Getting married in Kent at the Hythe Imperial Hotel
From the night before to the first dance, let’s walk you through the whole thing…
By now, we bet you’ve looked at every photo on our website, pored over all the wedding packages, and maybe even driven past a few times, wondering what it would be like.
But what a glossy brochure or fancy website can’t give you is what it actually feels like to get married at the Hythe Imperial Hotel. And when you’re looking around at all the wedding venues in Kent, that’s probably what matters most.
So instead of another list of all the function rooms and what we include in our Kent wedding packages, we thought we’d walk you through a wedding day at our beautiful venue… as it could unfold…
And naturally, almost every part of it is yours to change and make your own.
The night before… when it all suddenly becomes real!
One of the big advantages of a hotel wedding venue in Kent is that your wedding doesn’t have to begin with the ceremony – it can start the day before!
Depending on which of our Kent wedding packages you choose, you’ll be staying with us at the hotel the evening before. Relax in comfort the night before your big day… then you’ll simply wake up at your wedding venue.
It’s a great way to help with nerves. Especially if you want to use our hotel spa for a little extra pampering the day before!
Not at all compulsory, of course. But not a bad way to start your wedding.
Time to get married
We’ve all seen chaotic weddings. Dresses hanging from unlikely places, someone’s lost a shoe, and Grandad’s trousers suddenly don’t fit…
But with everything already planned with precision by our Weddings Team Georgia and Alicia, you can relax a little. Or at least try to!
Because soon it’ll be time to do the thing, and to actually get married.
Depending on what you’ve planned, and what the Kent weather decides to do, your ceremony can take place inside the hotel – or out in the large gardens.
In the summertime, our Kent coast weddings use the Victorian-style gazebo – which is set in our landscaped gardens. This offers picture-perfect wedding photos.
Or you can use the terrace overlooking the sea. Some couples even take advantage of our location and have photos taken on the pebbly beach directly in front of the hotel.
Other highlights of our venue include Kent’s only Moët & Chandon champagne bar, where you and your guests can enjoy a drink, and also our spectacular chandelier – one of the longest in Europe!
It’s all part of the fun of choosing our Kent coastal wedding venue – you have the hotel spaces, gardens and the seaside all in one place.
Ready for all weathers
In Kent, the Garden of Kent, we get up to 1,932 hours of sunshine a year. That’s enough for it to rank as the sunniest place on the UK mainland.
This is England, though. And many years of planning weddings in Kent has taught us not to plan an entire wedding around the assumption that the forecast will behave.
Because our hotel has a flexible choice of rooms, an indoor ceremony space is always ready as a back-up.
It’s just another way choosing a hotel wedding venue in Kent can give you added peace of mind – you’re going to have an amazing wedding. Whatever the weather.
So come sunshine, clouds or the odd shower… your wedding can always carry on exactly as planned.
You’re married. Now disappear for ten minutes.
This should be one of your favourite, and most memorable moments in the whole wedding day…
After months or perhaps even years of planning, you’ve done it, and said “I do”.
But after the applause, the hugs and the kisses, now everyone wants to congratulate you all at once, and suddenly the day is moving fast!
So… just stop. Just for a little quiet moment together.
We find that many of our couples always make a point of taking a little moment straight after their ceremony. Just the two of them, to have a sip of champagne and to take it all in.
Ten minutes, that’s all.
It’s a perfect little timeout before you head back to the next stage of your wedding day…
Head into the grand Imperial Ballroom
Eventually… someone has to persuade everybody to stop taking photographs and to get on with the rest of the day!
For many of the larger weddings we host here, that’s the moment the Imperial Ballroom takes over as the centre of your big celebration.
In this grand space the tables are dressed, stunning flowers are in place, the glasses of wine are poured, and most importantly by this point… the food is on its way!
Our Hythe Wedding Package includes a three-course wedding breakfast, along with wine and drinks for the toasts, and uses the Imperial Ballroom, private bar, our terrace and sundeck as the main reception spaces.
And once everyone has found their seat, raised a glass and settled in… it’s time for another key part of the day. The food!
