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Weddings

About

You won’t forget your first sight of Layer Marney Tower – one of the most beautiful and romantic places in Britain. Whether for your wedding ceremony, your wedding reception, or both, Layer Marney Tower is the perfect setting for your special day.

The beautiful Tudor buildings are surrounded by picturesque gardens set in attractive parkland, with breath-taking views to the Blackwater Estuary. The Tower and gardens combine formality and intimacy, ensuring a Layer Marney Tower wedding will leave you with wonderful and lasting memories.

A unique wedding venue in Essex, Layer Marney Tower has been skilfully adapted to meet the requirements of the twenty first century bride. You, together with your friends and family, may now sip champagne and nibble canapés where Henry VIII and Elizabeth I once strode.

We have been helping couples make their dreams come true for over 25 years and the single most important thing we have learnt is that every wedding is different. You may be sure that everyone at Layer Marney Tower will work with you to ensure that your wedding dreams become reality.

Civil ceremonies may take place in several rooms – the most popular is the Corsellis Room which seats 120 people. For smaller parties the Hall of the gatehouse will hold up to 20 guests, whilst Tuke’s Chamber has a capacity of 60. Each room has its own character, and the ambiance may be enhanced with live musicians such as harpists or string trios.

The gardens, surrounded by acres of farm and parkland, provide wonderful opportunities for photographs - the boardwalk over the pond is particularly popular. The ancient York-stone steps leading up to the Tower offer an ideal opportunity for photographs not only of the wedding couple, but also of all the guests together – with the Tower in the background. There are parts of the garden that are formal and others that are more natural, echoing the building themselves that are both grand yet welcoming.

With oak panelling, fine tapestries, a Jacobean fireplace and huge glittering chandeliers, the Long Gallery is the perfect backdrop for your Wedding Reception, seating up to 140 guests. Whether you treat it as a blank canvas, decorating it with flowers, favours, chair covers, candelabra and the like to make it your very own, or just use simple table centrepieces. However you theme it, you can be assured that your Wedding Breakfast will be memorable for both the setting and the food and drink.

The experience we have gained over the many years we have been hosting weddings at Layer Marney Tower means that you can have complete confidence in us – and in our ability to work with you, to make your wedding day everything you hoped and dreamed it would be.

  • Experienced and friendly staff who are dedicated to helping you
  • Exclusive use available
  • Amazing Tudor home licensed for civil marriages with Parish Church in the gardens
  • Beautiful gardens and parkland. Top class catering
  • Use of our 1931 chauffeur driven Rolls Royce included with each wedding reception
  • Flexible, relaxed and utterly professional approach
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Frequently asked questions

Venue type:

In the country
Castle
Stately home
Historic
Landmark
Barn

Ceremony options:

Chapel or temple on-site
Civil ceremony licence

Dining options:

Seated meal facilities
Corkage option
Alcohol licence
Buffet meal facilities
In-house catering

Evening entertainment:

Entertainment licence
Evening reception facilities
Outdoor fireworks permitted

Overnight accommodation:

Overnight accommodation for wedding couple

Venue staff assistance:

Wedding coordinator

Other features:

Exclusive use
Accessible facilities
Car parking
Helipad
Confetti permitted
Pet-friendly
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Reviews for Layer Marney Tower

We're all about trust. Our community relies on honest reviews to make your big decisions easier.
5.0 out of 5 rating
5.0 out of 5 rating
18 reviews
100% recommend it
  • Quality of the service
    5 out of 5 rating
  • Response time
    5 out of 5 rating
  • Professionalism
    5 out of 5 rating
  • Value for money
    5 out of 5 rating
  • Flexibility
    5 out of 5 rating
A
Antony Sent on 20/06/2019
5 out of 5 rating

The whole day was absolutely perfect.

We want to say thank you very much for everything you did for our wedding on Saturday. The whole day was just absolutely perfect and we couldn't be happier. You were all so helpful with the organisation beforehand and making sure it ran smoothly on the day itself.
We had a lovely time the following day just wandering round the gardens and we feel extremely privileged that we've had the opportunity to build a connection to such a special place, which we will never forget. We will certainly be returning and look forward to seeing you again in the future!
A
Anonymous Sent on 11/01/2018
5 out of 5 rating

Many thanks from a very happy married couple

Thank you to all the staff at Layer Marney Tower for making our day run so smoothly. From day one Karen was always available to answer our questions and if she wasn't, her team were able to do so. You offer tremendous value for money and the maintenance and upkeep of the facilities was perfection. Many thanks from a very happy married couple.
A
Anonymous Sent on 15/07/2017
5 out of 5 rating

The day was perfect.

We just wanted to send a quick email to say thank you for providing such a great venue for our wedding. The day was perfect and all of our guests commented on how beautiful the venue is.

Can we say a big thank you to Nicholas who showed us around on our first visit and also helped us unload and load our cars. He was so laid back and helpful which really helped us make our decision. You find so many other venues are very pushy when it comes to booking a date it was a breath of fresh air coming to Layer Marney Tower.

Everything went exactly to plan and we had such a nice and relaxed wedding so thank you all again!

