There’s so much to love about The Assembly House, Stacia, the whole team, and the incredible events they bring to life. Of course, we’re big fans of the weddings they host (that goes without saying!), but we also can’t get enough of their afternoon tea. We recommend it to anyone who will listen! From Christmas Day celebrations to birthdays (and honestly, any excuse we can think of) we keep coming back.

If you’re curious to see a wedding we’ve photographed at The Assembly House, click here and here.

Reading Stacia’s charming and funny answers, you’ll quickly see why The Assembly House is such a special place.

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Can you share a surprising or little-known fun fact about The Assembly House?

There are stalactites in The Assembly House’s undercroft! 

If you could host any event at The Assembly House without any limitations, what would it be?

I love whole-house events that see a total takeover. In my dreams, I imagine stepping through our grand Georgian doors and into an opulent world where time stands still: a Venetian Masked Ball of unparalleled extravagance. Crystal chandeliers adorned with cascading garlands of deep crimson roses and gilded ivy that flicker with thousands of candlelit reflections. Guests in embroidered silks and jewel-toned gowns gliding across the floors, faces obscured by intricate, handcrafted masks dusted with gold leaf and precious stones.

The dining rooms transformed into lavish feasting halls, where long tables would overflow with towers of Champagne, platters of fresh oysters, and sugared fruits sculpted into fantastical shapes. In the ballroom, a towering carousel of masked performers would twirl slowly, while aerialists descended from silk ropes above, showering guests with rose petals. Hidden corners of the House would host tarot readers, opera singers, and illusionists conjuring fire from thin air. The gardens would sparkle with fairy lights, ice sculptures and mirror ponds, while gondolas would glide across a purpose-built water feature, offering guests a starlit escape.

You can see why the team dreads it when I tell them: “I’ve had this idea…”

Is there a spot within The Assembly House that you think would make an incredible photo location but hasn’t been utilised yet?

I think there’s one that WILL be great once we’ve figured out what we’re going to do with it! The area to the left when you walk through the gates is St Mary’s Garden and it is regularly on the list when it comes to discussing new plans for the House.

We’ve got a whole range of ideas that we are working on, but in my dreams, it could be a variety of different things: a garden filled with white flowers, a private treehouse for guests, a cabin built around the tree, an area for a little retail shop.

There are other spots that are underused: the undercroft, the Hobart room with those periwinkle blue walls and golden stars, the balcony in the Grand Hall, the igloos when they are with us (no wedding photos in those to date!), and the (listed!) staircase from the ground floor to rooms 12 to 16.

What’s the strangest or most unexpected decoration request you’ve ever received for an event?

I think it was when a bride asked us to completely repaint two (large) rooms at The Assembly House for her wedding, refusing to accept that we’re bound to English Heritage’s very strict colour scheme. She could not accept that it was the equivalent of asking Blickling Hall to repaint its frontage neon pink: we are custodians of an ancient monument and there are RULES. If there weren’t, I really WOULD have the whole thing painted pastel pink (I did get away with it in the Noverre Ballroom!).

What would be your dream celebrity wedding to host at The Assembly House?

Genuinely? Whoever would generate the best publicity for the House! I am so mercenary. Holding that thought, let’s go for Charles and Di or Posh and Becks – I mean we’ve already got the pink throne from the Beauty and the Beast Afternoon Tea ready and waiting for them all. I am fighting the impulse to say that ALL the couples that marry with us are superstars – you can’t keep a good marketer down.

What’s the funniest mishap that’s occurred during an event at The Assembly House?

Too scandalous to share! Not a mishap on our part, I should explain, more a ‘delicate situation’ on the night before a wedding. My lips are sealed.

How do you think The Assembly House will evolve or change in the next ten years?

The plan is to keep innovating and keep evolving. We have some pretty big plans for 2025 which involve new uses for different areas of the House and refining what we do already, for example, a brand-new wedding brochure is awaiting sign-off with new packages and menus.

