Ideal Wedding Venues
Wedding Venues with ash Court – Gorgeous Country Wedding Venue
I know its been a while since I have had a chance to blog – I’ve been getting used to being a mum of 2 little girls and trying to work 5 days a week!! I am hoping to find the time to update this a bit more in 2012, especially as I see that I still have lots of readers coming to the blog so it makes it all worthwhile – thank you to you all xx
Anyway I wanted to share this wedding venue with you, Dewsall Court- its very special to me because its where I spent a lot of my childhood (with friends) and only recently it has been converted into the most amazing country house retreat where a lucky few also get to have the wedding of their dreams. The photos that they have shared with me from a recent wedding really show off the fabulous location and the amazing photo opportunities. (photos taken by Deidre Lynn)
I asked for a little mini interview with the girls in charge at Dewsall (Sam and Ananda) and here goes
* What sets Dewsall apart from the other wedding venues?
Apart from the fact Dewsall is such a stunning, relaxed and special place to be with everything you could want for a romantic country wedding in one place, we also care very much about not churning out ‘package’ weddings.
Love this photo – so romantic and amazing Herefordshire scenery…
Dewsall can sleep up to 23 people as well as being able to host weddings and receptions from intimate to larger affairs with 120 guests – treat us as your exclusive country home for the weekend! We limit the number of weddings we take each year so that we can work closely with our couples, bespoke and tailor made are our key words! Our friendly team will try to help build a day truly special to the couple in question, with room for personal touches and unique ideas.
* What about the actual ceremony or blessing?
To have a civil ceremony at Dewsall there are a number of options; whether it be an intimate signing with a few witnesses in the study, a family ceremony for 30 in the beautiful Chinoiserie Room, or for larger weddings we can accommodate 50 in the lovely converted Studio Barn or up to 120 in the rustic open sided Wain House barn in the garden… and right at the bottom of the garden path is St Michael and All Angels, the lovely little old parish church! By prior arrangement this can be used for a blessing for up to 85 people.
* How much involvement do the bride, groom and family have in planning the wedding/ choosing suppliers etc?
The bride, groom and family can absolutely get involved with choosing and tailoring the day to their wishes – we are here to help and advise but the ideas and planning for the big day are always led by our couples! However, to ensure the standard at Dewsall is kept to the level we think our guests deserve and to make sure everything runs smoothly we ask that guests use our in house caterers – they are a fantastic bunch of people as committed to being flexible and creative as we are! We also have an extensive wine list and can source your favourites if they aren’t on there – and we don’t charge corkage on wine bought through Dewsall. We can put you in touch with a selection of recommended suppliers – particularly our fabulous florists from Love Lily – to fit your needs and make sure you are using trusted professionals.
We encourage doing things a bit differently at Dewsall, if you need us to source anything quirky or arrange unusual activities we are more than happy to! For example – instead of using marquees to give extra space for your event at Dewsall we have some fabulous hand cleaved yurts – imagine having your reception bar and dancing in one of these!
Some of this years wedding ideas feature vintage tea party receptions, old fashioned village fête games, midnight bonfires, boho festival vibes and Dixieland Bands!
The gorgeous Betsy and Patrick featured in this post, had this to say about Dewsall,
“We can’t express to you all how wonderful it was to have such a dedicated, good hearted, excited, yet laid back team of truly amazing people to be there for us throughout our whole wedding weekend. The venue is mind blowing, pictures cannot do it justice, our guests described it as a fairy tale and said that when they woke up for work on Monday it would feel like it was all a dream. It really was a dream for Patrick and I, a weekend we will hold dear to our hearts the rest of our lives. Thank you so much for all your hard work. …I can’t even begin to count all the behind the scenes details you all coordinated to make our wedding day so special and intimate. I felt nothing but love. Now I feel even more blessed to get to know such thoughtful and kind people.” –
There is lots of other great feedback which you can read here on the site What People Say
For more info check out their website Dewsall.com or contact them via email: info@dewsall.com and Tel: 01432 276 724 and thanks to Deidre Lynn for sharing some wonderful photos on LMW.
