Venues – Sandon Hall

Sandon Hall

View Sandon Hall’s website

This is where a colleague of mine got married. Her wedding photos looked absolutely amazing, especially the ones where she descended down an oak staircase with her new husband. That is the kind of entrance I would like to make at my wedding.

I haven’t actually been to Sandon Hall myself – yet – but it is an impressive building just from these photos. An ancestral mansion, visited by royalty and celebrities, Sandon Hall could be yours on an exclusive use basis!

Their website describes Sandon Hall as ‘beautiful grounds, wood-panelled interiors and majestic sculptures guarantee first rate photographic opportunities.’ You know how I like my photo opportunities. The only point that is a negative for me is that it’s not possible to stay over at Sandon Hall, but they do recommend local hotels.

It wouldn’t be fair for me to make any recommendations as I haven’t been there myself, but I think my colleague who got married here would definitely recommend Sandon Hall for your wedding.

Venues – Hagley Hall

Hagley Hall

View Hagley Hall website

Hagley Hall was another venue that I wanted to see when I got engaged. I knew that it was a large house steeped in history, just the venue I’m looking for! I took my best friend here when she was looking for venues.

We were met again by the owner, and shown around the rooms available to weddings. They have a large upstairs room for the sit down meal adorned with ancestral portraits giving a real feel of history and grandeur. The evening reception retires to ground floor rooms where guests can party and relax.

The house and the grounds are spectacular: manicured lawns, restored house set into beautiful countryside. I think Hagley Hall is an amazing wedding venue.

Why We Didn’t Book
I’ve got to be honest, when we looked around Hagley Hall, I don’t know if the chap was having a bad day but he did act as if it were too much trouble to talk to us. We had booked an appointment but he seemed as if he didn’t want to talk to us. I also didn’t like the fact that the guests would be split across three rooms downstairs, and I felt the room that the disco would be in was too small for all our guests to watch us do our first dance.

My Recommendations
Hagley Hall is a truly beautiful venue, impressive views, impressive rooms and grounds, it’s steeped in history and just the place to treat your guests to a real English wedding. The outside stairs that lead to a balcony outside the main entrance have a fantastic view of the grounds and surrounding countryside. It’s a beautiful venue ideal for a bride who wants a beautiful wedding.

Venues – Somerford Hall

Somerford Hall

View the Somerford Hall website

Again, this was a venue we almost booked! My Dad used to go walking near here with his brothers and his dad, so our family has a sort of link to this house. Dad really liked Somerford Hall, and so did I.

It’s an impressive house with a large room for the wedding breakfast, and lots of little rooms for guests to retire to during the main party. It’s a gorgeous house with an oak stair case and some lovely rooms for over night. The staff were welcoming and professional and took time to talk to us about our wedding.

The surrounding grounds at Somerford Hall our spectacular and the long, romantic drive follows past a pond and amazing countryside, just what I wanted!

Why We Didn’t Book
We felt the room was again too small for the number of guests that we wanted. Somerford Hall does have the capacity for the guests that we want as long as they are seated at long tables. I have my heart set on round tables for my guests and a long table for the head table, so I didn’t want to have to seat my guests at long tables. In a way, it’s a shame we have so many guests as it would have been lovely to book Somerford Hall.

My Recommendations
If you want long tables, or have a smaller guest list, Somerford Hal is for you. If you want a beautiful, welcoming venue with history and amazing grounds for photos then Somerford Hall is for you. I would definitely book it if I felt they had the room for our guests. It is a gorgeous setting and would be a fantastic venue for any bride.

Venues – Rowton Castle

Rowton Castle

View the Rowton Castle website

Impressive, prestigious, incredible, Rowton Castle is an amazing venue for the bride with a larger budget. It really is a castle with history stretching back to Roman times. It’s absolutely stunning. The grounds are amazing, the castle itself is an incredible back drop to any wedding photos. The hotel rooms are spectacular and just the place a bride would want to spend her wedding night.

When we had a look around, the lady who showed us the rooms and talked to us about our wedding was very friendly and approachable. Rowton Castle really sells itself as a spectacular wedding venue. Our photographer, Clive Blair, has photographed weddings at Rowton Castle before. You can look at his blog for photos of Rowton Castle. 

Why We Didn’t Book
I had my heart set on Rowton Castle for a few weeks, I told all my friends this was where I was going to get married. The reasons why we didn’t book Rowton was firstly the size of the main room. Our guest list was climbing as we compiled it and it was soon over the maximum capacity for Rowton Castle. Also we didn’t want to  have to book hotel rooms for our guests. This may have changed when you visit so make sure you ask about this. It makes sense, as you will have exclusive use of the Castle.

