….it’s not all doom and gloom!
Here at Thicket Priory we are a team of wide smiles and infectious personalities, the venue is also full of character, stories and hidden mysteries waiting to be discovered. Whether you’re looking for a venue to have an intimate wedding with your nearest and dearest, we’re perfect for a two day wedding, or a spectacular event to showcase a new product, with exclusive hire, we have everything you need to be confident when booking you’ll be looked after from start to finish. So feel settled knowing you can book with confidence.
During these rather unprecedented times we have really driven home our business ethics about really caring for people, from our couples and employees, to our caterers and suppliers. We really have built stronger and more magical relationships for the future and cannot wait to reopen the doors or our amazing Yorkshire Wedding Venue.
We have found smiles during these hard times through various means which we’d love to share with you:
– Our wonderful couples!
– Enhancing Thicket Priory…if that’s even possible!
– Blogs, blogs, blogs…
– Friends of Thicket Priory becoming ‘Best Friends of Thicket Priory!’
– Industry support networks #whataboutweddings
A HUGE shout-out must go out to our wonderful couples who have worked tirelessly with us to find ways through these uncertain times. In return for us being understanding, sympathetic, realistic, optimistic and above all unwavering sense of calm, they have supported us as a team of industry professionals, as a business and above all as humans on the same ‘corona-coaster’ as them.
Here’s some wonderful feedback from couples who have been on this journey with us, planning second dates, moving around suppliers, changing invites and in some cases their guest lists. We’ve laughed and cried with them, but one thing is for certain we’ll be there with the biggest smiles on our faces we were finally see them set off into the sunset as newlyweds!
“2020 the year of our wedding, or so we thought! I have never dreamt of my big white wedding, from a young girl like most brides to be do. I was never one to even think about the day, or how it would be. I’m a hopeless romantic but a wedding was never something near the top of the list.
Thicket Priory was the first wedding venue we viewed, and that was it, I feel in love. With the venue, with Anna and with everything that came with planning a big white wedding.
When coronavirus hit, we heard horror stories of venues not allowing weddings to be moved to a later date, I was extremely nervous. Our experience with Thicket could not have been more smooth sailing. We were offered alternative dates and given the time and space to decide on what was best for us. Anna even kindly offered to speak to our suppliers to make the process as easy and as stress free as possible. We will be counting down the extra 365 days to spend our dreamy wedding weekend at Thicket x “
L & B – 2020 to 2021
“Our wedding plans for September 2020 ground to a halt when we went into lockdown. The uncertainty of when it would end and the potential restrictions when it did was really worrying. Luckily, we were able to stay in touch with Anna throughout lockdown, making back up plans via zoom calls, and tap into her amazing skill and network., taking the lead in liaising and aligning all our suppliers in contingency planning, meaning everyone communicated and quickly made plans together.
It was the end of June and although we’d already chosen the dress and suits, we were still no closer to an actual fitting under the current COVID guidelines. When Anna gave us the option to postpone it was a huge weight off our minds, especially knowing all our suppliers were able to transfer over to the new date together.
Anna and the guys at Thicket were extremely helpful and accommodating, it really took the stress away at the earliest possible stage. All that is left to do now is lose these lockdown bellies and look forward to our new and improved big day with our friends, family, and the amazing Thicket team. Thank you so much!”
D & S – 2020 – 2021
“When we first came to view Thicket Priory, we were blown away and instantly knew that nothing else could come close for us. Not only is the venue incredibly stunning and magical in equal measure, it also had all the features we were looking for to create our dream wedding weekend with all our friends and family there to celebrate with us.
The team really impressed us from that first meeting and haven’t let us down since. We have always felt welcomed, valued, and understood by Anna, Rebecca and everyone at #TeamThicket. When the impact of the coronavirus pandemic started to hit home, we watched as our plans unravelled and our dreams started to shatter.
Like many other couples due to marry this year, it’s been a really difficult and emotional time, but we feel so lucky to be working with an amazing bunch of people who have our best interests at heart! They have been flexible, supportive and super helpful. We can’t wait to get married here and know that #TeamThicket will be there smiling with us! I would highly recommend everything about this venue and it’s incredible team.”
C & D – 2020 – 2020 – 2021
” The team at Thicket Priory and especially Anna have been nothing short of incredible during this troubling and difficult time. We were supposed to be getting married on 5th September 2020 and had family coming across from the US, Canada, Dubai and Australia. From the start of the pandemic, Anna kept us updated on the current situation and what it meant for our booking. She put in video calls to answer any questions we had and kept the communication going at all times.
It became apparent that we were not going to be able to have the day we dreamed of, with family confirming they would not be able to attend and restrictions being put in place. Anna and Thicket could not have been better or more accommodating. They agreed to move the wedding at no cost, something they were not obliged to do and arranged a call with us to go over possible dates and figure out a revised date that would work. They took all the stress and worry away from us and made it as simple as it could possibly be in what was a really upsetting and difficult time.
We honestly cannot thank Thicket enough. We now have a new date for next year to make the wedding even bigger and better and to have the day we dreamed of. We can’t imagine how difficult it would have been had Thicket not been so brilliant at every step and have so much to thank them for. We would recommend them to everyone looking at a venue, you will not be disappointed, not only is the venue incredible, the team behind it are equally as amazing.
Thank you so much Thicket, and see you in 2021 for the wedding of the year (for us at least)!!! ”
C & N – 2020 – 2021
Knowing that we have guided our couples through these hard times is an incredible motivator to keep us going.
Having time to step back and look at the physical and digital side to Thicket Priory has been something we see as a silver lining. Time to add more mystery and beauty to every corner of the venue so that spending time here with your guests becomes even more memorable, has been amazing. New images, ornaments, and furniture to discover! The grounds have certainly had some TLC from the boys, freshly painted terrace furniture, manicured lawns and newly planted wisteria!
Revisiting our online marketing and having time to update, retrain and strengthen our image has been incredibly helpful after what was a whirlwind few months before things then went a little quieter than we all expected. I’m sure you’ll all agree we didn’t expect to still be navigating through this minefield 6 months on.
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Support, Resilience and Recovery…
These 3 words have never had so much meaning as they do now. Thinking about how we have survived the journey so far and how we will come out of the other side is down to the support networks which have developed during these tough times!
Big thanks to the efforts from Love My Dress #whataboutweddings, and others who have collaborated on the campaign for the government to give us a road map!
@lovemydress
@candidapple
@occasion.queens
@sarahhaywoodweddings
@studiosorores
@theasianweddingclub
@mrsweddingplanner
We’ve also had amazing support and guidance from Emma at Coco Weddings providing amazing updates, Alison at Guides for Brides with the fabulous initiative for weddings track & trace, and I cannot go without mentioning the Wedding Venues Rebuilding gang put together by the wonderful Kelly Chandler.
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I hope all the positive feedback from our wonderful couples, and all the silver linings we’ve found over the 6 months can help you find things to smile about 😊
Let’s stay optimistic and start looking forward to the weddings of the future!
Love Anna x
Photography By:
Emma Ryan Photography
Phoebe Jane Photography
Canva Stock Photos
