Essex Wedding Awards

The inaugural Essex Wedding Awards are being held at The Crown Plaza Resort 5 Lakes on November 29th. This is the very first time suppliers in Essex have been recognised for their hard work. As a wedding planner in Essex I am very excited to see who has been honoured for all of their hard work and I am very interested to see if Essex wedding band, One Foot in the Groove are winners.
Foe those of you that don't know, I manage the band and have done for the last nine years and in that time they have gone from strength to strength.
Last year they were shortlisted for The Wedding Industry awards. The only live band in the East of England to make it on the shortlist and they have been nominated again this year. They also won The Wedding Experts Award 2012. It really has been a brilliant year for them. Fingers crossed for the 29th November.

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

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.