Additionally, there are the five and 10-year plans which we keep on the back boiler but which are hugely ambitious and exciting. I could tell you more, but then I’d have to kill you. The Assembly House never sits on its laurels: we are always beavering away behind the scenes planning The Next Big Thing. 

What has been your most rewarding experience working at The Assembly House?

I get to work alongside my beloved stepdaughter Stacey which is an absolute joy and, of course, I got to work with the absolute love of my life, Richard, her Dad and my husband. Additionally, there’s the treat of working in a team filled with my friends and people I love: nothing beats it. I always say that I did not choose the hospitality life, it chose me: I am a journalist by trade but the draw of The Assembly House was irresistible.

I think for me, the most rewarding part of my job is having ideas that might seem quite mad but that with the help of my incredible team, I can make real. I begged Richard to let me design themed afternoon teas back in 2016 and although he was skeptical at first, he gave me free rein and we haven’t looked back – the pastry team brings my mad ideas to life with such talent and grace.

I also begged for the igloos and to take afternoon tea to a whole new level with our Afternoon Cheese, Afternoon Sea, Beforenoon Tea and our Hen and Baby Shower teas. It’s like a playground for my imagination. Richard completely believed in me and he was my biggest cheerleader: I carry that forward with me in everything I do now I have taken his role.

I also LOVE doing the social media for the House and having those intimate (!) chats every day with more than 50,000 people – I think our social channels are different to everyone else’s and that’s because I write what I’d like to read: terrible jokes, questionable puns all bound up with an absolute love and respect for customers. (Make sure you follow The Assembly House!!)

What are your top tips for guests to fully enjoy their visit to The Assembly House?

There is so much to see in Norwich, but equally, there is so much to see in the bedrooms at The Assembly House, many of which have their own private gardens or terraces, huge baths you can fit two people in and antiques and curiosities to wonder at. We find that a lot of guests check in, have afternoon tea and then retreat to their room for a night of luxury – of course if they do want to go out, we have a big list in every room of our favourite restaurants, the best places to visit and lots of things to do in the city and beyond.

Another tip would be not to assume you will need to book dinner if you’re having afternoon tea with us first! Oh, and have the Norfolk Rarebit for breakfast: it was the first thing my husband ever cooked for me and it is chef’s kiss (I mean mine came WITH a chef’s kiss, but that’s another story).

What’s the oldest artifact or feature within The Assembly House?

If it isn’t me, it’s the undercroft. Norwich has the largest collection of medieval undercrofts in the country with almost 70 dotted across the city and ours at the House is quite magical. There are a number of chambers, all of which were built in 1248 when the medieval chapel and college of St Mary in the Fields was established by John Le Brun. The House we see today was designed and built by Thomas Ivory in 1754 and opened as a room for assemblies the following year. 

If I ever need to disappear, people know to hunt in the undercroft first (there’s no mobile phone service there, which is another bonus!). 

If The Assembly House had a mascot, what would it be and why?

This tested me! I think it would be a regal yet slightly whimsical peacock called Percival (my Granddad’s name) or Percy, for short.

Peacocks symbolise luxury, beauty and a touch of opulence that aligns perfectly with The Assembly House’s stunning Georgian architecture, chandeliers and attention to detail. Percy would offer a splash of creativity with his vibrant feathers and confident strut to match the imagination in our teas and immersive events, a bit of historical charm with the association between peacocks and stately homes and he would draw attention, spark curiosity and leave a lasting impression.

As a marketer, I’d rinse Percy mercilessly: he’d be in designer Scott’s illustrations across our menus, events and merchandise. He’d wear a festive scarf and bobble hat at Christmas, a spring bonnet for Easter, and a mask at Halloween. 

If The Assembly House could be transported anywhere in the world for one day, where would you send it?

