A Georgian Mansion, Pressed in Gold
Some venues need very little to make a strong first impression — a single card, a sweep of gold foil, and a guest already knows the kind of day they're being invited to. That's the idea behind this Botleys Mansion invitation: one sheet of cotton card, one architectural illustration, and nothing else needed to set the tone.
Where is Botleys Mansion? Botleys Mansion is a Grade II* listed Palladian house near Chertsey, Surrey, built in the 1760s and now operated exclusively as a private wedding venue.
A Georgian house with a long history
The house standing today was built in the 1760s, commissioned by Joseph Mawbey and designed by the architect Kenton Couse in a restrained Palladian style — stone walls without wings, a double flight of steps leading up to a marble-paved entrance hall lined with Ionic pilasters. The stone itself was brought in from quarries in Headington, Oxfordshire and Barrington, Cambridgeshire. It replaced an older manor house on the same elevated site, one with roots stretching back to the 14th century and a history tangled up with Chertsey Abbey and, briefly, Henry VIII himself.
The mansion passed through several private owners over the following two centuries, most notably the Gosling family, who held it from 1822 until 1929. What followed was a very different chapter: the estate was bought by Surrey County Council and spent decades as a psychiatric hospital, known as Botleys Park, before being adapted into a nurses' home during the Second World War. Fire damage in 1994 brought that era to a close, and the house was carefully restored between 1996 and 1997.
Since 2010, the house has belonged to Bijou Wedding Venues, and is used exclusively for weddings and private celebrations — a return, in a sense, to its original purpose as a house built to be lived in and admired. Today the mansion is known for its grand Atrium, used for both ceremonies and receptions, alongside spacious reception rooms and manicured gardens that make the most of its elevated, parkland setting. It remains a Grade II* listed building, and despite its tranquil, countryside feel, it sits conveniently close to London — close enough for a city wedding with a country house backdrop.
Turning the façade into the invitation
What is a foil-pressed venue invitation? A foil-pressed venue invitation is a single-card wedding invitation built around a custom architectural illustration of the couple's venue, hot foil-stamped directly onto the card alongside the wedding wording — no folio, box, or insert required.
For this suite, we worked from photographs of Botleys Mansion to draw a custom stencil illustration of the Georgian façade — the symmetrical windows, the central pediment, the sweeping double staircase that defines the entrance. That illustration was then hot foil-stamped in gold directly onto the card, sitting above the wedding wording rather than beside it, so the building is the first thing a guest sees before they've read a single word.
Seen at an angle, the gold catches the light unevenly across the architectural lines — a quality that's difficult to photograph flat but immediately obvious in hand, the kind of detail that makes a guest turn the card to see it properly before they even open the envelope.
The paper carrying all of it
What card stock is used for this invitation? The Botleys Mansion invitation is foil-pressed onto 600gsm 100% cotton card stock — a heavyweight, textured paper sourced from Gmund, a long-established European paper house known for its fine cotton and specialty stocks.
At 600gsm, the card has real weight — thick enough that a single sheet doesn't need a folio or box around it to feel substantial. Cotton stock takes gold foil differently to standard paper too: the fibres give the gold a slightly textured, raised finish rather than a flat, glassy one, which is exactly what gives this kind of architectural illustration its depth up close.
The same texture shows up wherever foil meets cotton fibre — wording included. Look closely at the lettering and you can see the same slightly raised, grain-catching quality that defines the illustration above it.
And from the side, the thickness speaks for itself — a clean, sharp edge that's immediately recognisable as something more substantial than a standard printed card.
- Luxe 100% cotton card stock, 600gsm
- Gold foil-pressed custom venue illustration
- Choice of designer paper or velvet envelope
- Expert layout and a digital proof before printing begins
The illustration shown here is of Botleys Mansion. A hand-drawn sketch of your own venue can be commissioned from our partner illustrator for an additional fee — or, if you already have artwork, send it through as a PDF with 100% black outlines.
Common questions
Can the illustration be of a different venue?
Yes. A hand-drawn sketch of your own venue can be commissioned from our partner illustrator for an additional fee. If you already have suitable artwork, send it as a PDF with 100% black outlines and we'll work from that instead.
What size is the invitation?
The card measures 127 × 178mm (5.0 × 7.0 inches) — a single sheet sized to carry the venue illustration and full wedding wording without feeling crowded.
What envelope options are available?
Envelopes can be chosen in designer paper or velvet, with velvet envelopes lined for an extra touch of luxury. A gold wax seal can be added to complete the suite.
What's the minimum order quantity?
Orders begin at 50 invitations. For quantities under 50, our team can provide a custom quote by email.