Wedding organisers: venue coordination at Tottington Manor

Wedding organisers at Tottington Manor connect your ceremony, reception and overnight stay through one venue team. Our Weddings Team supports your planning and wedding day, with the accommodation, reserved spaces and named coordination roles determined by your chosen package.

What our wedding organisers coordinate

Our Weddings Team helps coordinate timings, spaces, food, drinks and accommodation, bringing your decisions into a workable venue plan.

At Tottington Manor, near Henfield in West Sussex, your ceremony, reception, wedding breakfast, evening celebration and overnight stay can share one setting. That means the team discussing your meal also understands how the dining arrangements fit around photographs, speeches and the evening party.

Venue coordination connects those arrangements before the wedding and supports their delivery on the day. You make the choices about your celebration; we help connect them with the rooms, hospitality and people delivering it.

General Weddings Team support is distinct from the separately named Wedding Co-ordinator and Master of Ceremonies roles included in our Exclusive package.

Venue coordinators and independent planners

A venue coordinator works within the venue’s operation, while an independent planner works to a separate agreement with you. Their responsibilities can complement each other.

Lorna Marie Events distinguishes venue-specific coordination from an independent role covering wider wedding arrangements. A venue coordinator understands how the property operates, including its spaces, service arrangements and finishing times. Full independent planning can also cover budget management, venue sourcing and supplier selection.

A wedding day-of coordinator also needs preparation before the celebration. Camellio describes coordination as reviewing an existing timeline and finalised suppliers before delivering the day. The visible work happens at the wedding, but the handover happens earlier.

If you appoint an independent planner, introduce them to the venue team. Agree who manages wider supplier arrangements, who handles venue operations and how changes will be shared. Both roles can then work from the same agreed plan.

Pre-wedding liaison and supplier handovers

Pre-wedding liaison brings your ceremony, reception, catering and accommodation decisions into one venue plan. Supplier handovers establish who needs to arrive, what they need and who will meet them.

Your venue arrangements

Bring your wedding planning decisions together before discussing the finer details. The ceremony setting affects guest movements; the meal schedule affects photographs and speeches; overnight stays affect arrival and getting-ready arrangements.

A tasting with the team behind TERRA Restaurant is a practical planning conversation as well as a chance to choose food. Discuss presentation, wine, dietary adaptations, table service and the pace of the meal.

Include speeches in that conversation so the kitchen and running order follow a connected plan.

Agreed supplier handovers

Share supplier contacts, arrival arrangements and changes with the Weddings Team, then agree who handles each handover. Within our Exclusive package, the Wedding Co-ordinator remains the planning link between you, the venue team and agreed suppliers.

Lorna Marie Events identifies power requirements and supplier meals as details worth settling beforehand. Include those requirements in the relevant agreements, with responsibility clearly assigned.

For example, a musician’s arrival time alone does not explain their setup needs. Share the agreed requirements before the wedding so the right people can discuss them. Liaising with agreed suppliers has a defined scope; unrestricted supplier sourcing is a separate planning service.

Ceremony arrangements and registrar responsibilities

Our Weddings Team connects your ceremony setting with the reception and agrees an indoor alternative for outdoor arrangements. Outdoor ceremonies depend on the venue’s licence, registrar requirements and weather.

Your separate registrar booking

Reserving Tottington Manor does not automatically book your registrar. West Sussex County Council requires you to choose and provisionally book your venue before completing its external-venue registrar booking form.

You also need to arrange and attend your notice appointments separately. Venue coordination brings the ceremony into your celebration plan; the registration service handles the legal ceremony arrangements.

Before the ceremony begins

West Sussex County Council advises that registrars arrive approximately 45 minutes before the booked ceremony time. You must be ready for the pre-ceremony interview 20 minutes before the start.

Your ceremony time therefore cannot be the first fixed point in your getting-ready schedule. Allow for the interview when discussing dressing, photographs and access to each partner. Share any plans to remain apart before the ceremony so those movements can be considered too.

