Leez Priory Reviews 17

Leez Priory exceeded every expectation from start to finish. From the very beginning, Rachel, our wedding manager, was absolutely incredible. She patiently answered all our many questions quickly and clearly, making the entire lead-up stress-free and enjoyable. Her calm, friendly, and professional approach gave us such confidence — she truly went above and beyond, and honestly deserves a pay rise! Rachel made the whole experience smooth and unforgettable.

On the day, the staff were amazing — friendly, attentive, and genuinely caring. They took care of every detail without us needing to ask, making everything run perfectly. Our friends and family kept commenting on how welcomed and comfortable they felt thanks to the wonderful team, led by Rachel’s amazing care.

The grounds are breathtaking — picture-perfect castle vibes with beautiful gardens, rolling lawns, and that stunning historic building. Hanging our own flags outside added such a personal touch that made the day feel uniquely ours. The blend of classic, historical charm in the main building with the elegant, modern guest rooms was perfect.

One thing that meant so much to us was how wheelchair-friendly Leez Priory is. My dad is paralysed from the chest down and uses a wheelchair full-time, and the venue made sure he had everything he needed. The accessible guest room was spacious and comfortable, the grounds had well-placed ramps, and accessible toilets were available — nothing ever felt like a struggle. That kind of thoughtfulness made a huge difference to our day.

The food was outstanding throughout — the canapés were delicious with plenty and clear allergen boards, the wedding breakfast was true culinary excellence with generous portions that all our guests complimented, and the evening BBQ feast was fantastic. We loved having an outside dance floor for our live band, then moving inside for a great DJ who kept the party going until 1 am.

The drinks service was top-notch — fast, attentive, and friendly, with an enormous bar selection that had everything you could ask for. The quality of the drinks was exceptional, and the wine was a perfect balance of good quality without being over the top.

Even after the wedding, Leez Priory continued to impress — they helped us find lost items, sent a personal card, and invited us back to future events. It’s clear they genuinely care about their couples long after the big day.

If you’re looking for a stunning, historic venue with incredible staff who truly care, Leez Priory is unbeatable. We couldn’t have asked for a more perfect place or team to celebrate with.

What an amazing place for a wedding. It's absolutely beautiful. Our wedding planner Olivia,she was so helpful. On the day She put us at ease and guided us step by step through the day. Everything looked magical and beautiful, All went off without a hitch. It was very, very cold at the wedding meal, especially the tables adjacent to the door. Food was delicious, and served quickly and efficiently. The staff were helpful and approachable.
It is split because of the different rooms, but it suited us all. The D J was in the lower area and was really good, and late, almost everyone was there for the music and dancing. if you preferred not to there was still beautiful rooms to chat .
Accommodation was clean and lovely, my only niggle was for the price, there
were no Tea /coffee facilities in the
rooms.
So overall...the Christmas wedding was delightful, a wonderful memory to cherish always.

This is the most stunning place for a wedding - the setting and buildings are beautifully done, perfect for photos, and for a wedding party to enjoy. The rooms are tastefully arranged, and the food was good. Breakfast was very good, although fresher tea would have been welcome, and maybe a choice of tea. The basics are there. The rooms are spacious, so we were not cramped when dressing for the wedding. The bed was comfortable, reasonable towels and hot water - if far too softened for my personal taste.

However, I had some reservations. The lavatory pan was stained - not dirty, but with visible build-up at the back of the pan. The shower had black mould around the wall/floor sealant. Also, rainwater showers are not good at getting conditioner out of thick hair. There were few toiletries supplied - this didn't bother me, but people might be caught out if an item is forgotten.

There were no tea/coffee facilities in the room.

The staff were grumpy - I'm sorry, there is no other way to put it. This maybe because they had two weddings very close together, but I would have been unhappy to have them at my wedding. Our wedding and the previous were so closely timed that it felt rather like a conveyor belt and organising decorations and the cake were tricky.

My biggest criticism is of all the gravel - damaging to high heels, and let's face it, women generally like to wear high heels to weddings. I was forced to walk on tiptoe from our room to the main building, back to the dining hall, and back again.

Leez Priory could be perfect for a wedding, but I am sad to say that it fell far short on the practical front, although the wedding I attended was beautiful.

I had so wanted to leave a glowing review of Leez Priory following our wedding day here in August however we are still in the process of getting our things back. The staff “lost” (aka disposed of) some of the sentimental items we provided for our wedding day that we expected to have returned and the lack of care after the wedding is just poor. The last email we sent them was on 19th September, we sent a chaser last week but still no response so based on the lack of after care, I would not recommend. It’s a shame as the venue is beautiful but the team let it down massively.

Beautiful venue. Very helpful staff. Went to a great deal of trouble to cater for quite difficult dietary requirements.
Very pleasant accommodation.
Overall very professional.
Definitely would recommend.

