We recently got married at Walton Castle and can honestly say it’s a truly magical place. The Castle itself has been restored and updated giving it an historical but modern feel. The way it sits in an elevated position with the stunning surroundings makes it feel like something out of a fairy tale. Everyone of our guests were completely blown away. We initially met Margarita who is the owner of the castle, and we immediately liked her. She is extremely welcoming and gave us a much longer meeting than we initially booked. She gave us the history, a tour, what to expect and discussed with us our wedding plans. I could see in my now wife’s eyes, we had found our venue. Walton Castle is not what you’d expect. Once booked you have the place to yourself. Your very own castle for the time you have booked it. A unique venue and can’t be many like it in the UK. The wedding preparation itself was made a lot easier by Margarita and Mandy. They are able to recommend caterers, florists, DJ’s ….anything to do with the day. Mandy met with my wife a number of times prior to the wedding day to discuss layout, lighting options, music etc. Mandy was also present on our wedding day to ensure it all ran smoothly. She is lovely and well versed in weddings! Neil is the caretaker/manager of Walton Castle and has been for 30 years. He keeps the place spotless and extremely well kept. Nothing he doesn’t know about the place and is on hand when you arrive and is a call away if you need anything. A really nice chap who was very patient when I kept forgetting where all the outside light switches were. If you are looking for a wedding venue don’t bother, you’ve found it. If it’s not available on your date, move your date! You won’t regret it. My wife and I feel privileged we got married at Walton Castle. The day was perfect and we could not have picked a more special venue. Margarita, Mandy & Neil………thank you. Neil & Nicole

Let me start by expressing how sad I am to feel forced into leaving this review.
Due to some sad news concerning a family member my fiance and I decided on getting married quickly. I found Walton Castle through Hitched and we fell in love with the castle from the pictures alone. After reaching out, Margarita the owner appeared to be wonderful and we decided on a date merely 4 months away. I cannot fault Margarita in the early stages for her service, generosity and compassion.
I was unable for some reason to access their online booking portal so Mandy emailed me their terms and conditions which I noted a 30% initial deposit that was non refundable in the event of cancellation, however it stated that a new date would be arranged (and a surcharge may apply if this was the following year). There was nothing in their terms that expressed that the remaining balance was also non refundable in the event of cancellation. We agreed to these terms by email. 3 weeks before our date, tragedy regrettably struck and our 10 year old was rushed into hospital with an unknown infectious disease. Margarita was immediately contacted and informed that heartbreakingly we would have to at the very least postpone but possibly cancel. Considering the mitigating circumstances Margarita confirmed over the phone that Walton Castle would refund in full and she would also contact another of our suppliers that she recommended personally to let him know what had happened and to ensure he also refunded. I was unfortunately also under isolation but when this message was relayed to me, we felt like a weight had been lifted. I could not work for weeks and the financial pressure was mounting.
Fast forward 4 weeks and we were thankfully out of hospital with my daughter recovering from severe boils that had covered 85% of her body. I reached out to Margarita and she seemed very concerned about our welfare. She explained Mandy was away for a week but everything would be sorted on her return. I also contacted the supplier that she promised to contact and he was incredible but stated Margarita had not even contacted him, furthermore he had to call the castle himself just a week before the wedding to find out what was happening! He refunded in full immediately. Fast forward another week, we had not heard from Mandy or Margarita so we reached out again. We are informed by Margarita that Mandy would return during this week. Fast forward another week and we still had not heard anything. Margarita explained she is away and will 'revert' on her return the following week. Fast forward another week and still nothing. After 4 weeks of being repeatedly sideswiped, I sent an email giving 24 hours to respond before I raised a dispute with my bank but did not realise that I had paid through bank transfer (not a card payment). There was again no response to this email. No partial refund of the owed 70% that they have no legal right to retain and no contact in relation to confirming a new date (which we would not want now in any event).
What I have learned is that Walton Castle talk a very good game, you are promised things that rarely transpire. You are pushed to using their suppliers unless Margarita decides she 'likes' somebody new that you bring to the table and it appears that whilst Walton Castle are quick to take your money and are eager when there is more to make, they drag their feet and definitely don't seem to like returning what is owed.
I have been as honest as I can be with this review and I am truly devastated that Margarita did not turn out to be what we expected but I feel like I need to warn other couples that intend on considering this beautiful venue to just keep scrolling and save yourself a possible nightmare due to its owner.
Margarita maybe able to keep formally avoiding me but she cannot avoid a court. Our next correspondence with her will be a letter before action giving her 7 days to refund or respond before litigation is commenced.

Our wedding could not have been more amazing at Walton Castle - a true fairytale.

Planning our wedding with Walton Castle couldn't have been simpler. They are always on hand to answer any questions, and also provided us with some excellent advice and ideas when we weren't sure of something. They provided us with excellent suppliers - our food was second to none, my flowers were to die for, and our marquee was just perfect too - all recommended by the venue! They couldn't help enough.

Like many, we had to postpone our wedding from last year due to the pandemic. Unfortunately, our 'perfect date' wasn't available for the next year however they managed to cater for us and we just couldn't thank them enough.

