Gildredge Manor is a privately owned Georgian Manor House used for weddings and events. It's located within Gildredge Park in Eastbourne Old Town.
Getting Ready
There are a few rooms upstairs available to use for getting ready. The room in the photos below is ideal for photos of the bride and their wedding party getting ready as there's lots of natural light and pretty decor. Having a space to get ready in the venue is great as it allows you to relax more in the morning, you won't have to worry about getting to the ceremony on time.
There is also the Gentleman's Library downstairs which can be used for the groom and groomsmen's finishing touches. This is also where the couple will meet with the registrars before the ceremony.
Ceremony
Gildredge Manor has two rooms licensed for legal ceremonies; The Garden Room and the Long Gallery. The photos below show a ceremony in The Garden Room which is a lovely space with bright decor and plenty of natural light. It's downstairs and leads out onto the garden so after the ceremony your guests can line up outside ready to throw confetti. You can use biodegradable paper confetti here which floats way better than petals, check out Flutter, Darlings! or Proper Confetti.
Drinks Reception
If you're lucky enough to have nice weather on your wedding day then the garden at Gildredge Manor is the perfect place for your drinks reception. The garden is a large grassy space with bushes around the sides separating it from the park. They have seating, tables, umbrellas, a ping pong table, and space for garden games. They also have lots of indoor space if the weather isn't great which is really important when looking for a UK venue. Just inside the main doors you have the Double Drawing Room one side which is where the bar is and the other side is a room with a few sofas where the cake and gifts table usually is.
Locations for photos
At Gildredge Manor you have the gardens and some lovely rooms inside the venue you could use for couple photos but as you're right in Gildredge Park why not have a little walk around? There are plenty of nice spots in the park perfect for couple portraits and sometimes it's nice for the couple to be away from the wedding for a few minutes just to be together. Also, the venue allow well behaved pets so if you wanted to bring your dog along for some photos you can!
Wedding Breakfast
You have the option of two rooms for your wedding breakfast; The Long Gallery (seats up to 100 guests) and The Garden Room (seats up to 60 guests). The Long Gallery is a bigger space and it's upstairs so it separates up the day nicely. It has lots of windows which fill the room with natural light. As it is upstairs it doesn't have disabled access.
Gildredge Manor have a list of caterers they work with so you'll need to speak with them to help you chose the best caterers for you.
Evening Reception
The evening reception takes place downstairs where you've got the bar and games room, the ladies morning room where you can cut the cake, and the garden room where your band or DJ will set up ready for the first dance. If you have a summer wedding and it's still light outside, the garden is a nice area for your guests to relax.
Parking and Accommodation
As the venue is located inside Gildredge Park there isn't any on site parking but there is lots of free parking on the surrounding roads, I usually park on the A259 (The Goffs) just past Waitrose. If you're getting the train to Eastbourne Station then you can get a short 6 minute bus up to Waitrose and then you walk up the steps to the park and you should see the venue. The buses to get would be the 12X coaster, 1, 1A or 4. There is no accommodation at Gildredge Manor but there are plenty of hotels in Eastbourne on the seafront.
If you need a photographer for your wedding then please get in touch with me!