The positives are the venue is beautiful, the food was lovely and the day ran smoothly; unfortunately, that is where it ends. We had terrible service from start to finish. We never met our wedding supervisor because she was off on long term sick and we were only notified the day before the wedding that she had left. Firstly, I would advise not paying for extra drinks because we did and these were not served. We thought that we had missed them in the chaos of photos etc. but no. After speaking to the majority of the guests, they didn't receive one either. When I approached the venue after, they refused to accept their mistake (this is a running theme) and claimed they had given the extra drink. The biggest sadness came when our personalised, very expensive neon sign was returned to us with the wire cut, deeming it useless. Again, when we approached the venue they again avoided taking any responsibility and claimed that their wedding co-ordinator had given it back packaged in the box personally. (It was not packaged at all but because it was raining heavily I didn't notice the damage. She said to they had lost the packaging as she handed it to me, it comes in two parts which click together so i didnt think anything of ig being in two parts.
I find it utterly disgraceful that a venue, which has the audacity to take a 1000 pound deposit for damages, is unwilling to take responsibility for the damage they cause. On a final note, I received a burn on my leg when trying to maneuver in my dress in the room where the Bride gets ready because the towel rail was extremely hot (why the heating was on in August I'm not sure anyway).

Leez Priory was a beautiful setting for my daughter's wedding. The grounds are just lovely and the Priory itself is just wonderful and steeped in English history, you could almost feel yourself stepping back in time with the oak woodwork and the log fires. The decor was lovely, and as it was just post-Christmas those festive decorations were lovely and very tasteful. The ceremony room was well laid out and decorated, and afterwards the dining room beautiful. The food was excellent, well presented. Overall the staff, led by Olivia r were first class and very professional.
However, at the time of booking my daughter felt under pressure to fill as many of the accommodation rooms as possible to be included in the price, which she did and people were looking forward to staying at a cost of £140 a night with breakfast, which incidentally was fine - pricey but convenient.
The rooms were clean, well most of them, our friends stayed in No.9 of the Courtyard and took pictures on her phone of marks on the walls, shower and stained carpet. The worst of all was the fact that there is NO water pressure and no hot water - we could not shower the next day. Of note, in the Fisherman's Cottage where my daughter stayed she could not bath as the cold tap just dribbled brown water!
On the website there are rooms with Tea/Coffee making facilities. There were none in the rooms.
I have raised the water issue to Leez Prior who have, basically kissed it off. No, we didn't report it in the morning as we were aware breakfast was at 0845-0930 and we all had to be gone by 10 (usual for hotels too). This was the most disappointing factor and the fact the email back was a 'well you didn't say anything at the time, so hard luck'.
Despite all this, I would cetainly not put anyone off from getting married there, it really is a gorgeous venue, and probably as lovely for any season in the year. But, I'd think twice about the accommodation though especially as there's loads of BNBs close by, cheaper and probably with Hot and Cold running water.

Stayed recently for a wedding and I found the place beautiful and the food was of high quality and the best roast beef dinner I have had for a while.
I really missed having tea/coffee facilities in the bedroom. There was bottled water but not hot drinks! And maybe some biscuits.
The staff were lovely and nothing was an issue that I could see. It could do with another bar or maybe a hot drinks area.

I really wanted to give this a 5 star rating, however because of a theft I can not...
Leez priory is such a beautiful setting for a wedding and my Neice was married there in July. The wedding was averaged sized and the venue was superb. Staff seemed very attentive and all was perfect. That was until someone decided to take £250 from my sisters bag the bridal suite during the event. Just to explain, this room is next to Priory One, and is used for the bride and bridesmaids to get ready. I don't believe there is a door there and the bride, the bridesmaids, and my sister left all their belongings there thinking they were safe as it was a private event. Unfortunately they were not. There were only a small, handful of people staying in the main house and all were immediate family. No one but staff had reason to go there.
My sister has still not had any meaningful update from Leez Priory despite the presence of cctv. I have asked her to report to Essex Police.
The theft aside, this would have been 5 star, such a beautiful Place, just be weary of your belongings.
One further thing, I know some will be asking why belongings weren't locked in rooms, however check in was at 12, the service started at 1 so there literally was no time for the bride, bridesmaids and my sister (brides mother) to get ready, check in and do the service. I'd have expected better follow up.