Wedding-day support and guest announcements

Wedding-day support connects the agreed plan with hospitality delivery, while a Master of Ceremonies guides guests through the celebration. The roles work alongside each other.

Coordination behind the scenes

Within our Exclusive package, the Wedding Co-ordinator turns the preparation into operational support so you do not have to run the schedule. The venue team connects food, drinks, wedding spaces and transitions throughout the celebration.

Speech timings are also a kitchen decision. Moving a speech changes when a prepared course needs to be served. Our Weddings Team recommends coordinating speakers and the kitchen so food is not left waiting.

If you want to change the running order during the reception, tell the team before the next course is ready. That gives the people preparing and serving your meal a chance to respond.

The Master of Ceremonies role

A Master of Ceremonies, or MC, gathers guests, makes announcements and supports transitions between the ceremony, reception, wedding breakfast and evening celebration.

Toastmaster Dan works alongside our wedding and hospitality teams. In his account of a Tottington Manor wedding, Dan describes meeting the venue team and suppliers, helping with ceremony positioning and briefing speakers about microphones and where to stand. Later, he liaises with the DJ or band and gathers guests for cake-cutting and the first dance.

Those details show how guest-facing guidance complements venue operations. Agree the announcements, duties and attendance needed for your own celebration within your wedding arrangements.

Package scope and overnight arrangements

Your wedding package determines the accommodation, reserved spaces and named coordination roles included in your celebration. Tottington Manor has 12 individually styled bedrooms, but having bedrooms on site does not mean every room is included in every package.

Exclusive two-day wedding package

As of November 2026, our Exclusive Two Day Wedding Package includes a Wedding Co-ordinator and a Master of Ceremonies, plus all 12 bedrooms for two nights.

Arrival is from 3pm, with a first-evening tasting dinner for resident guests, farewell brunch and noon checkout. These arrangements connect the wedding with the time spent together before and afterwards.

Complimentary-bar opening times and service points are agreed within the wedding plan. The DJ finishes at midnight; the later bar serves residents.

South Downs wedding package

South Downs includes the Getting Ready Suite the night before, breakfast and bubbles delivered there, your chosen honeymoon suite and farewell breakfast for resident guests.

Other guest bedrooms are arranged separately. Additional previous-night bedrooms and private dining are subject to availability, so discuss these alongside your preparation plans.

Exclusive use covers the wedding suite, private garden and bar, rather than the entire hotel. A DJ and dancing until midnight are included, allowing the evening arrangements to form part of the venue schedule.

Celebration wedding package

Celebration is for Monday-Thursday weddings using reserved wedding spaces, without whole-hotel exclusivity.

The honeymoon suite and farewell breakfast for resident guests are included. Additional guest bedrooms are separate and subject to availability.

A previous-night stay is optional rather than included. Decide where you will get ready before agreeing supplier arrivals, photographs or a family meal the evening before. Those choices affect when you and your suppliers need access to the venue.

Intimate weddings

Intimate Weddings is designed for 30-40 guests, Monday-Thursday, with exclusive use of the Downs Suite, garden and bar.

The previous night’s Getting Ready Suite, sparkling breakfast and honeymoon suite are included. Preparation upstairs, an indoor or outdoor ceremony, reception drinks, photographs, the wedding breakfast and dancing can take place within the same property.

A DJ until midnight, evening buffet and cheeseboard are also included. Additional guest bedrooms remain separate from the preparation and honeymoon accommodation, so bring overnight guest requirements into the planning conversation.

Arrange your personal wedding viewing

Arrange a personal viewing with our Weddings Team to discuss how your ceremony, reception, suppliers and accommodation will fit together.

Bring your preferred date, approximate guest numbers and any supplier or overnight arrangements already made. Use the visit to discuss which spaces you will use, where you will prepare and which guests may need bedrooms.

The viewing is also the time to agree the support relevant to your package, including named coordination roles, guest announcements and supplier handovers. You can then make further arrangements with a clear understanding of who handles each part.

Email weddings@tottingtonmanor.co.uk or call 01273 957 777 to arrange your viewing.