An exclusive north Norfolk wedding venue has applied for planning permission to convert its barns into accommodation for guests.
Hautbois Hall, in Little Hautbois, is a private wedding venue located between the villages of Buxton and Coltishall.
The owners of the 16th Century hall, couple Paul Poby and Sally Blandford, have submitted plans to convert barns at the site into three new rooms to sleep up to eight wedding guests.
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It would double the venue’s existing overnight capacity - with the Tudor hall currently providing accommodation for up to eight wedding guests in three holiday cottages.
Cheryl Beeney, Hautbois Hall’s wedding planner, said the accommodation currently available is “not enough”.
“We’re always fully-booked every year,” she said.
“We never want to have more than 25 weddings a year. Paul and Sally the owners live at the hall so they never want the hall to become a wedding conveyor belt by having weddings one after another.
“It’s very much a family business. We want to make sure we look after each couple and get to know them rather than it being a wedding factory where they are in one day and out the next.”
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The hall - which was built in 1555 as a Tudor manor house - is celebrating its tenth anniversary as a wedding venue.
Miss Beeney has assured residents living near the hall that the plans for expansion will not lead to more weddings taking place at the venue each year.
“When we first opened up 10 years ago, we had local residents enquiring because they were not used to having a wedding venue on their doorstep,” she said.
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“We squashed their fears and said we’re not going to be doing lots of weddings every day and we’ve never had a complaint in 10 years.
“In the current climate, this year in particular, we’ve seen a decline - not in bookings but certainly in people’s budgets.
"When people booked for this year, they were booking a couple of years ago so they were uncertain with coming out of lockdown and the restrictions as to where they were going to be financially.
"This year, people have gone for more midweek packages or micro weddings."
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