Weddings and Banqueting

West Downs Quarter

For wedding receptions at the University of Winchester Business School, West Downs Quarter, the Shakespeare Room transforms into a beautiful and elegant reception room seating up to 110 people for a seated meal. Picture crisp white linen and captivating flowers by day, and twinkling fairy lights along with a DJ or Band to get the party started by night.

The drinks reception and bar to accompany your wedding reception would be served in the adjacent Link Gallery. The Link Gallery is a light and spacious area and the artwork within the gallery provides an interesting talking point for your guests. If the weather is good, your guests can venture out onto our beautiful garden terrace for photos and drinks in the sunshine.

King Alfred Centre

The King Alfred Centre offers a more contemporary setting for your special day. Our Dining Room is a bright, sunny and modern atrium which seats up to 200 for a served meal. For the evening reception, you can either remain in the Dining Room or move downstairs to the Vault Venue.

The Vault Venue is our award-winning Student Union entertainment venue. With two bars, state of the art lighting and sound system and a stage for a DJ or band, the Vault is a fantastic setting to dance the night away as a newly married couple.

Catering

For both venues, we use our experienced in-house Catering team to serve you that first and all important wedding breakfast. Our award winning team also offers a range of evening buffets.

With two beautiful licenced rooms available to hold your Civil Ceremony or Civil Partnership, we can provide you with a small intimate ceremony or a more lavish and grand affair depending on your requirements:

• The Shakespeare Room has traditional Victorian architecture, showcasing beautiful oak-panelling, a raised gallery with two staircases leading down to the restored parquet wooden floor and an original fireplace

• West Downs 2 (formerly known as the Chapel) is another fine example of restored Victorian architecture. The room features a stunning double height wooden beamed ceiling, which creates the perfect setting for wedding ceremonies

Both rooms are generous in size and are best suited to ceremonies for 50 – 120 guests. Our state of the art sound system means you can simply plug in an iPod for your ceremony music.

With the right decorations, our function rooms can be transformed to create the perfect setting or theme for your event. We can provide recommendations with regards to local suppliers who can help with centrepieces, flower arrangements, lighting, draping or chair covers.

With a maximum dining capacity of 110 in our Shakespeare Room and 250 in our Dining Room, the layout of the rooms are flexible and can be set-up to include a top table, staging or dance floor area depending on your requirements.

Whatever your event, we understand how important the occasion will be and we will assist with every step of the planning to ensure the event is a success.

We have three bars onsite, and our experienced Events Coordinators will be able to advise which bar is most suitable for your event:

The Link Bar

This is a portable bar service which is ideal for weddings and private events taking place in the West Downs Centre. The Link Bar would be setup in the Link Gallery, and provides a good range of bottled beer, wines, spirits and soft drinks. Please note that draught beers are not available.

The Terrace Bar – Student Union

Located in the King Alfred Centre, the Terrace Bar is an ideal place for delegates to unwind after a conference, or to meet for a drink before dinner. The Terrace Bar has a spacious decking area which is fantastic in the summer.

The Vault Venue – Student Union

With two bars and state of the art sound systems, our Vault Venue is ideal for wedding receptions, parties or drink receptions. The Vault Venue is run by our Student Union, and located on the ground floor of the King Alfred Centre. Please contact the Conference Office to discuss your requirements in more detail.