5 Star Weddings chats to Sarah Beeny on the restoration of Rise Hall

Everyone’s talking about Sarah Beeny’s new wedding venue, Rise Hall. As always, 5 Star Wedding Directory was hot on Sarah’s heels, to find out if her venture was worth it and what sort of venue brides can expect if they want to marry at Rise Hall.

Yorkshire Wedding Venus - Rise Hall Yorkshie
Yorkshire Wedding Venus – Rise Hall Yorkshire

5 Star Weddings: What makes Rise Hall the perfect wedding venue?

Sarah Beeny: The fact that it’s your own home for your wedding day – it is very much NOT a hotel – and it’s beautiful. The building itself is a 97 room, Grade II* listed Georgian stately home, it really is a great location and there are 30 acres of beautiful land around you too.

Yorkshire Wedding Venus - Rise Hall Yorkshie
Yorkshire Wedding Venus – Rise Hall Yorkshire

5 Star Weddings: What is included in a wedding package at Rise Hall?

Sarah Beeny: Anything to want – within reason! We have a company who will tailor make your perfect day for you, so there aren’t too many restrictions and we really want to cater for most people.

Wedding Venues
Image courtesy of Sarah Beeny

5 Star Weddings: Has Rise Hall turned out to be the venue you originally envisioned?

Sarah Beeny: It’s wonderful watching the house come back to life. When we bought the property it really was in quite a state. It’s an ongoing project and one we will probably never finish – but it’s getting better all the time.

Rise Hall
Image courtesy of Sarah Beeny

5 Star Weddings: Why did you decide to take on this mammoth renovation project?

Sarah Beeny: It seemed wrong on so many levels to allow the building to disappear for future generations – not only environmentally as it used a load of the earth’s resources to build it in the first place, but also because it is of great historical and architectural importance.  The Hall is also our home and has been for some years now, and it’s hard to live somewhere like that without wanting to meddle with things.

Luxury Wedding Venues Yorkshire
Image courtesy of Sarah Beeny

5 Star Weddings: How much did you spend in total on restoring Rise Hall?

Sarah Beeny: It’s an ongoing project – a fraction of what the National Trust would have spent! We have been lucky enough to work with some fantastic companies and they’ve been very kind in helping us get everything in order at a generally low-cost.

Grand Wedding Venues
Image Courtesy of Sarah Beeny

5 Star Weddings: Have you got another property in the pipeline?

Sarah Beeny: We have a home in London – and of course our development and investment businesses but I don’t think I’d have the energy for another Rise Hall!!

5 Star Weddings: What would be your five tops tips for newlyweds entering the property market together for the first time.

Sarah Beeny:

1) Look on www.tepilo.com – our property website – you can find some great properties and deal directly with the owners, which might save you some money. There’s also lots of advice and you can ask any questions you need to – we’re impartial so will do our best to help.

2) Don’t overstretch yourself financially – it will only lead to months or years of misery.

3) Move a little further out of the area you might have originally wanted to be in to save money or gain more space.

4) Be realistic about how much work you are really able to do on your new home – it takes time, money and skill to get it right, and if you’re working the last thing you want to come home to is a bathroom to tile.

5) Think about renting before buying – and enjoy your new marriage!

5 Star Weddings: You are the property expert – were there any new and valuable lessons you learnt from renovating Rise Hall?

Sarah Beeny: Endless lessons – you never stop learning with the property as every situation is different. Fire regulations nearly stopped the wedding going ahead, and I never knew how much you had to do to get a wedding licence.

5 Star Weddings: What public figure would you like to see getting married at Rise Hall?

Sarah Beeny: William and Kate – of course!

5 Star Weddings: What, in your opinion, makes a 5-star wedding?

Sarah Beeny: Great venue – great music – great friends – great champagne and enough food to soak it all up!

Grand Wedding Venues Yorkshire
Image Courtesy of Sarah Beeny

Sarah set up her own property development and investment companies at the age of 24 along with her brother and her husband.  With her business a success, Sarah was approached to be the presenter of Channel 4’s prime time show ‘Property Ladder’.

Enjoying the opportunity to bring the property to the nation, Sarah has presented many other shows such as ‘Pay Off Your Mortgage’, ‘Streets Ahead’, ‘Help! My house is falling down’ and ‘Britain’s Best Home’, and has also written several best-selling books.

Sarah has now launched www.tepilo.com, already a market leading private property sales website which aims to bring a change to the way we buy, sell and let houses. The company was recently voted one of the top 100 small businesses in the UK, the top 20 start-ups, was shortlisted for the website of the year and is now a finalist in this year’s BIMA awards.

In 2005 Sarah created the online website, www.mysinglefriend.com which has been a phenomenal success and changed the attitude to online dating in this country.

Sarah’s latest venture is www.risehall.com, a Grade II* listed, 97 room property now open for weddings and events – her home and restoration project as featured on Channel 4 in the television series Beeny’s Restoration Nightmare.

Copyright 5 Star Wedding Directory 2010