PS Its been great to get back on the blog after so long and I hope that you all love this feature!
The Wedding Sanctuary, Somerset House, London
If you’re anywhere near London and getting married sometime soon then make sure that you pop along to The Wedding Sanctuary at Somerset House, next Sunday (20th March)… I’m definitely going to be making an appearance with a friend of mine that has just got engaged and I can’t wait as its going to be full to the brim with some of the UK’s best wedding suppliers.
One of my favourite wedding photographers, Julia Boggio, who took these photos is going to be at the event. As is Helen Carter, wedding planner and guest blogger responsible for all these gorgeous wedding inspiration boards on LMW.
You’ll be invited to sip champagne and nibble delicious canapés thanks to catering from Table Talkwhilst browsing the show for inspirational wedding ideas, including 5 stunning dining tables styled by wedding planners of the UKAWP.
In the boudoir brides will get a chance to meet stylists, make up artists and view Sassi Holford’s dresses and Emmy’s custom made wedding shoes. Other fabulous wedding suppliers include Zoe Clark from The Cake Parlour and Cutture – who design beautiful lazer-cut stationery.
It is definitely an event not to be missed. To book tickets and for more info visit the The Wedding Sanctuary website.
Thanks to Julia Boggio Photography for all the photos in this post – she will be at The Wedding Sanctuary too so do make sure that you go and speak to her as she is one of the UK’s favourite wedding photographers.
Love Gets Sweeter
I’ve got a lot of submissions that I am struggling to get through at the moment so I’m really pleased that I have finally managed to put pen to paper (so to speak) and get this up on LMW, as it definitely worth sharing with you guys. When Charlene, from Love Gets Sweeter, emailed me and asked me what I thought of her work – gorgeous, enthralling and completely engaging were a couple of words that sprang to mind.
The first is the wedding of Evie (love that name!) & Jamie on New Years Eve, turn up the volume and enjoy…
“It’s always hard filming a wedding of a friend in the wedding business! Evie is a brilliant wedding photographer so we knew there would be a lot of imagination and creativity going into her own day as she’s seen so many amazing weddings! They got married in Jamie’s Mums local church which meant it was extra special for everyone. Every wedding has something go wrong and on this occasion the bride arrived before the bridesmaids as they got stuck in traffic! Poor Jamie looked ever so nervous at the front of the church but the vicar kept everyone informed about what was happening outside! But it was the reception venue that had the real wow factor! They took us to see their Uncles Nursery just before Christmas and we just couldn’t begin to imagine how they would turn the huge empty green house into a fabulous wedding venue. Needless to say, Evie’s amazing vision and the hard work of all their family and friends really did blow us away on the day! She had hand made so many things from her bouquet and hair band to the silver sprayed branches and table centre pieces. It really is enough to inspire any bride to be creative and add a personal touch to their day.”
The second film is from the wedding of Cristina and Mark-Paul who were married in Aviemore, Scottish Highlands – brilliant song choice
“This whole wedding was like a big adventure! We were unable to meet before the big day so we got to know each other by chatting via email and Facebook. We made the epic 6 ½ hour trip up to Aviemore-an adventure in itself-and over the next two days allowed ourselves to be completely swept up in the wedding! Their ceremony was held at the same church Christina’s Mum and Dad were married and their reception was held at a friend’s home down the road. It was great to see their personalities shine through and seeing different cultures of Spanish and British together was fascinating! A particular favourite Spanish tradition was when the groom had to remove the brides garter blindfolded…in front of everyone! The fun really began for me in the edit. I only get to see the groom’s footage at this point and what we got of him with his family and friends was hysterical! From being part of such an intimate day I really felt I had got to know them enough that I could try something a little different. I couldn’t resist trying Bjorks ‘It’s Oh So Quiet’ to reflect their different personalities and sum them up as a couple. It worked beautifully and Cristina even said ‘We absolutely love the video and Bjork is a perfect song, especially for the crazy man!”
