Searching for an elegant country wedding venue in the heart of the New Forest, with lakes, rivers and wild ponies quite literally on the doorstep? Then let us introduce you to The Montagu Arms – it’s the venue you’ve been looking for, trust us.
With a name like The Montagu Arms, you’d expect a bit of history, and that’s exactly what you get at this boutique country hotel. 200 years have shaped this country house into the luxurious bolthole it is today, where they invite you to “take your cue from the ponies: graze, wander and enjoy the quiet.” Add to that its location in picturesque Beaulieu, which literally translates from French to ‘beautiful place’, and you may just have found a rural wedding venue to rival even the biggest of manor houses.
The Montagu Arms can be yours exclusively should you wish, but you can still hold your wedding here without needing to close the hotel if you’ll be having a more intimate gathering. A smouldering fire envelopes you in a warm welcome, and you’ll find a similar crackling ambiance in the conservatory, too. In fact, whether you choose to say your vows in The Terrace or in the Oakwood Room, you’ll have a grand fireplace for your backdrop. These are just a taste of the period features that fill the hotel with period charm – a charm that sits just the right side of grand while remaining ever so cosy and inviting.
As dusk falls and dinner beckons, settle down in the comfortable armchairs of The Terrace for a taste of 3AA Rosette dining, a meal that began a delightful amuse bouche and finished with a salted caramel fondant like no other. Hold your wedding here and you’ll create your menu with Head Chef Matthew Tomkinson, whose culinary motto of making the New Forest his larder is an enviable one. Did we mention the 2,200 bottles of wine stocked in the cellar?
We awoke in the morning in our roomy and light four-poster bed to soft bird song and the patter of rain, but at The Montagu Arms a little wet weather won’t spoil your day in the slightest. You’ll be blessed with huge windows in The Terrace and the conservatory as well as the characterful diamond-shaped panes, and we can personally verify that the views are just as beautiful in the rain. Drawing back the curtains, the light dappled in through the beautiful leaded windows and wooden casements. It’s a place that feels as close to a fairytale as it does to reality – where better to wake up for the first time as husband and wife?
V I S I T montaguarmshotel.co.uk
C A L L 01590 612324