My Recommendations
I really love Rowton Castle and I look forward to being invited to a wedding there. It’s a really stunning venue with friendly and professional staff. I would recommend Rowton Castle for a bride who loves history, who has a large-ish budget and who wants a spectacular wedding venue. Fully licensed for those brides who want a civil ceremony, Rowton Castle is a highly sought after venue not just in the West Midlands but in the whole of the UK.

Venues – Dunsley Hall Country House

Dunsley Hall Country House

View the Dunsley Hall website

I absolutely fell in love with Dunsley Hall. It’s a gorgeous house, lovingly restored and maintained, outstanding grounds and with lots of gorgeous little rooms for your guests to retire to and explore.

Dunsley is filled with character and the rooms are finished to an outstanding quality. The owner showed us around when we booked to visit and he told us how he’d come to own the hotel and how it was lovingly maintained. The gardens are gorgeous, the setting is gorgeous, the photo opportunities are amazing.

Why We Didn’t Book
If the venue was bigger, even though it doesn’t have the long winding driveway, I may have booked. I liked the way there were so many little rooms for guests to retire to, and I thought the hotel rooms were amazing. It was purely the size of the venue that swayed our decision. We want to have enough room for a large party. Dunsley Hall had an event going on while we were being shown around.

My Recommendations
Dunsley Hall is suitable for brides who would like an intimate dinner with close friends and family with comfortable rooms for guests to retreat to if they don’t like the disco music. It’s a comfortable venue that feels like home with a well stocked bar and outstanding hotel rooms. 

Venues - Blakelands

Blakelands

See the Blakelands website

Blakelands is an absolutely gorgeous venue who do fabulous wedding fayres! I’m also on the Blakelands mailing list for special offers in their dining room. The food there is completely delicious and the service is great. It’s a family run business and Paul is always happy to talk to any prospective couple.

Blakelands is set into the countryside conveniently off the road with ample parking to the rear. The entrance is through the back with access to the front for fabulous wedding photos.

There’s loads to explore at the Blakelands. They have their main block where the reception is, then they have a courtyard and a small garden-like area and across that is the block with the restaurant and more hotel rooms. The accommodation is absolutely gorgeous and seems very comfortable. There is lots to see at Blakelands and plenty of beautiful places for photos.

Why We Didn’t Book
There’s no long winding drive, although the country road which leads to the Blakelands could be considered a winding drive. The maximum room capacity is not enough for the number of guests who want to come to our wedding.

My Recommendations
I would definitely recommend the Blakelands. It’s a family run business, beautiful setting out in the countryside, and Paul and his wife who run Blakelands are really nice and vey experienced.
Blakelands is perfect for a bride who wants a nice, secluded wedding in a gorgeous romantic setting. It’s good for a bride who would like to explore her venue and find all it’s interesting nooks and crannies. It’s also perfect for a bride who would like exclusive use.

Venues – Park House, Shifnal

Park House

View the Park House Website

I have just got back from a wedding fayre at Park House and can I just say, it looks absolutely lovely. A colleague at work is getting married here, and we spotted it as we were returning from our meeting with our wedding coordinator, it’s on the way. I never like to miss an opportunity to attend a wedding fayre so off we went.

First thing that struck me was how convenient it was to find Park House. It’s just off the road with a very convenient car park, very accessible with ample parking. What makes it even better is the younger sister of a girl I went to school with works there! The staff were very friendly and welcoming, chatted to us even though we’ve already booked our wedding venue.

One of the rooms was dressed for a civil ceremony and it looked lovely for a small, intimate ceremony with close friends and family. The other room was filled with exhibitors so it was difficult to gauge the size of the room, but it seems plenty big enough for around 60 people. I’m not sure of exact numbers, but making an appointment and having a chat with their wedding coordinators will clear up any questions.

Why I Wouldn’t Book
We’ve already booked our venue so it’s a fairly mute point but it didn’t have the long winding driveway that I love. Also, the capacity is not enough for our wedding.

My Recommendations
It is a very lovely wedding venue, the front of the house is ideal for spectacular wedding photos. The accommodation is extremely comfortable both in the house and in adjoining buildings. This venue is ideal for a bride looking for venue to hold around 60 guests, that is convenient and easy to find, and is in a prime location. Shifnal is a gorgeous little town with the option of cheaper accommodation for those of your guests on a budget.