* Where did you get the inspiration from to set up ‘Love Gets Sweeter’
What better inspiration than our own wedding film? We had never even seen a wedding film before we started our own, I just knew that I wanted to take advantage of some very talented cameraman friends! With my background in editing and love of all things wedding, the film came together very naturally and we even had a screening for our friends and family! Everyone loved it and I had friends of friends asking if I could do theirs. Before I knew it my husband Lee had surprised me with a web domain named after our first dance song, Love Gets Sweeter. He even got a web designer on the case to start creating our very own personalised web page!
Throughout my life I have been inspired by films and wedding films are no different. I love creating something so unique and personal for each film to really reflect the couples personalities. The whole process from the initial meeting, the chats in between and the wedding day itself is great to be a part of and I’m really passionate about making the effort to get to know each couple so I can really create THEIR wedding film. I really want them to be able to feel and relive the emotions of the day just by watching their film. Our wedding day was over a year ago now and we still get goosebumps watching our film on our phones. We’ve even had strangers cry while watching ours and I can honestly say our photographs haven’t had that effect! A beautiful wedding film should be more than just a camera filming your day. It should capture the atmosphere of the day and the personalities of the couple as well as being something that looks stunning for years to come. You only have one wedding day that you may have spent years planning, so having a wedding film is definitely worth the investment to complement your wedding photographs.
I’m what you could call the creative mind behind all of our work and my husband plays the very important role of being the business mind-as well using his design skills to create our beautiful DVD cases! We make a great team and after meeting couples they always comment on our joint enthusiasm and how they love hearing a different perspective on why they should invest in a wedding film.
* What are the costs involved for hiring you, and what about travel?
We found it hard to make a ‘standard’ package that would fit each couple. Every wedding is different so we created 3 packages starting from £900 up to £1600 with a list of extras to help each couple create a completely bespoke wedding DVD. We’ve had grooms film their arrival in a helicopter so we’ve added that to their final DVD and even out takes reels for all those bloopers and guest messages. It really is possible to add personality to your wedding film!
We don’t like to put a time limit on the day either and like to capture everything that is important to the couple in order to make the perfect film, from the bridal prep (and sometimes even the groom!) right through to the first dance and some of the evening entertainment.
We are based in Burscough, Lancashire but enjoy travel ling nationally and have covered weddings all over the UK. From Somerset and Oxfordshire to Altrincham and Aviemore! Some locations may require additional mileage costs or overnight accommodation so time is not limited on the day.
Do be sure to have a look at the site, Love Gets Sweeter and tell me what you think. Are you planning on having your wedding filmed? I didn’t but now I have seen these I sort of wish I had …..
13 Gorgeous Wedding Buttonholes
I’m not sure if you know that I have a little obsession with buttonholes. Yes I have written about it before on LMW (buttonholes fit for a wedding), but I wanted to do an updated post with these photos as they’re really crisp and clear (just like a groom’s buttonhole should be).
BTW all of these gorgeous wedding buttonholes were created by Planet Flowers and photographed by Rankine Photography.
(1) Rose; (2) Eryngium; (3) Phalaenopsis Orchid
(4) Rose + Lily of the Valley + Stephanotis; (5) Rose; (6) Eryngium + White Heather
(7) Cymbidium Orchid; (8) Rose + mixed berries; (9) Lily of the Valley + Heather
(10) Rose + Berry; (11) Calla + Mokara Orchid
(12) Rose + Lily of the Valley; (13) Spray Rose
Gemma @ Planet Flowers – thank you for feeding my obsession with buttonholes (and talking us through all the different flowers involved). I have to say that Planet Flowers are one of my favourite florists and come highly recommended – I know many of the scottish photographers that I feature on LMW work with them regularly and speak very highly of them. Do make sure that you check out their site, Planet Flowers, for more examples of their work.
