Hello…I’m back!

Hello…I’m back!

It seems quite fitting that this blog post should be a “hello I’m back” message following the temporary goodbye post I wrote at the end of March. I certainly would never have believed that it would be nearly 4 months on before I returned to my role here at Layer Marney Tower.

My first two weeks were spent slowly absorbing the seemingly endless correspondence. With a smile I noted every single e-mail responded by Nicholas and Sheila finished with “holding the fort in Karen’s absence” or “she will return”.

Although I was thrilled to return to the office finally, I was well aware that the heartache of many of our wedding couples hadn’t disappeared and that weddings throughout 2020 were still being postponed to alternative dates in 2021.

There is barely a person in the UK who hasn’t been affected by Covid-19 in some shape or form. I appreciate that holding a wedding this year may not seem like a life or death situation to anyone who is not a bride or groom but to the people forced into making the decision to postpone, it’s been a tough and often emotional rollercoaster.

I do feel it is very important that wedding couples mark their “would-be wedding day”; whether this is a simple toast to each other, cutting a celebratory cake or gathering with a few immediate family members for a socially distanced picnic. This date should not be forgotten and instead celebrated.

On a more positive note, I write this following the latest relaxation of lockdown measures whereby couples can not only have a wedding ceremony for up to 30 people but a wedding reception for this number too. Clearly this is still not going to suit the majority of our wedding couples who had upwards of 70-80 guests invited for the day, with numbers often increasing for the evening reception. However, it is a step in the right direction and it may well suit some of you that were always wanting a more intimate celebration.

If there has been any silver lining to the lockdown period, it has given wedding couples more time to plan. Maybe you are having a DIY wedding and all those crafting jobs have been completed – bunting made or favours painstakingly put together. There should be no excuse from the Groom that he hasn’t had time to prepare a speech!

It has been fantastic to see that new enquiries are now regularly being made too, with couples looking at 2021, 2022 and even 2023 dates. Nicholas and Sheila put together a couple of virtual tours of the venue for the period during lockdown, which we are still finding are a popular way of seeing the venue before coming to look in person.

Private wedding viewing appointments are taking place every weekend, usually with Sheila but hopefully I will be back to meet potential wedding couples again very soon.

Looking further forward, we remain hopeful that our Wedding Fayres and Wedding Open Days may re-start shortly, and as soon as we know this type of event can take place we will let you all know.

I have enjoyed making contact gradually with some of our booked couples and also introducing myself to wedding couples that have booked within the last few months. Hopefully it won’t be long before I can see you all again in person, and I look forward to supporting you over the coming weeks or months with your plans.

Karen – Wedding Coordinator

 

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