A successful Wedding Open Day
3rd March 2020
Following what seems like endless weeks of wet and windy weather, on Sunday we had our first hint of Spring with beautiful sunshine; perfect timing for our first Wedding Open Day of the year.
It is impossible to predict in advance what the weather will be like on the day of the event, (a bit like guessing the weather for the actual wedding) but it is such a bonus when it is in your favour and wedding couples spent a happy time wandering around the beautiful gardens and grounds, imagining their wedding photography. The beds of daffodils look so pretty and you can tell that it won’t be long before the tulips are flowering too.
Not only did we welcome wedding couples looking round for the first time but also many of our booked couples, looking for new inspiration from the suppliers exhibiting or maybe refreshing their memories, planning where to place wedding decor or the position of a photobooth or sweet cart.
Our wedding team were on hand to offer informal tours of our stunning Essex wedding venue and answer questions regarding pricing and availability, or just to have a friendly chat about how plans are coming together.
Always popular, our caterers Bouquet Garni came along with their Citroen H Van, which is often used for serving street food, or drinks. I was tempted with a delicious slow cooked lamb and dauphinoise potatoes but there were several options available for tasting. Rob, who was acting as chef yesterday, was showing off the latest addition to the van – a fabulous pizza oven. What a great idea for informal evening food!
Once inside the Long Gallery, visitors were able to view this magnificent room used for the wedding breakfast and evening wedding reception, all dressed with a variety of centrepieces, supplied by our recommended florist W Flowers. Julia from W Flowers also provided ideas on how to decorate the entrance staircase and the impressive fireplace.
In the courtyard we proudly displayed our two wedding cars, a 1930’s Rolls Royce Maythorn and a 1960’s Silver Cloud, offered to the bride for transport to the wedding venue. On arrival in the car park, visitors saw our fabulous 1960’s London Routemaster Bus, often used for transporting wedding guests to Layer Marney Tower and then a late night return journey at the end of the evening wedding reception.
We were also lucky enough to have some of our trusted wedding suppliers exhibiting, offering advice and inspiration.
Simon from EPS Photography has worked at Layer Marney Tower on many occasions, capturing lasting memories of your wedding day. We feel it is really important to hire a photographer who is familiar with the venue.
We were so excited that The Little Horse Picture Booth decided to launch their new indoor vintage photo booth at our Open Day. Such an amazing selection of props, including masquerade ball style masks, a selection of hats and wooden tennis racquets. Of course we had to try it out!
No wedding is complete without a beautiful wedding cake and there was plenty of inspiration on offer from the talented Tina of TCakes.
Dynamic Fireworks are the only firework supplier we allow at Layer Marney Tower and they never fail to wow wedding guests with their spectacular displays.
We always like to invite a live musician to these events and on this occasion we invited vocalist Casper Clarke, who in between singing some of his repertoire, was happy to discuss options for music during the wedding ceremony, drinks reception, wedding breakfast and into the evening reception.
Mr Wheeler had a selection of wine available for tasting and their advice is invaluable if you wish to pair a wine to the menu you have selected.
Whether you are the bride, groom, best man or flower girl you will need to be dressed to impress, which is where Amara Bridal and Anthony Formalwear are on hand to help. Showcasing just a small selection of their beautiful dresses and suits, they have dressed many a Layer Marney Tower bride and groom.
Finally, Kate Alice Lettering displayed a wonderful selection of the personalised items that she can create for your wedding day, from table plans to signage.
Our next wedding event will be a Wedding Open Evening on Thursday 11th June, from 5.30pm to 9pm but if you wish to visit for a viewing, you don’t need to wait until then. We offer viewing appointments every Saturday morning, usually from 9.30am until midday but we can also see you mid-week during office hours or even one Sunday morning, or mid-week evening.
If you particularly want to visit when the Long Gallery is being prepared for a wedding later that day, please let us know when requesting an appointment and we can advise dates that you can come along to see the room being dressed.
It was lovely to chat to so many wedding couples yesterday but if you didn’t get chance to speak to us on the day, please do not hesitate to call the office on 01206 330784 or e-mail me on either weddings@layermarneytower.co.uk or karen@layermarneytower.co.uk
Karen Brand – Wedding Coordinator