On the day there was always someone available to help - we had an unexpected change in weather (which ended up not affecting us after all!) but they were right there to help with moving things around should we have needed to.

I had absolute no stress as a Bride organising my wedding here - wish we could do it all over again! Can't recommend this place enough!

Thank you Walton Castle!

Laura & Chris x

Both myself and my (now) wife had the dream wedding at this beautiful venue. We couldn’t have asked for a better day! We enjoyed the independence that hiring the venue gave us for planning our wedding. The staff were super helpful if you had any questions during the build up and on the day. Thank you to Margi, Mandy, Carly and Neil for helping us with our very special day.

From the moment we arrived to look at the venue me and my husband knew it was where we wanted to get married! Everyone involved was amazing and nothing was too much. The day went absolutely fabulously and we couldn’t have asked for a better day! We stayed the Friday to Sunday and loved every moment. 100% would recommend and may look at booking another event with them. Totally smitten with everything and everyone.

Had a lovely time at Walton castle at the wedding of friends. Everything was so lovely staff very good everything catered for beautiful place yet without the stuffiness. Felt grand yet comfortable xx

What an amazing venue, what amazing staff and our wedding day was even more amazing. Right from day one, communication between ourselves and Margarita and Mandy was spot on, any worries or questions we had we just rang margarita and she gave us answers straight away , we were able to visit the castle on numerous occasions and sit down and discuss our big upcoming day with them both and felt completely reassured before we left. Nothing was a problem for Margareta we were even allowed our beloved dogs at the castle so they could be involved in our special day. We stayed for 3 nghts and had a fantastic time. The wedding went fantastically and all our guests were overwhelmed by the beauty of the castle and grounds. Neil was such a brilliant help , he helped us unload our car on day one and even helped carry our things up to the bridal suit at the top of the castle , showed us everything we needed to know like light switches, keys etc. Thank you so much Neil. Matt and Emma on the bar exceeded themselves by being so friendly , helpful and so entertaining, all our guests loved them and nothing was a problem to them even the nagging children for more drinks, Matt and Emma you are stars and a credit to the castle.Even our tortoise had great fun walking around the grounds. We had the best time ever and did not want to leave, to top off the experience as we left a baby deer was walking up the drive, Walton castle is full of beauty inside and out. Thank you Margarita so much and thank you Mandy xx

Beautiful wedding venue but the owner is only wanting to get your money and once she has it isn’t interested in helping to make your day special at all.

The bar is very basic and the staff that man it are rude and don't dress up for the occasion.

If you book here then understand that you will be organising everything and on the day you will receive no help at all.

It will end up costing you a lot more than if you were to book a wedding package that would be stress free and allow you to enjoy your day.

From the minute we walked into the castle, we knew this venue was for us. It is in such a magical, peaceful and serene spot and has been renovated by Margarita and her team to a fabulous standard.

One big selling point for us was Margarita said from the start that you pay to hire the castle and then it's up to you to do whatever you want for your big day. She offered us her list of suppliers and recommended to get wedding insurance but, also made it clear if we wanted to use our own suppliers we could. It meant we had the freedom to be as creative as we wanted.

In the build up to the day, you can have as many meetings/phonecalls with Margarita or Mandy as you need/want. Both Margarita and Mandy were always very willing to allow us to pay a visit for whatever reason.

On the weekend itself, we were greeted by Neil the caretaker who kindly showed us round the castle, helped us set up our party tent we had purchased for the day, and even helped carry our bags into the castle. He didn't leave until he checked we were OK with everything.

The day itself was even better than we could ever imagine. All the companies we had sourced and hired for the day were great and Matt, the bar manager was simply fabulous. So many guests commented afterwards on how nice, lively and bubbly he was. Matt was even messaging and calling us the week before to check in and see how we were doing.

The pool and the garden games were great. It meant that the day after the wedding we could do a little pool party and bbq with our close friends and family. The children loved the pool.

None of us ever wanted the weekend to end, it was absolutely perfect from start to finish.

We ensured the place was spotless before we left and the security deposit was returned no problem what's so ever.

Margarita, Mandy, Neil and Matt were a fab team and we appreciated all their help with the big day. If you want a wedding where you have freedom to make the day what you want, this is the perfect place for you. Just wish we could have our time and day again.

Firstly I will start by saying the owner or manager will reply to this review making out that I am making false claims or will try to make out that we are just nightmare clients, but please scroll down and see that others have had the same experience as we have from the owner and manager.

We fell in love with this beautiful castle as soon as we saw it but we had a small budget so were prepared to look else where if we couldn’t make the pricing work, Margareta reassured us that even with our small size budget we could make it work, she told us she had connections with artists and named prices of £250 for a string quartet and huge savings on food vendors that she would be able to source for us, so then the £5500 we paid her for the two nights stay would therefore be manageable, Margareta also told us that they would have staff to help us on the lead up and Mandy would work as our wedding co ordinator on the day, but once we agreed to book and pay.

Everything changed, there was no help leading up to our big day, no amazing discounts on any vendors or performers and on the day the only staff that she supplied were to man her own bar to make sure she made even more money, the two members of staff one being Mandy who we were told would help with the organisation of the day, just stood behind the bar one in very scruffy clothes, with no smile or customer service skills at all.