To Film or Not to Film, That is the Question

To Film or Not to Film, That is the Question

Hiring a videographer is becoming more and more popular, however, does your budget stretch that far? With some videographers charging upwards of £300 is it financially viable? A hefty chunk out of any budget… at my wedding £300 equates to 6 meals, or a wedding car and a half, or 30 pairs of wedding shoes! (I had them made to order in China, soooo comfortable!)

And think about it, really, as much as your friends and family love you, how many of them will sit for 2 hours and watch your lovely but long wedding video? I love weddings (could you guess) and I could sit to watch wedding videos but with the best will in the world, I couldn’t last 2 hours! And if it does cost £300 I would want it to last 2 hours at least!

An alternative is to ask a guest to video your wedding. At my bessie mate’s wedding, her sister who was a bridesmaid videoed a lot of the wedding. A cousin later used the footage to mix in with still pictures when creating a wedding video. That video was a very manageable 30 minutes, just perfect! The video clips added a very personal touch to the still photos and brought the video to life. I do think there is a lot of merit in videoing a wedding.

Most cameras these days have a video option. My camera does, as does my phone!   (I wouldn’t suggest using a phone camera as the image quality isn’t suitable for TV standard.)  With this option on most cameras, any of your guests could be a potential videographers, and so many easy to use video editors available such as Windows Video Maker which is free with windows, or iMovie which is free on Apple Macs (and better than Windows Video Maker, if only it worked on PC’s) then anyone can make a wedding video.

I recently made a video for my niece and nephew’s christening, and I also made a video for my friend’s wedding before that. Even people who aren’t that good with a computer could put together a very effective and meaningful wedding video using these simple to use editing programs.

For top tips on videoing your friend’s wedding, see Jake McMillian’s blog.

However, if you do decide to hire a wedding videographer, there are some very professional videos out there. Some photographers offer videography as part of their service. That would mean that your photographer and videographer would be working in sync and produce a much better product. Alternatively, your photographer might be able to recommend a videographer they have worked with before, or your venue may be able to recommend someone who has impressed them in the past. Often, if a service has been recommended through another person, you may receive a discount on their services.

To answer the question of ‘to film or not to film’… I think you should film, but not hours and hours of footage. Think of your audience, who will watch the video? Film key moments in the wedding, touching moments that you will want to remember for the rest of your marriage: walking up the aisle, exchanging the rings, walking down the aisle, some moments outside the church, the speeches, cutting the cake and the first dance.

If you do know any good videographers to recommend, please post them as a comment in my blog. Alternatively, if you know any good tips for videoing a wedding, post those in the comment box too!

The Speeches

The Speeches

H2b and I were talking about the speeches and he dared to joke about them. He joked (I hope) that he was going to stand up and say, ‘Doesn’t my wife look beautiful?’ and then sit down. There are certain things that it might be a good idea to appear in the speeches, and although h2b was joking (I hope) here’s some top tips on what to contain in your speech.

Who Goes First?
Now, you could have whatever you want for your wedding, what I’m going to type here is the traditional way of things in your average British wedding.

The father of the bride goes first. As the host of the wedding (traditionally) it’s his job to introduce the new couple as Mr and Mrs. He may tell a few stories about the bride as a young girl, how proud he is now and how he knew h2b was the man for his little girl. Typically, the father of the bride introduces the new Mr and Mrs.

Next up is the groom. He thanks the father of the bride for introducing them and for anything else he may have said that was nice. Then the groom proceeds to thank the bridesmaids for being gorgeous, the groomsmen  and ushers for being so helpful, any guests who have travelled far or put in some special effort for the wedding, he hands out any gifts that need to be handed out. And finally, or maybe firstly, he thanks his new wife for being so beautiful on this wedding day, for making him the happiest man alive, for actually agreeing to marry him and for many other things that he should be thanking her for.

Finally, it’s the best man’s turn. He thanks the groom on behalf of the bridesmaids for saying they’re gorgeous, he thanks the groom on behalf of the groomsmen and ushers for saying they were helpful. Then he proceeds to take the Mickey out of the groom, revealing singledom antics that no one needed to hear but are hilarious none the less!

My Advice
More recently, brides have started making speeches and in addition to a best man, a best woman has made a speech. It’s entirely up to you what you’d like to do. Just remember, if you do your speeches before your meal, your guests will be getting hungry! If you do them after your meal, remember some people might be busting for the loo. Don’t make your speeches too long.

I was thinking of doing a very short speech in Chinese thanking the guests from abroad for travelling so far. I know how to do it in slang Chinese but I’d have to ask someone to teach me how to say it properly. I think my guests would appreciate that effort, and I’d keep it short as to not alienate the guests who don’t speak Chinese.

