Mercure Tunbridge Wells

Best wedding I've ever been to, and it was mine! Great location, friendly staff from Sophie the wedding coordinator who was on it throughout, the service and the food at the tasting where we first met the lovely Ernest, from the moment we checked in with Mina at reception on the day, to the catering team and Tim who all couldn't do enough, the lovely bar staff who had amazing energy throughout the evening, the DJ Joe who was full of surprises, and Amanda and Andrea who were on hand all day for our every need. And not forgetting all those who worked behind the scenes to deliver tasty food that met all our dietary needs (vegan menu), and an exceptionally clean hotel. Great value venue for a day that was above and beyond our wildest expectations. Just perfect. We have left there with new friends and smiles bigger than my dress!

We booked our wedding at the Mercure hotel during the lockdown by a virtual tour. We were both greeted by our wedding planner who instantly put us at ease so much that we decided to book without having even seen the place in person. Sophie continued to be an incredible support and making sure we were happy and supported every step of the way. This approach radiated through the whole staff team- the day before and on the day all staff got involved to know what we liked and how we wanted things to be done. Even in my bridal suite and honeymoon suite I had written notes, snacks, complimentary drinks and drink tokens. These small touches are the ones which secured our happiness Even when i was feeling a tad overwhelmed. I do not have a bad word to say about the whole day- it was simply perfection. I look forward to returning around our year anniversary- if your a person who would like an intimate, warm, sweet, and thoughtful say this is your wedding!

We got married at the Mercure Tunbridge Wells Hotel on 29th December 2021 and it was amazing. From our original meeting with Sophie in February 2020 (pre covid) we knew that the Mercure Tunbridge Wells was the venue for us. We were looking for an affordable venue, where the ceremony and reception could be held in the one place. We wanted a bar in the reception room so that we didn’t lose all of our guests to a bar elsewhere and we wanted somewhere with lots of parking. The Mercure Tunbridge Wells ticked all of those boxes. We received a 25% discount on their package prices as our wedding was going to be mid week which was a massive bonus! We had a choice of 3 menus but we went with the basic one, but paid a bit extra to swap the main course for the vegetarian option. The package included the chair covers and sashes/hoods and cream runner/carpet for the ceremony so there was no extra charge for this, which we did find at other venues. We opted for white hoods over the white chair covers and had a selection of brooches to choose from to hold the hoods on. We paid extra for the ceiling drapes with fairy lights but it really softened the room - it looked so pretty. Sophie was very knowledgeable and answered any questions that we had quickly. We had planned to go to one of the wedding shows at the hotel so that we could see the room dressed etc but unfortunately due to the lockdowns we were unable to do this. Sophie did hold virtual tours of the hotel with the rooms dressed which was very helpful. We had our ceremony, wedding breakfast and evening reception all in the one room (Parkside Suite) and one of our guests commented that it was like walking into a different room after each change. It looked beautiful! We were able to provide our own table centres, although they do use Creative Venue that can provide this service for you at an additional cost. Sophie just advised us not to make them too complicated or time consuming and their staff would put them out for us. I sent a photo to Sophie a couple of weeks before so she could see what we wanted. One thing we did have an issue with was the use of candles. At our initial meeting the venue allowed real candles as long as they were in a proper holder, however between the time of us booking and our first proper planning meeting with Sophie this had changed and they were no longer allowed. By this time I had already purchased our table centres but Sophie arranged for floating LED candles to be provided on the day. Therefore this issue was resolved. The candles were there on the day and looked fab! When we booked our wedding Sophie was able to give us some advice on timings of the day so that we could book the registrar etc. At our first planning meeting Sophie talked through every step of the day to ensure we were happy and we came away with things to prepare/send her prior to our 2nd planning meeting. As we were getting married at Christmas, I asked if I could bring a couple of Christmas trees to set up at the front of the ceremony room and again it wasn’t a problem. I booked a room at the hotel for the night before and as there wasn’t a wedding/event on the night before I was able to set the trees up myself the night before there wedding. Sophie recommended that I stay in one of the suites the night before so that I had that room to get ready in the morning of the wedding. It was a large room which was great for the morning with the photographers and my hair and make up lady. We stayed in the bridal suite the night of the wedding which was lovely, we wished we had longer to enjoy it! The day ran very smoothly (apart from some last minute drop outs due to Covid/illness) and the hotel staff were amazing! The run up to the wedding was quite stressful with talk of restrictions but Sophie was very understanding and put our minds at rest as much as possible. The food was really good and our guests commented on how nice it was! Big portion sizes too! We hired a photobooth through the hotel from Cheesebox and Jenell from there was amazing too, providing personalised prints and going above and beyond to make sure everything was perfect before and on the day (evening emailing me on Boxing Day!) I cannot recommend the Mercure Tunbridge Wells enough. It was perfect for what we wanted. I have recently been advised that we get a complimentary anniversary meal so we will definitely be back for that. Thank you to everyone at the Mercure for making our day so special, especially Sophie, John and Andrea xx

We cannot recommend Sophie and her team at Mercure Tunbridge Wells enough. I must admit, I didn't have much to do with the planning, but my wife seemed very happy with the service all the way through and it really was an absolutely fantastic day. Staff were brilliant, everyone had a good time, good value for money too. Wife's happy, I'm happy. Thank you Mercure

We cannot fault this place! They have been absolutely fantastic from the day we got in touch, all through the planning and then on the day. More importantly, they could not have been more helpful during the disruption with Covid. We had to move our day twice and they literally took all the stress away. Food and service on the day was fabulous and we can't wait to go back for our anniversary meal!! We love you Mercure!!!

Me and my new wifey want to say a massive thank you for hosting our wedding yesterday!! Your organisation of it all made sure it flowed amazing and all the guests loved it! We are so happy we picked your venue for our big day!!

We would just like to say a massive thank you to everyone at Mercure Tunbridge Wells Hotel for making our wedding day so special. We had to move twice due to the pandemic but we decided to just go for it and it was the best day. The food and the service were amazing. The staff were so attentive and you made us feel so special. Although our wedding day looked different to what we first planned, you made it still so special for us, and for that we cannot thank you enough!

Sophie and the team at Mercure Tunbridge Wells, thank you so much for everything you have done for us. From helping us with the initial upset of moving our wedding due to Coronavirus, to putting together the wedding day that none of us thought we’d have – it was all still so perfect. As you know, one of our biggest worries for the day was my sister who has severe autism, but the staff made her feel so welcome and were so helpful, we all felt completely at ease with you. You truly are experts at what you do and we are so glad we picked you. We sincerely thank you from the bottom of our hearts and although we’re now heading into lockdown 2.0, we sincerely hope you’re able to open for weddings properly again soon!

Sophie made this experience as easy and enjoyable as she possibly could. She was always quick to respond, kept us in the loop with relevant government changes and was so flexible and accommodating with last minute changes and personal things we wanted to make the day special. We honestly could not have asked for more and we had the most special and intimate wedding thanks to Sophie and the team at the Mercure!

A week later and we still haven't come back down to earth - we just want to relive every second of our wedding at the Mercure Tunbridge Wells. It's been a long journey, complete with COVID postponement, but it was worth every single day of the extra year's wait. We cannot thank the hotel enough for their support concerning this - they made what could have been a very stressful and costly process so easy and at absolutely no extra cost to us at all. Sophie and her team have been a dream, and on the day, the coordinators, restaurant/kitchen staff, etc were all wonderful. Professional, attentive and so friendly! We would recommend this venue to absolutely everyone. We had the wedding anyone and everyone would wish for!