My new wife and I ran around arranging everything and making sure everyone had a good day.

Then came the clean up, I was up around 6am the next day just to make sure the whole place was clean and tidy, apparently its our responsibility to take away every bit of rubbish in and around the property, as I am former military I made sure the place was as clean as I possibly could.

Then came the kick in the teeth with the refusal to return the security deposit down to a burn mark in a carpet which they say was caused by a hair straightener and also accused us of trying to cover up by putting a chair over the top, the two people staying in that room didn't own hair straighteners and they have no proof that this happened during our visit or was there prior or was caused by the next guests as the photos taken of said damage were taken days after the next guests had left.

The rude emails then started from the owner who enjoys adding !!!!! A lot and trying to talk down to you.

During the dispute about the security deposit which I am sure we will never see again, the owner then sent a vile email about a bed in one of the turrets that she had said “someone had pissed in” and added that this was “shocking behaviour” we have investigated this as well and the person that stayed in there says this never happened and that they even stripped the whole bed and that the mattress was disgusting underneath.

One last thing which I thought we would get an apology for or some money back for was that the swimming pool was freezing and wasn't able to be used by the young babies and children we had the day before our wedding and the morning of our wedding, which I did report to Neil as soon as we got there on day one, he informed me that even after I turn it up it wont be warm for our stay….which it wasn’t, this was a huge selling point to us at the time of booking and was again promised by the owner would be 32 degrees as in her words “who wants a cold pool”

Beautiful place, but you will end up doing everything yourself and will have horrendous customer service unless you are one of the owners friends who leave the good reviews.

Really want to leave my own review of this supplier that is downright disgusting and deserves no business.
We paid 100% of our booking before we had no choice but to postpone our date. Walton Castles terms and conditions state that only the 30% deposit is non refundable. So where was the remaining 70% that we paid?

Initially we wanted to change our date but after my fiancé tried to get a response since September and was told Mandy was away. She pushed again on 3rd October (not 17th October) but was repeatedly ignored by Mandy and Margarita, so this became impossible. After my fiancé left an honest review she has received a hostile email containing foul language and bullying from the venue which I’ve attached below. We have now initiated legal action. Please do not support this venue and I very much hope that Hitched are going to do something about this.

We had our wedding reception at Walton Castle on September 3rd and it exceeded our every expectation! It is the most unique and magical wedding venue- Our guests can't stop commenting on it and our photos are STUNNING. But more than that, Margarita went above and beyond- saving our day not once but twice! Firstly when our original venue went bust just 8 months before our wedding, Walton had our date available and she worked with us and our budget. Then we had further disaster with our caterer cancelling on us just 6 days before the wedding...not only did Margarita answer her phone on a Sunday but singlehandedly rescued our day by finding an incredible replacement caterer, who was actually miles better than our original one could ever have been! Having Walton Castle for the whole weekend with the pool and other facilities was the icing on the cake- we had a BBQ with our nearest and dearest on the Friday night and went swimming on Sunday morning! They were so prompt at replying to every little query we had in the lead up to the wedding and so accommodating with everything we wanted to do- from Sparklers to having a taco truck. Honestly cannot recommend them enough, we will be hiring Walton Castle for the weekend for a future anniversary for sure!

So where do i start....we fell in love with the place as soon as we saw it, and agreed we'd stretch the budget for our August wedding as hiring this place certainly isn't cheap.

The owner made us all sorts of promises in terms of sourcing discounted suppliers for the alcohol, catering, marquee etc. She told us to trust her, as she could provide certain prices to fit within our budget. Little did we know, these prices were non existent, so when we contacted her suggested suppliers, they all gave us higher costs. We had no choice but to proceed - although we realised she'd been economical with the truth, we'd already paid the deposit on the castle which was non refundable. We'd also agreed to purchase all alcohol through her, as she promised she could easily provide it within the budget we specified - we even have this in writing on an email from her. But, low and behold, she doubled the price with no explanation!!

The icing on the cake (no pun intended) was when she refused to refund our £750 security deposit - this is still ongoing. Nearly 3 weeks after the wedding, she sent us a hostile email making falsified claims....no phone call, no discussion, just a rude and horrible email full of accusations.

Honestly, worst experience of our lives. We had a wonderful wedding day, but if you value honest and straightforward people to hand your money over to, then avoid this place like the plague.

Walton Castle, was for us, the perfect location for our wedding. We hired the Castle over the august bank holiday weekend and stretched our wedding celebrations out over four days which allowed us to really relax and spend lots of time with our friends and family. The Castle suited us perfectly – the swimming pool, party turret, bar room, croquet games inside the Castle grounds, rowdy rounders games & archery outside the castle made the place truly unforgettable. We would really like to thank the team up there, especially Franco and Neil, Franco for all his patience and helpful tips and Neil who was always on hand.

Thanks so much for helping to make our wedding so special.

Pip and Graham

Dear Franco Tracey & Neil
We had a fantastic wedding day at Walton Castle. The venue was perfect and Neil did a great job.

With thanks and best wishes