rooms include the lounge and bar, with their views across Gunton Park, exuding an ambience of warmth and friendliness. The Langtry Restaurant offers excellent cuisine to the highest standards. You will find a comprehensive selection of menus in this section for your perusal.
We have been awarded a Three Star classification from the English Tourist Board. We have an AA Three Star rating with two Rosettes for the quality of our food.
We sincerely hope you will give us the opportunity to discuss your wedding plans with you further and assure you of our personal attention to every detail ensuring you have a wonderful day to remember.
Gunton Park
Thorpe Market
Norfolk
NR11 8TZ
United Kingdom
enquiries@eldertonlodge.co
tel. 01263833547
Filed Under: Norfolk
Wedding date – June 30 2007 (reception only; wedding ceremony took place elsewhere)
Having looked at several venues around this area for our reception venue we decided to book Elderton Lodge for the following reasons; Firstly the marquee was of a good size, not too big that our number of guests would be swapped in a large marquee and not too small that we couldn’t fit everything in we wanted (8 tables, dance floor, DJ, and jazz band!). Secondly the marquee allowed us to pick any colour scheme we wanted without worrying about the colours clashing with the interior. (When hiring other venues the colour of the curtains, carpet, chairs etc would need to be taken into consideration). The marquee was new that year and in perfect condition. Thirdly we could hire out the whole venue for the cost of filling up all the bedrooms, (easily done as we had guests coming from all over the UK that required accommodation) meaning that our wedding guests would be the only guests there on that day therefore, being a very intimate and personal venue for us. (Not as with other venues we looked at). And lastly was the overall appearance of Elderton. It is set in a deer park with lovely views, and the hotel and gardens are clean and well kept and all the bedrooms are individually decorated giving a homely, country house feel about it.
The owner of Elderton, Rachel, was very helpful in giving advice on the general organisation of the wedding and was always curtious and replied to any query I had, however silly. At times I thought that she could have been a little more friendly as we were going to be spending a reasonable amount of money there, but overall she was very helpful.
The choice of food was good; we opted for a ‘fork buffet’ so our guests could have a varied choice of hot food. Starters and desserts were served to the tables. I thought this option worked well and everyone appeared pleased with what they ate.
Rachel and her team decorated the marquee on my behalf to my exact instuctions and they did a great job. The tables looked as I had hoped. Basically, I took them all the decorations and they did everything, so there was no panic for me of setting up (or clearing away aferwards!)
I stayed at Elderton with some of my bridal party the night before the wedding and we had make up artists and hair dressers come to Elderton to get us all ready. I was left alone with my bridesmaids and mum all morning without any disturbances from Elderton staff while they quietly worked away in the background getting on with it, doing all the hard work and leaving us girls to all chill out and perpare.
Rachel, the photographer, and our Toast Master all communicated with each other to make sure everything ran as smooth as clock work. I didn’t have to worry about anything.
My only slight complaint with Elderton is that when we booked we were told that there was no bar closing time if we had hired the whole venue for a private party, and they would stay open as late as needed, yet on the night of the wedding the bar was closed at midnight, much to the disappointment of some of our guests and us. Some of the guests mentioned to the staff that they thought it was closing a bit early but the bar was not re-opened so quite a few of us went to the lounge / bar inside the hotel and sat talking for a while, but it wasn’t the same as being able to carry on drinking so gradually everyone went off to bed or back to their own hotels. It felt a bit like the party had ended early and that was disappointing.
Overall I would definitely recommend Elderton as a reception venue. It was everything I had wanted – even the deer were out in the park for our wedding photos!
Elderton certainly has a certain charm about it and knowing what I know now, I would chose it again. I wuould just make sure I got the ‘no bar closing time’ in writing!