What can I say….! We had the most magical day you could ever imagine! It was perfect from start to finish… the venue is STUNNING! We got married in the Tudor tower which is just beautiful. In fact we made use of every single room in the venue between the ceremony and wedding breakfast and next days breakfast!!
We had a totally vegan wedding breakfast and the food was outstanding!
The staff are very friendly and accommodating and the rooms and grounds are amazing.
Olivia was our personal wedding planner and she was wonderful throughout the day.
We made use of the fisherman’s cottage the night before the wedding and it was gorgeous, albeit very very cold. We couldn’t light the wood fire as the lighters were all out of gas. We contacted the site manager who came immediately to the cottage (this was Boxing Day) and she lit the fire for us and made sure we were ok! Great service.
I honestly had one of the best days of my life!! Thank you so much Leez and all your wonderful staff 💞💞💞

Lovely venue but………
No heating whatsoever in the main dining hall on what was the coldest weekend of the year.
No contingency plan to supply any alternative form of heating. Guests dining in overcoats, parkas, scarves and anything else to keep warm during dinner.
Guests paid hundreds of pounds for outfits only to appear in wedding photos wearing topcoats.
The same hall used for breakfast next day, still no heating. I wore a ski coat and was still shivering.
No microphone so impossible to hear speeches.
What a shambles, the place was literally run by teenagers.
Where were the management to sort this shambles?
No wonder they kept a VERY low profile!!!
If you cannot provide a warm environment for a winter function in the main hall, you should not be open during the winter months.

Would never stay here again, they seem to turn the heating off at a certain point of the night - definitely before 12. Me and my partner were left shivering in bed with no heating or hot water. For the money you Pay it is an absolute disgrace.

Yesterday we celebrated the marriage of our Daughter Holly-Faye Clatworthy and David Norwood.

We are all so proud to know these 2 lovely people.
The love for Holly and David from friends and family is unquestionable and evidently infinite.
They light up every room they enter.
Their energy is electric.
Their passion for life insatiable.
Their love for everyone they meet, is guaranteed, every time.
The challenge for Holly to fall in love with and marry someone that shared her passion for life would have been no mean feat, however her dream certainly came to reality yesterday.

We thank everyone that have supported Holly and David and the lovely guests that celebrated with us.
Everyone looked absolutely fabulous and was so so happy.

We thank the wonderful photography and videography team that relentlessly trapped every treasured memory of our wonderful day. (Simply cannot wait to see the footage!)

We thank every team member at Leez Priory that provided an outstanding, faultless and unforgettable experience. They all worked tirelessly to ensure that the entire day went exactly as planned.
Our Wedding planner, Sinita, was absolutely exceptional, with her calm and caring nature and insatiable appetite to please, she simply delivered the perfect day.

The day was simply amazing and couldn't possibly have been any more special.

We wish our beautiful family, the Norwood family, Holly, David Phoebe Rose and Lyla, a long life of happiness.

All our love Wayne and Angela

Think some of these reviews regarding wheelchair accessibility are deeply unfair. We visited and booked the venue very recently - the venue clearly states it's mostly gravel and to alert them to any special requirements needed in advance. My mother uses a wheelchair and I nearly cancelled our viewing because of these reviews. However when we arrived there are several (adequate) ramps and the accessibility was exactly as described on their website (though I know they're making further improvements too). It is a grade 1 listed building, I'm not sure what people were expecting?!

I'll be back to review once our wedding takes place next year, but wanted to comment now because I wonder how many people have opted not to book here (or even close family members decide not to attend weddings) because of these reviews.

beautiful wedding venue,,but food was poor, bar and dance floor on different levels. this venue really splits up the wedding party and had the worst dj ever. staff worked very hard .

This venue is advertised as having ramps to facilitate access to all ground floor rooms of the main house. This is not correct and the venue is not wheelchair accessible at all.

Inadequate steep homemade ramps made of thin board were placed by outdoor steps which were unsafe and unstable. Every doorway to enter the property has a step to get over. The car park and pathways are all deeply gravelled which is very hard to navigate or move in a wheelchair. Also the disabled toilet is not accessible (due to having to get over a step to get in the building) and minimal handrails, although they say on the website the facilities are for guests with mobility issues rather than wheelchair users.

The venue told my brother-in-law (and now sister-in-law) that the venue was wheelchair accessible, however when we arrived it soon became clear that it wasn’t. I ended up sat in the car for the ceremony before having to drive home with my husband (the grooms brother) as I had no way to access any of the venue or the toilets. We’re not in any of the wedding photos etc as I couldn’t access it.

Totally disability discrimination and so much the venue could have done, without major building work, using proper portable ramps, to allow a wheelchair user access. Not even a formal apology or confirmation they’ll sort this and remedy the hurt caused by this extremely serious issue.

The worst wedding venue I’ve ever been to, me and my wife went to my brothers wedding and my wife happens to be disabled, the venue assured us it was accessible for wheelchairs, when we got there my wife’s wheelchair couldn’t move because her chair sank into the gravel, then we were told she had to use an illegal ramp then we couldn’t get her wheelchair through the building, she was forced to wait in the car while the service went on and after that I was forced to choose between my brother and my wife. People pay for this?