Monday 23 April 2012

Cake

Today I have had a terrible sweet tooth, well between you and I, I always have a sweet toooth. In a restaurant I 'm the one who checks out the desserts beofre I look at the starters!



With that in mind I thought I'd post you some lovely sweet treats, wedding cakes.

Monday 16 April 2012

A Preview of Prested Hall

In my capacity as a wedding planner in Essex, I have had the pleasure of planning a couple of fabulous weddings at the very lovely Prested Hall. Both weddings fell in the Summer and fortunately the weather was on our side with both of them.
Prested Hall is an intimate venue but not too small and it does have the advantage of a marquee within the grounds for the wedding breakfast if you have a lot of guests. The lovely thing about the venue in my opinion is that apart from it being yours for the day, it feels very much like a large house, with a lounge and library, an orangery and bar area and there are rooms upstairs for guests to stay.
The gardens and the gazebo are beautiful and if the weather is nice, make a perfect setting for the wedding ceremony and drinks reception.
I have sampled the food on several occasions and its great and the staff are also very helpful. If you want an exclusive venue for less than 120 guests then you check out Prested Hall

The gazebo ready for the ceremony

The ceremony with toastmaster - Glen Mayes

The cake

Inside the marquee

The marquee ready for the wedding breakfast

One Foot in the Groove playing for the drinks reception

The orangery and the evening reception

Wednesday 11 April 2012

Wellington Barn

A couple of years ago I had the pleasure of assiting in the orgnisation of a wedding at a Wiltshire wedding venue, Wellington Barn in Calstone. This barn is set in the most beautiful location with views to die for. The bride and groom were very specific about the music for their day as it was to play an important part. I worked closely with the couple to plan the ceremony, drinks reception and of course the party.

It was late September and a gloriously sunny day, which just showed off the venue to its full potential. A side area of the barn was laid out for the ceremony and the bride was accompanied down the aisle to 'Suddenly' from The Slipper and the Rose. Apparently she had dreamed of walking down the aisle to that piece of music her whole life. The recessional was to 'She's So Lovely' by Scouting for Girls.

As the sun shone down the guests moved outside for the drinks reception and Essex jazz band, The Jazz Collective, created a lovely atmosphere whilst the guests sipped champagne. The wedding breakfast was held in a separate part of the barn and whilst everyone enjoyed the food 7 piece Essex wedding band, One Foot in the Groove set up ready for the first dance.










The first dance was one of the most memorable I think I have seen in the eight years I have worked in the wedding industry. The couple danced to 'You Look Good on the Dancefloor' by the Artic Monkeys! and it wasn't long before they had everyone joining in.

Monday 2 April 2012

Themed Parties

When you are planning your wedding or party do you think it should have a theme?? Lots of people don't bother, the most theming they do is colourwise and that's fine but sometimes is nice to have a theme, especially for a birthday party and this can often be done around the music. Last year I organised the music for a 40th birthday party and my client decided that they wanted a 70's theme. They were all going to dress accordingly but whilst they wanted a 70's showband in costume, they wanted a band who could play something else later in the evening as they were worried that 70's all night would be too much.
This was quite a tough ask, as most 70's bands are exactly that and they don't play anything else. Many years ago, Essex party band, One Foot in the Groove used to be a 70's disco band with a horn section but we just couldn't get enough work to fill the diary so we merged the band with our other wedding band in Essex, Sweet Freedon named after the Michael McDonald song and just had One Foot in the Groove. With that in mind I knew they would be able to theme the first set in 70's costume playing all those disco hits and then after a quick change into something more contemporary they would play everything from motown to indie. www.onefootinthegroove.co.ukThe client was getting two bands for the price of one, not bad.
Music is always a great way to theme a party, whether it be Ratpack in black tie to a country band in a barn. There are loads of things you can do and after all a party isn't a party without the music.