National Centre for Early Music

We booked the venue to hold our evening reception for our wedding. We booked the evening before and whole day of the wedding. The venue is beautiful and simple. It made us able to create the vision we wanted to make it unique to us and the fact it had a music link worked brilliantly with our wedding theme. They were brilliant as helping us throughout the process of planning and on the day were amazing to the point we barely noticed them! They just got on with the job and made sure everything ran smoothly and we could enjoy our wedding. We would highly recommend this venue, its just perfect especially for any couples who just want their evening do in a different location.

We had the most perfect wedding day and having our reception at NCEM definitely played a big part in this. We always loved the appearance and space of the centre and the fact it was a historical site meant a lot to us. The site was the perfect size for the number of guests that we had (70 with a further 15ish to the evening celebrations), and we also loved that we had a garden space on the day so that the guests could move about where they wanted. We also had a Ceilidh band followed by a disco in the evening and the size of the venue was perfect for this – we were comfortably able to move around without being squished in. We liked that the space was neutrally decorated inside whilst maintaining an historic feel – this made the venue really easy to decorate as because it was so beautiful inside anyway, we didn’t need to do too much to it to prepare it for our big day. We decorated the venue with candles, flowers, and fairy lights and that was enough as the centre is so lovely already. Better than the appearance and space of the NCEM venue were the staff that helped us along the way. From the day we requested a look around the venue up until the day itself, Emily from NCEM was always there and ready to assist us. No matter how many questions or how silly they were (and believe me when I say I asked some silly questions!) Emily always helped to advise us and found out extra details for us when we requested them. We do not think we would have had the amazing day that we had if it wasn’t for Emily’s help in the run up to the day and also Chris, Mark, and Debs’ assistance on the day itself. Every single person just mentioned was a delight to work with, all so caring and nothing was a problem. Whilst areas of planning a wedding is stressful, working with the venue was never stressful at all and we are so thankful for that. We would strongly recommend NCEM as a wedding venue for other couples, it is a stunning venue and the help from the staff really make this a place to get involved with. We wanted to say a massive thank you to the wonderful staff for making our wedding day as special as it was!!!

Friendly and accommodating staff, with a very friendly and relaxed atmosphere. A large space you can make your own but also it is naturally beautiful so doesn’t need much decorations. The staff took the time to understand and provide for the needs and wishes of the individual couple and their guests. Emily and Hannah tried very hard to support and make the most of a more intimate wedding due to covid restrictions. Very easy to move around for family member in wheelchair. Great outside space. A special thank you to Lindsay Whitwell who was the venue manager for our wedding, she is the most bubbly, caring and ensured our day was fantastic. Her enthusiasm, easy going attitude and clear love of the job just eased my worries about the day and her high spirits are infectious, she is a huge asset to your team.

A huge thank you to Hannah, Mark and Lindsey for making our day beyond perfection. They really do go above and beyond to make your day as special and stress-free as possible. The caterers Bradshaws were also incredibly easy to work with and accommodating to our needs. All our guests were wowed by the space, and incredibly complementary about the NCEM, how beautiful it is, the location, the garden space and of course the staff! We could not recommend the NCEM enough! Thank you for the perfect day!

We booked the NCEM as our evening venue (they also offer full day hire) and were immensely satisfied. Very conveniently placed just inside the city walls, with a beautiful old church hall as the main space. All the staff were wonderful from the beginning when Hannah looked after us as we toured the venue, and then Mark and Lindsay looked after us so well ok the night. The venue is very well cared for and they have a number of decorations in house that you can discuss with them such as fairy lights and up lights which they can help you set up. All in all we had a fantastic day and the NCEM and all their staff played an important part in making it so!

From the beginning, the communication was excellent and we were positive that the NCEM was the perfect venue for us. The help from everyone before the Saturday was appreciated and it meant we could relax and enjoy our big day knowing everything was completed or in safe hands. On the day, all staff were professional, willing and good humoured, even when some guests were lingering at the end of the night! We also had a lot of guests remarking how kind and helpful all the staff were, in particular Mark who helped a guest with her young baby. We had such a fantastic day celebrating with our friends and family and it really could not have been better. Thank you to you and your team at the NCEM for making our day so special!