Boring, but nowhere. Its home is in the heart of Norwich. Also, even though it’s an imaginary situation, my head is spinning with the logistics. What are the health and safety implications? Who is going to check the undercroft hasn’t been left behind? What if we choose somewhere and discover that the current themed afternoon tea is an insult to the culture we’ve landed in? Will there be a market with chip stalls next door? I think too much. 

What is one modern amenity you wish could be added to The Assembly House?

I’d like it to be possible to fit invisible air-con across the whole building: we are bound by the rules that come with a listed building and it means there are rooms where we simply cannot fit air-conditioners. As a spoilt princess, I have air conditioning in my bedroom at home, so I am utterly reliant on it when the mercury rises.

I also only ever wear black, a shade which is fairly unforgiving on the hottest summer days: but we all have our cross to bear. It’s worth it for always being able to colour coordinate my outfits, even if I get dressed in the dark.

Has The Assembly House ever been featured in any films or television shows?

A few! 45 Years is a 2015 British romantic drama film directed and written by Andrew Haigh. The film is based on the short story “In Another Country” by David Constantine.

The film premiered in the main competition section of the 65th Berlin International Film Festival: to my absolute shame, I have never seen it, even though scenes for it were shot in the Grand Hall, the Stone Hall and the Noverre Ballroom. 

Charlotte Rampling won the Silver Bear for Best Actress and Tom Courtenay won the Silver Bear for Best Actor and at the 88th Academy Awards, Rampling received a nomination for Best Actress in a Leading Role. I really MUST watch it.

We were also on a more recent Channel 4 TV show with Ainsley Harriott and Grace Dent called Britain by the Sea which involved a bit of artistic license as we are a good 20 miles from the coast. 

Grace Dent left a note in our visitors’ book telling us to “keep on being world class” and wrote in The Guardian that we were “one of the UK’s loveliest boutique hotels” and that we offered a “storming afternoon tea”. We LOVE Grace Dent.

If you could redesign one aspect of The Assembly House, what would it be?

Our problem is not one of design, it is space. In an ideal world, we would have far more rooms and be set in extensive grounds – then again, this would be so unlikely in a city location that I would always take less space and the location we have than be in the countryside. I am a city girl through and through. I have to be persuaded I don’t live in a rural location because I live ‘the other side’ of Colman Road. 

With more rooms and space, the sky really would be the limit in terms of what we could offer; as it is, we have to be very creative with storage. There are hidden spaces all over (and under!) the House, you wouldn’t believe the cunning places where we store things that need to be out of sight.

What historical figure would have loved to host an event at The Assembly House?

I think I will stick with a historical figure that DID host an event at The Assembly House: In 1825, Madame Tussaud brought her curious collection of waxwork figures to Norwich.

Among the figures taken on tour at this time were models of Louis XVI, Marie Antoinette and the Dauphin, Voltaire, and Madame St. Amaranthe (Tussaud’s “Sleeping Beauty”), taken a few months before her execution. It was probably when the Exhibition was visiting Cambridge in 1818 that a worthy Don made the suggestion that the figures of criminals should be placed in a separate room lest they shock the masses. 

Legend has it that when the tour visited The Assembly House, a visitor was so overcome by the horror of some of the exhibits that they fell into a dead faint from which they could never be revived. I’d have VERY much liked to have seen that exhibition.

What’s a common misconception people have about The Assembly House?

I think it’s that we are ‘posh’ and unwelcoming – or it certainly used to be this. Half the battle for us at the beginning when we took over at The Assembly House 15 years ago was persuading people to walk up the driveway and see what we had to offer. Things have changed and we have worked incredibly hard to make it very clear that The Assembly House welcomes everyone and that we have a LOT to offer.

How would you describe the perfect wedding day at The Assembly House?

That’s easy: absolutely every single one that we host. All of them are so special and magical – there’s nothing like being part of a love story.

If you’re interested in hosting your wedding at The Assembly House or want to try their famous afternoon tea, check out their website here.