Enjoy award-winning cuisine
Now everyone’s favourite bit, it’s time to enjoy the delicious wedding food…
And when you get married at the Hythe Imperial, that food comes from the same kitchens behind our AA Rosette-winning Coast restaurant, which has now held its esteemed award for ten years.
Our expert chefs focus on modern British cooking – using fresh, seasonal and locally-sourced produce from Kent, with most suppliers based within 30 miles of the hotel.
Current wedding breakfast choices range from roast chicken breast, pork porchetta and baked salmon to a wealth of vegetarian options, followed by favourites including sticky toffee pudding, chocolate brownie and raspberry and white chocolate meringue roulade. Amazing wedding breakfast upgrade options such as a BBQ option, hot buffet or even your own Fish & Chip van for the night!
There’s lots of flexibility too. Georgia and Alicia from our Weddings Team and our talented chefs can help shape your menu around your tastes and dietary requirements. And with our Hythe Wedding Package you’ll have a complimentary wedding breakfast and wine tasting before the big day.
This tasting means you don’t have to hope everyone will love the food… you can sit down, taste it, talk through the choices and decide what you actually want to serve.
Then when the day arrives, all that’s left to do is sit down, raise a glass and enjoy it with everyone you love.
Time for the speeches!
Then the bit that makes some people nervous… the speeches.
Some are beautifully prepared with love, some have bad jokes, and some go on a bit too long! But that’s all part of the fun of getting your families and friends together in one room on your big day.
Either way, this is usually where the formal part of the day starts to loosen its tie a little.
And now, somehow, you’re already several hours into the wedding you’ve spent a year planning!
Cutting the cake and your first dance
By now the formal bit of the day is pretty much done. Which means it’s time to relax a little…
It’s time to cut your cake and take some more great photos for the album. Some of the amazing cakes we see at the hotel look almost too good to eat!
Then the lights go down, the music goes up, and it’s time for your first dance.
Maybe you’ve practised it for months. Or perhaps you decided what you were doing ten minutes ago!
After your delicious wedding breakfast, toasts, speeches and first dance are done, guests can drift out onto the hotel sundecks and the terrace, which overlooks the sea. It gives everyone a little breather…
Then they can return to the celebrations in the Ballroom… which can go on until late!
We’re a hotel, so nobody needs a taxi home
Best of all? Choosing a Kent hotel wedding venue means you and your guests can all stay the night.
It’s another reason hotel weddings work so well… when the last song has played and it’s time to go to bed, you’re already where you need to be.
The happy couple can stay with us at the hotel in a luxury room, while we have plenty of accommodation for your guests too. This is super handy when you have members of family who have travelled down for the day – nobody wants to slip away early because there’s a two-hour drive waiting for them.
Of course some guests will still want to stay late then get a taxi home… but it gives you flexibility that rooms are available should people want to stay and make a little holiday out of it.
With our signature Hythe Wedding Package, your wedding-night stay is included in the price, plus discounted rooms are available for guests.
You did it!
After you’re married, it’s time to start building a brand-new chapter in your lives together…
And taking a step back… Is this blog exactly how your Hythe Imperial wedding will look? To the letter?
Probably not. And that’s the point really.
Every wedding is different. It has to match your personalities, your style, your plans. It needs to feel right for you both.
However you envisage your perfect Kent wedding, we have an expert Weddings Team to help you make it happen. Both Georgia and Alicia will be by your side from day one, through planning, and right up to the day itself.
Get in touch with them today and why not book a showround to see our award-winning hotel for yourself?
Start planning your Kent wedding
No two weddings are the same. You can make yours as grand and luxurious as you want, or perhaps smaller and more intimate…
Our hotel is big enough to be flexible, and has a range of function rooms and spaces to choose from to really make it your own.
The Kent wedding packages are a great place to begin. You can use them as a framework, then personalise everything around it. They include so much for a fixed price, making planning and staying on budget easy.
Because the truth is there just isn’t a typical Hythe Imperial wedding. Every one is beautiful and individual.
But it is time to start planning what your version might look like.
