This was to be our base for the next two night (7th-9th August 2009), the hotel is olde worlde and charming, an old colleague who i used to fly with is the manager of the hotel and has a great team of staff who really know how to put on a wedding, it was organised, decorated like the queen was about to visit and the feeding of 100 people for a four course meal was seemless, all the food was piping hot and as they use a local source for their meats and veg you know you are eating quality, this also relates to the great british breakfast served each morning.
All the rooms are different with some suites, some with four poster beds, some carpeted, some with laminate flooring, the floor boards creak and the windows are old and not double glazed but this also adds to its charm.
As the weather was hot during our stay the rooms could get a little hot but fans were provided in all rooms alongside plasma tv's fitted to the wall, hairdryers, tea and coffee facilties in room and hot water so hot and powerful that a bath took about 3 minutes to fill, excellent toiletries and soaps were also provided.
The public rooms were well kept, brasses polished daily, two bars with one in the function room, lots of soft comfy sofas and chairs in fabrics and leathers and also daily papers left in the quiet area by the front door.
The manor also boasts a sauna and swimming pool, it is not olypmic sized but i bet it is a hit with guests of all ages.
All the staff here seem to work together to create a great experience for all their guests and i am sure the manager Mr Rodger Francis is extremely proud of them all.
Well done guys!!
The wedding was so tastefully done with an eye for detail, even down to the brides fathers cufflinks matching the brides mothers earrings.
The room in the hotel had rows of pristine white covered chairs with huge pink bows on the back, we were ushered in by the best man at 1225pm and were entertained by a pianist sitting at her keyboard at the front of the room.
The groom was very nervous and sipped his water constantly until there was none left making him drink the water which was left for the bride if she needed it during the service.
At 1240 there was no sign of the bride, then the brides mother was escorted down the aisle by her soon, Brenda looked, happy and very very glamourous in her beautiful matching outfit in cream with cerise accessiories.
Then the nod was given the piano played and the bride arrived, the groom looked at her and got emotional which set off the bride, always a good sign of true love, she walked towards him and comforted him, however his emotions made her emotional too but this came and went during the service and made it even more special to them and their guests.
The line there is not reason "why i" when repeated back by the bride sounded like the infamous line "whey eye" the great geordie expression and this brought a chuckle to a lot of the geordie congregation.
It was a short and simple ceremony but beautifully delivered by the female registraar who was warm and professional and she married Michelle and Jamie as if she had never done it before, making them feel like special people which was an added touch.
The photographs seemed to take for hours but as the temperature reached the mid 20's and the sun beated down on the Manor Hotel it seemed not to matter to anyone,the views were spectacular with the hotel facing the Brecon Beacons and outside seating in abundance made the day even better, Wales does suffer from a lot of rain and the sun truely shone on two beautiful people that day.
The room for the wedding meal was at 3pm, it was such a beautiful decorated room, homely but exciting, great menu of Cream of asparagus soup, roast beef, yorkshire pudding vegetable, potatoes and dessert was Pavlova for the women and a really yummy cheesecake for the men followed by coffee and mints and a sparkling rose champagne for the toast.
The evening was in the same room as the daytime wedding meal except a few tables were added and things moved about to accomodate another 60 people on top of the 100 who were at the daytime wedding.
Icicle lights surrounded the room which had large white round tables draped in crisp white linen cloths and the white chairs with pick bows as used in the day.
The buffet was hot and tasty with chicken, meatballs, samosa's along with sandwiches and slices of the gorgeous chocolate and white chocolate wedding cake.