Useful Links
If you’re stuck for ideas, the ever helpful world wide web has a few useful websites. Here are some of the best:

• Hitched.co.uk – the ever helpful hitched gives advice on how to present your speech as well as some useful sample speeches.
• Charge Your Glass – this website offers free help to those nervous grooms, best men and fathers of the bride who need a bit of help creating their speech
• Confetti – I always recommend Confetti because I think they’re brilliant. Have a read of their useful advice on wedding speeches
• How to Write Wedding Speeches and Toasts: Everything You Need to Build a Successful Speech – have a look on Amazon at this book, it looks good! I bought the Confetti speech writing book, they are all much of a muchness in my opinion.

If you have any questions, feel free to leave a comment so that I can get back to you as quickly as possible.

Chat with our Coordinator

One year, one month, 19 days to go!

Had a really really really good day today!! We went to our wedding venue and had a chat with our wedding coordinator. With just under 14 months to go, you might be thinking why are we going to the venue to sort things. We have plenty of time to do that, and with so much time to spare we might change our minds.

The reason is, we want to get our invitations made. We’re sending invites to our local guests in September but we’re sending invites to our guests abroad in July, to give them time to book tickets and things. This means we need to book our invites over Easter as I’m not sure how long it will take the invite making lady to make them, and we have to book a slot. So, if you work it backwards, seeing our wedding coordinator in February half term isn’t so bad!

We had a really good chat and he answered heaps of our questions. We went through the wedding top to bottom.

The church ceremony is starting at 12:00pm, finishing at roughly at 1-ish and getting to our venue for about … well we agreed at about 2pm including time for photos and travelling. It could be as late as 2:20 though… Then we’d have our photos and the sit down dinner, or wedding breakfast, would begin with a receiving line (mum and dad’s idea!) and dinner beginning about 4:15. The speeches to be at the end of the meal (sorry dad, h2b and best man!) followed by the evening do, which will start at 7:30, the first dance appearing at 8:30!

The coordinator also let us know about when our suppliers would be able to deliver the cake and the table flowers. He asked us about our chair covers which I thought I’d sorted but hadn’t booked yet, so that’s got me to think about that! I was thinking of going with posh frocks for chairs. More about that later… If there isn’t another function booked in the day before our wedding, our suppliers could deliver our things on the Wednesday before the wedding, however if there is a function the day before ours they can deliver from 5am the day of our wedding, which is fair enough. However, they recommend that the florist delivers the day of the wedding, but that’s obvious really. No one wants droopy flowers!

We talked about the speeches as well, putting h2b and Dad under pressure there. I think the ‘s’ word is something they don’t want to hear for a long time yet! H2b even dared to joke about how short his speech would be… We do not joke about the wedding!

We talked about wedding DJ’s as we haven’t sorted that out either, and we talked about the men’s suits as that also hasn’t been sorted. Actually… looking at my to do list, lots hasn’t been done!

Our coordinator asked us about the food we’re thinking of having. We’re fairly sure about the starters, we discussed the main options. We talked about the puddings too, and we’re all having lots of good ideas!

It was really exciting talking to the coordinator. I know our wedding is ages away but it was really useful to get timing and advice and all sorts from someone who not only knows how weddings work at our venue but also has vast experience of the wedding industry as a whole. Peter is so professional and friendly, I feel like our wedding is in good hands!

Venues – Ingestre Hall

Ingestre Hall

See the Ingestre Hall website.

Driving up to Ingestre hall we were impressed with the structure of Ingestre Hall. It’s a huge building in the Rose Brick Jacobean style set into 27 acres of Staffordshire countryside. It was the seat to the Earl of Shrewsbury before it became the Sandwells Residential Arts Centre.

When you walk through the front door, you’re greeted by a massive hall which leads through to an impressive staircase. To the left of the hall is their civil ceremony room or lounge and at the rear is the bar area. You can make your grand entrance swooping down the stairs to greet your guests in an impressive grand style.

Ingestre Hall provide the venue, you provide the caterers, bar services and waiters. There is no accommodation at Ingestre Hall but there are a number of lovely near by hotels.

Why We Didn’t Book
We wanted a venue that does everything for us, we didn’t want to worry about booking caterers and bar services. The venue is gorgeous and impressive, but we wanted somewhere that we could stay over. The room size and the second room for guests who don’t want to be near the loud music is great too. The layout, the sweeping stair case, the civil ceremony room are just brilliant.