Which of these do you like? Please share with us what you are planning for your wedding…
Real Wedding *Belita & Rich, Edinburgh
Ditte, from First Light Wedding Photography talks me through this gorgeous Scottish wedding that she photographed last summer. Lovely photos of the bride’s wedding dress from Pronovias and shoes by Emmy (- one of my favourite designers. In fact I wanted Emmy shoes for my wedding but I couldn’t quite stretch to that budget so I had to make do with a pair from Kurt Geiger!)
“The wedding took place on 31st July in Scotland near Duns, Berwickshire on Belita’s aunt and uncle’s farm. From the first time we met Belita and Richard we loved their closeness and the way they just make each other complete. They had such a vivid idea of how they wanted their wedding day to look. They had chosen a Midsummer Nights’ Dream theme to their day with lots of gorgeous touches. The attention to detail really blew us away!”
The flowers were by a family friend, Fiona, from Northumberland. I think that they are absolutely wonderful – she doesn’t have a company name (or website) so unfortunately I am not able to say anything more than I’m very impressed Fiona!
This has to be one of my favourite photos from their weddings….
Place names were luggage tags, attached to napkins with silk string. Each name was beautifully written in calligraphy by a friend of the family.
Rather than displaying a table plan, the couple had hung up little envelopes with guests’ names on them that also showed which table guests were seated at. The envelopes also served as favours, as inside each one was a lottery slip for that night’s lottery – Love that idea!
Flowers on the tables were displayed in old teapots, collected at flea markets by the couple.
Belita, the bride said, “Meeting Ditte and Chris was an unexpected bonus of getting married! We couldn’t have asked for two more pleasant, professional or talented people to photograph our wedding; they listened to exactly what we wanted, were on top of everything (including all the things we hadn’t thought of) and were faultless on the day. We will treasure the beautiful photos they took of our wedding for our whole lives.”
A big thanks to Ditte for sending me this gorgeous wedding to feature on my wedding blog and congratulations to Belita & Rich on a wonderful day. Do be sure to check out First Light Wedding Photography for more information on this fab scottish photography duo…..
This week…
has been a busy week. I’ve still not caught up on my blogging (story of my life) and I’m getting so many fabulous submissions through that I’m not sure how to keep on top of everything – maybe a little round up of what has caught my fancy this week will do the trick!
* I have been working on a Belita & Rich’s wedding that was sent to me by Ditte from First Light Wedding Photography and is absolutely gorgeous – should have that up on the blog before the end of the weekend but here is a sneaky peek at the bride looking absolutely stunning in her dress.
* I have been listening to Classic FM ‘ The Wedding Collection’ – you might think a bit wierd to be listening to wedding songs when you’re already married but it includes my favourite ‘Jesu, Joy of Mans Desiring’ that we had during the signing of our register (do listen to it if you don’t know it).
I don’t normally blog about music as I know readers like to look at pretty pictures but for me the music at our wedding was one of the most important parts, so if you’re in need of a bit of inspiration in the music department its definitely worth a listen.
* I’ve been planning when to go to the Designer Wedding Show in Battersea as I really enjoyed it last time and there were lots of amazing wedding suppliers exhibiting. It is definitely one of my preferred shows and I am hoping to pop along with a friend that has just got engaged. Last time I was there I discovered twobirds bridesmaid and later chose one of their gorgeous dresses to wear to my best friend’s wedding when I was a bridesmaid in May (thats me on the right)
I also discovered lovely little suppliers like the lovely Paperbird design with their origami wedding stationery that I blogged about previously.
* I heard from Breakthrough Breast Cancer about their wedding list service, where couples can choose to have a wedding list which their guests can donate to rather than giving presents which I think is a lovely idea. We did it for Marie Curie at our wedding as we didn’t need any more pots and pans at the time. For more information check out Breakthrough Breast Cancer or visit them at The National Wedding Show in London next weekend.
* Tonight I am off to celebrate an early Valentines evening with my husband to watch the Kings Speech. I hope you all have a fantastic weekend and Happy Valentines Day for Monday X
- Older Posts