My day at the Hanbury Manor Wedding Salon

The Wedding Salon at Hanbury Manor was advertised as being a 'Wedding Show that is glamorous, indulgent and unashamedly glamorous' and attendance was by invitation only. This is the account of my day at the Hanbury Manor Wedding Salon.

The weather was really awful and all I wanted to do was curl up at home and read my book but I’d said I would go, so I set off in the pouring rain for Hanbury Manor.

I arrived early so I drove round Hanbury Manor a couple of times looking out for the ‘Wedding Salon parking signs’ which were promised in the flyer. Sadly, there weren’t any, so I found a space in the car park and made my way past the empty Becks bottle on the lawn and into reception.

There was nobody there so I wandered down to Poles Hall and there was nobody there either! Wandered into the next room where the wedding suppliers were setting up.

I went back to reception and there were 2 ladies taking names of people for the Wedding Salon. I wasn’t on the list which was a bit concerning! I told them there was an empty Becks bottle on their front lawn and they said they would get it removed.

Went into Poles Hall and sat down. A lady came in and gave out brochures and also gave everyone except me a little pile of cards with their name, phone number and email address on. Good idea for brides to hand over to the suppliers so the suppliers can contact them!

What would have been really nice would have been someone to greet people as they arrived and to be given a drink – even orange juice or water! The flyer said ‘imagine being greeted on arrival with Cosmo’s, Appletinis and Margaritas.’ and that was all we could do - imagine it!

We sat in Poles Hall listening to a string duo from NSN Productions for 45 minutes. Nothing happened during this time apart from the toastmaster coming in and saying there was a problem getting the bride across to the hall due to the weather. We had no idea what he was talking about – what bride? The toastmaster saying that the weather was giving them a problem and causing a delay didn’t give the venue a lot of credibility!

So, 45 minutes, no drinks, no canapés and it’s 12:30 – everyone is hungry and thirsty, but finally a model in a wedding dress walks up the aisle in Poles Hall for no particular reason that any of us could fathom! More music from NSN Productions then we were allowed into the ‘wedding fair’ part of the salon. Hurrah – drinks and a canapé. Surely there will be more canapés.......but not for a long, long time!

Why have they arranged this ‘do’ at lunchtime and then left us all to starve?

We all wandered around the ‘wedding salon’ for a while and then wondered what next. There was nobody there telling people what was going on or sending people to some of the other rooms so that we didn’t all arrive at the same suppliers at the same time. Such a shame and a real wasted opportunity – a bit of organisation would have really helped!

This was the most disorganised event I have ever been to! A couple of the venue ladies were very helpful but they didn’t really know what was going on either.

The 2 and a half hours between nothing happening in Poles Hall and the fashion show debacle was really far too long – everyone was bored and wandering around aimlessly! A lot of the brides and their mums ended up in the suppliers’ tea room as there was nowhere else to go!

I found my way into the fashion show room, searched around and eventually found a seat with my name on and sat down to read my book. I was distracted from my reading every now and again to watch a member of the event management team attempt to choreograph the fashion show. Why this wasn’t left to Andy of Mr H, who is an expert at these, is a total mystery to me. Paul was managing to annoy all the models , musicians and everyone else at the same time – good job!

The brides and their guests were all queuing up outside as there was nothing else to do by this time. They missed out on the rehearsal which was a shame as it was highly entertaining!

The doors were finally opened and then chaos ensued as everyone walked around trying to find the chair with their name on! Why was there no seating plan? Ridiculous!

More champagne and orange juice, but everyone I spoke to was absolutely starving!

The brochure of dresses for the fashion show was excellent. Sadly the promise of ‘The catwalk catalogue for each bride-to-be has photographs of each dress together with designer details and price. So what happens when you see the dream dress pass down the catwalk? Simply raise your catalogue....’ didn’t actually happen!

The models in the fashion show were some of the most miserable I have ever seen at a wedding fair. This was probably due to the dreadful choreographing! Kelly from Mr H came on to sing a couple of times and she was excellent.

The best bit of the fashion show was when the lights all went out – fantastic! This did not exactly fill anyone with confidence that their wedding was going to run smoothly!

NSN Productions saved the day by singing a cappella so the models could finish the show.

We were then led into a room which was called the ‘shoe and bag room’. I’m not sure why as there were hardly any shoes or bags in it!

So then it was back to Poles Hall for afternoon tea. This time there was actually a seating plan - hurrah! Each table was set up differently by the ‘wedding salon’ suppliers and they all looked amazing.

Afternoon tea was finally served. I love cream teas, but the bite sized scones were so overcooked that they were as dry as biscuits! The cream and jam seemed to be rationed so we ran out after about 3 dried up scones on our table. It was a relief to get a cup of tea but it would have been nice to have a second cup!

By now everyone was tired and just wanted to talk about their weddings. It was at this point that we were subjected to 10 minute talks from the various suppliers. Good idea, but too late in the day and nobody was really in the mood to listen. Most people left before all the speakers had finished which was a shame for the suppliers.

So, was I surprised to still see the empty Becks bottle on the lawn on my way out of the front door – no, not really! I wonder if it’s still there nearly a week later.........