Our Recommendations
I would recommend Ingestre Hall to a bride who wants to be hands on with her wedding. The bride who wants to choose her caterers and bar source, and a bride who doesn’t need to sleep over at her venue on the night of the wedding. The room is large, the staircase is my dream staircase, and the layout of the rooms is fantastic. And for those of your guests who smoke, the door to the outside is right next to the hall.

Venues – The Mount Hotel

The Mount Hotel

Winners of the Black Country Large Hotel & Business Hotel of the Year 2008 & 2009
Winners of Best Chef of the Year 2009
Winners of Outstanding Customer Service of the Year 2009

When I was little, the Mount Hotel was the place to get married. My cousin has got married here, a close friend has got married here, my mother knows quite a few people who have got married here and it’s also a popular place to eat and visit.

This photo shows the back of the Mount, the long window on the left is the main room with a beautiful wooden mistral's gallery, joined on to the conservatory. The Mount Hotel is a gorgeous listed building but it does look better from the back of the building. They have a lovely large garden from which you can release Chinese lanterns. It seems like every wedding I’ve been to at the mount, the sun always shines.

The accommodation at the Mount Hotel is top notch, with delicious breakfasts in the morning. The Mount is ideal for brides wanting the grandeur of a country house with the convenience of a city venue. It’s a reasonably priced venue which holds 12 - 200 people and they say that they have held over 1,000 weddings in the last 10 years so you know you’ll be in good hands!

I definitely recommend any wedding fayres at the Mount Hotel. They serve sparkling wine and sometimes offer canapés for tasting. 

Why We Didn’t Book
I do like the Mount, I’ve grown up with my friends working there, my friends and family getting married there but I felt that the room the main wedding was held in was a touch too small for us. It is a beautiful room and I’d love to make that room a bit bigger and it’d be perfect.

Due to the Mount’s convenient position, it also didn’t have the romantic long driveway to the venue that I wanted. This meant that the Mount Hotel wasn’t for us.

My Recommendations
If you’d like a wedding that’s convenient, professional, experienced and well known then The Mount Hotel is for you. They combine the elegance of country grandeur with the convenience of a city venue.

Useful Links

Useful Links

English Wedding Blog – Like me, this lady is blogging about her forth coming wedding. She has an utterly different post style to me, her blog is her own website it seems and I’m following her on twitter. She has some really interesting posts and I would definitely recommend a read to any prospective brides!

Hitched.co.uk – A fantastic website, filled with everything to do with weddings that you could ever imagine, they even have an entire section dedicated to stag and hen parties. They have planning tools you can use which include to do lists, budget plans, appointments and your own wedding website!

GettingMarried.co.uk – This website makes wedding websites as well as having planning tools to help with the organisation of your wedding. They have budget sheets and online RSVP and all sorts. Well worth a look.

Wedding Ideas Magazine – If you’re not going to buy the magazine, I still think their website is pretty good and well worth a look. They have loads of ideas and resources and advice for brides with enough time to look through it.

If you have a website or know of any websites, or an idea that you want to share, let me know. I’m always happy to update posts to share with everyone.

Venues - Chillington Hall

Chillington Hall

Picture from Chillington Hall website

My Dad's choice of venue. We first saw Chillington Hall as guests looking around the house. I asked if they did weddings, they do and then we made an appointment with their wedding coordinator.
Before I continue, can I just say the wedding coordinator that we spoke to at Chillington Hall was just amazing. We were one of her first couples and she was brilliant. Professional, friendly, welcoming and helpful. She painted a wonderful picture of the wedding we could have at Chillington Hall and answered all our questions. She chatted with my dad and listened to our requirements for the wedding.
Chillington Hall uses a spectacular marquee for their evening receptions and large dinner receptions. Guests walk through the house to reach the marquee and what a sight they see. When we visited the house the owner showed us around and there is a large portrait in their largest room actually looks like the man who was showing us around! Well of course it was his ancestor but I thought that was pretty cool.
The wedding reception would take part in the marquee, and it is a spectacular marquee. It wasn't up when I went but the photos they had to show us were lovely!

Why We Didn't Choose This One
I don't want a marquee reception. I'm not sure why. Marquee receptions are lovely, although I've never attended one, I don't personally have anything against a marqee but it's not for me. Everyone has their own preference and that's mine.
It was also a touch on the expensive side for our budget. Prices you could be quoted may be more or less than I was quoted as the wedding market fluctuates.


My Recommendations
If you want a marquee wedding, Chillington Hall should be at the top of your appointment list. I will always recommend looking around a venue before you book it and Chillington Hall is well worth a look!