We look forward to coming back to Layer Marney Tower as guests in the future.
A
Amanda Sent on 10/04/2017
5 out of 5 rating

What more could we have asked for

You have been a pleasure to work with over the last 12 months!
Our wedding day was the best day of our lives so thank you all for your part in that.
Fantastic location, fantastic organisation. What more could we have asked for?!
A
Anonymous Sent on 15/03/2017
5 out of 5 rating

Stunning venue

Thank you for all your help organising our wedding ceremony. We had an amazing day and I couldn't have been more happy having the ceremony at Layer Marney Tower. So many of our guests commented on what a stunning venue it is. We found the entire process from booking through to the running of the ceremony on the day flawless, thank you again.
A
Anonymous Sent on 11/10/2016
5 out of 5 rating

A million thanks for the best day of our lives

We LOVED our wedding day at Layer Marney Tower.
Karen and Nick were brilliant in the planning and run-up to the day - thank you for making it all so effortless and smooth with all of our many strange requests!
A million thanks for the best day of our lives.
N
Nigel Sent on 11/10/2016
5 out of 5 rating

Accommodating and helpful

Thanks to all for a wonderful day and experience.
We cannot speak highly enough of all your staff involved in helping our day run smoothly and for being so accommodating and helpful at all times.
We love Layer Marney Tower and hope to be frequent visitors from now on.
C
Clare Sent on 11/10/2016
5 out of 5 rating

Massive thankyou!

Michael and I want to say a massive thankyou to everyone involved with the preparation and running of our BIG DAY on 2nd September 2016.
We received so many nice comments about the venue, food, location etc and would highly recommend Layer Marney Tower to anyone and everyone!
K
Kate Sent on 11/10/2016
5 out of 5 rating

Such a beautiful venue

Thank you all so much for helping to make our wedding day so special. Layer Marney Tower is such a beautiful venue and a truly unique place to get married.
Everyone we have dealt with has been extremely helpful and professional throughout, particularly Karen for answering all of our queries and Janet for looking after us on the day.
We had the perfect day in truly amazing surroundings!
A
Anonymous Sent on 25/08/2016
5 out of 5 rating

Thank you for all your help arranging our big day!

Everything went well and we had a fantastic day.

Everyone loved the venue and said how stunning it was.

Thank you again, we will definitely recommend your team and venue to others - many thanks.
A
Amy Sent on 25/08/2016
5 out of 5 rating

Thanks for your hard work

We just wanted to say thanks for your hard work over the weekend at the ceremony, everything went smoothly and professionally and we're so glad we chose you for our venue, all our guests said it was lovely!
G
Graham Sent on 27/06/2016
5 out of 5 rating

Recommend Layer Marney Tower without hesitation

From our first visit to scope the place out, we knew that we'd found somewhere really special - in fact, as soon as we returned to our car after Karen had shown us round we both immediately said "So, shall we book it then?!"

The Layer Marney Tower team - particularly Karen - made all our preparations so easy and no questions seemed to faze them. Bouquet Garni were just as happy to help and cater for all the little extras we asked for.

The ways in which everyone was able to accommodate our requests and customisations meant that we're still sto impressed and would recommend Layer Marney Tower and Bouquet Garni without hesitation!
J
Jonathan Sent on 04/05/2016
5 out of 5 rating

The day ran so smoothly.

Thank you so much for everything you did for us on Sunday. Everyone has been saying how perfect they thought Layer Marney Tower was and how stunning the setting is.

The day ran so smoothly and that is down to your professionalism.

We could not be more grateful!!
C
Claire Sent on 22/06/2006
5 out of 5 rating

Unique Location for your special day

We married at Layer Marney on 14th January 2006. As the other reviwers have said this is just a perfect winter wedding venue, the fires were roaring and we incorporate candles into our table decorations. Staff are very helpful and the caterers Bouquet Garni are willing to do whatever they can to make your day special, John the manager was there all day and it flowed perfectly. He also made sure a bottle of champagne and wedding cake was kept back for us and personally delivered to our room when we had left the reception, it was a lovely touch. The area for the civil ceremony is gorgeous and really i just cant recomend it highly enough. People were commenting on our wedding for months after!
T
Taylor13 Sent on 15/12/2004
5 out of 5 rating

Beautiful venue, stunning location & fantastic food

We got married and had our reception at Layer Marney Tower on the 11th December 2004. LMT makes a perfect winter wedding venue...we had a roaring log fire in the Long Gallery with candles on each table, it looked beautiful and very christmassy. The catering by Bouquet Garni was fantastic with a lot of our guests commenting on how superb the food was. I don't know of any other venue that lets you provide your own wine, champagne etc until the evening reception WITH NO CORKAGE!!! A massive saving for us. I just wish we could do it all again........what a day!
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Layer Marney Tower Real Weddings

Orla & Ben
53 photos · 19/03/2023

Events

24 Nov
Open Door

The perfect opportunity to view Layer Marney Tower for your dream wedding.

Both of our reception rooms, the Long Gallery and the Barn, will be dressed for a wedding. Our wedding team will happily offer you a tour to include the ceremony options, reception rooms and beautiful gardens for your wedding photos.

A chance to chat with our caterers and a number of trusted wedding suppliers. No need to book in advance - just come along on the day! We look forward to seeing you.

Date: From 24/11/2024 to 24/11/2024 Schedule 11:00 - 14:00
Place: Layer Marney,, Colchester, Essex

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Map

Layer Marney, CO5 9US Colchester (Essex)
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