We recently visited The Lake District in Cumbria, UK for a wedding which took place at The Grand at Grasmere.
I’ll admit I’ve never really ‘got’ The Lakes – as you can probably tell from my aesthetic I’m more palm trees than pine cones and with flights being so cheap to Europe from the UK I’ve never felt the urge to take mini breaks within the UK.
We decided to spend 4 days in Grasmere over the wedding and make a weekend of it – it is about an 8-10 hour drive with decent stops from Kent to Cumbria. This was just enough time to take part in wedding festivities and have a chance to explore.
This post is going to focus on the Grand at Grasmere as a hotel but I am 100% going to do some follow up Lake District posts – the area is so beautiful you don’t even feel like you are in the UK and there are so many places to explore within the district.
This was actually the first wedding the hotel had ever held but you would never have guessed, the owners executed the wedding day to perfection.
The hotel feels homely but unique. The decor is very modern and classy with ‘countryside’ touches. The main building boats a bar with an extremely wide gin selection, cosy seating areas, a full restaurant with open kitchen and a gorgeous outside lawn area with views of the countryside and Grasmere Lake.
Our bedroom also overlooked the lake and we were greeted with a beautiful sunrise each morning. The room was spacious with a HUGE bed and lots of amenities including large dresser, hairdryer, tea and coffee facilities and Molton Brown bath and shower products. I forgot to take photos of the room before we unpacked our (excessive) luggage but you can take a look at the rooms here.
When we arrived we met up with friends and visited The Grand’s bar and restaurant – Cafe Grand. The menu was great with the option of a set Christmas menu or a la carte. I went a la carte and had the most beautiful mushroom ravioli to start, followed by lamb and a salted caramel chocolate mousse. Mark had the set menu of Salmon, Turkey Christmas diner and a cheese board. The food was great and very reasonably priced – The 3 course set menu was £21.50. we had wine with dinner but I did have a cheeky pink gin with pink tonic to start off with!
Breakfast at The Grand was also AMAZING – Not only did we receive a full continental buffet every day but also had the choice of one dish from the hot food menu. The cold buffet included smoked salmon which we all took full advantage off… I paired this with the smashed avocado and poached eggs on toast and added some hollandaise sauce which the friendly kitchen staff were more than happy to provide. The buffet also included pastries, yogurts, fruit and cereals.
As we visited in December the hotel was all decked out for Christmas and the details were so stunning, there were little touches all over the hotel and of course a gorgeous tree.
The hotel was advertising their special deals for stays over the Christmas and New Year period during our visit, I would definitely recommend checking out offers during the year on The Grand’s website or book up early for a festive stay in 2019!
The execution of Jack and Emily’s beautiful wedding was amazing by the hotel owners and staff, the wedding breakfast was incredible – especially the profiteroles which I am kicking myself for not getting a picture of! They were insanely good and even came with little pots of chocolate and whites chocolate sauce to pour over… A highlight of the day for sure!
The bride has informed me her gorgeous flowers were arranged by Valerie Ann’s in Windermere and the cake was made by Karen from Green’s Cafe and Bistro, Grasmere– They both fit in beautifully with the decor at The Grand.
I used the excuse of a winter church wedding to wear a hat! The hat is actually my Grandmothers from the 1950-60s and I was really happy with how it turned out- even though the day started off formally by the end of the evening everyone let their hair down, went up to their rooms and exchanged their heels for ‘The Grand’ slippers and danced the night away!
Overall I couldn’t recommend The Grand at Grasmere enough, it’s in a fab location within the village, a short walk from a number of shops, pubs and other amenities. The rooms are spacious and well decorated with an incredible view and the food both for breakfast and in the restaurant was is 5*. The staff went above and beyond both in terms of pulling off an incredible wedding and in general guest service.
Take a look at The Grand’s website for more information. I have a feeling we will be back!
