There’s been a revolution in the world of weddings recently. Suddenly weddings are all about the wedding couple and the way they choose to live and express themselves and how they share that with everybody on their wedding day.
You’d think it was always like this, but in the past it didn’t always work out that way.
Thankfully things have changed and now it’s personal – weddings are more a reflection of who you are; romantic, relaxed, fun.
You can have a whimsical wedding, a quirky wedding, a wedding with loads of fun and personality - but for a legally binding wedding ceremony you will have to follow the Registrars rules - which means no drinks in the ceremony area beforehand (sorry folks) and no prayers whatever your religion...
Two Registrars will come out on the wedding day & lead your exchange of vows at our lovely wedding pavilion, or on the wooden jetty over the lake, surrounded by water and trees.
Twenty minutes later you'll be showered with confetti and wedding photos a gogo.
This is often the point at which some naughty or shorter attention span guests sneak off to the pub. Well we’re a whole event venue, ceremony and party in one place (and the nearest pub is a couple of miles away). So what we suggest is that you have a little drinks reception straight after your ceremony.
You come out of your ceremony as Mr & Mrs, Mrs & Mrs or Mr & Mr to rapturous applause and then it's time for jugs of chilled Pimms in summer or Moscow Mules with a hint of fire in the Autumn. Welcome canapés at this point might be olive oil crostini with spiced butternut squash, Cornish goats cheese & pink peppercorns, or local smoked mackerel with horseradish & watercress on toasted ciabatta – simple but effective.
Fruit juice, mini breadsticks and raisin packs work really well for the children, while the grown ups get into party mood & you have your fabulous wedding pictures taken.
After an hour or so you'll be off through the woods to your marquee reception in our meadow where dining and dancing await!
Your vision might be a fairy glade; a Midsummer Night's Dream beside woodland and stream while fiddle and flute play you past banks of foxglove and wild rose. There are children with posies as you walk hand in hand to a big tent filled with food and flowers. Later candles and tiny lights shine across the music and dancing - long after little ones are tucked up in their tipis. It's dreamy, it's fairytale, its uber romantic - it's your wedding, why not?
You may feel strongly about an eco-wedding; your philosophy and commitment to the planet means you want a sustainable wedding with ceremony and reception in the same place, maybe lab-grown diamonds & a repurposed wedding dress ? You'll definitely want low impact accommodation for everyone, locally sourced food and drink, everything as earth friendly as it can be.
Or just wow everybody with a full on fiesta vibe with pro-fire jugglers and festival flags, and giant avenues of flowers that burst into colour as night falls. Or go bold Bollywood; style in hot pinks, saffron and red with low seating and glittering saris, or English country house; afternoon tea served on vintage china under swags of retro bunting.
Our beautiful valley and wild woods are perfect for Mad Hatter tea parties, Swallows and Amazons adventures, darker tales of steampunks & black feathered Morris Men, or inter-galatic Ewoks and Vulcans as sci-fi as you can handle...anything is possible! When dusk comes use the pure waters of our lake to float night lights across the lakewater in your own private Festival of Light.
Or of course just simple bbq's and woodland picnics - celebrations as easy or detailed as you please. Choose to set dress it all for glamour or lazy days - whatever your dreams and style we'll help make it the day you want it to be.
Food
One of the first things we often get asked about is the catering side of things. Although we do not provide the food and drink ourselves we make sure you have a choice of the best caterers to do so from our select list. This can be where you either spend or save a lot of money. You can spend £500 or £5000 in the blink of an eye, and it all depends on how you want to do things and where your budget takes you.
You can have a formal wedding breakfast, 3 or 4 courses with full table service, a more informal but still nicely served buffet, a speciality pig on a spit with amazing salads and great veggie options, to a more basic hogroast without many trimmings.
You can go vintage picnic with sandwiches and pies and lashings of ginger beer, or afternoon tea with a Cornish feel, clotted cream and scones, fairy cakes and chocolatey brownies.
You might want bowls of Thai curry, Moroccan tagine, or flatbreads & Mexican salsas – or maybe bangers & mash or local lobsters slapped on the bbq with Cornish new potatoes & mixed leaves. click here for preferred suppliers
We’ve got great local food from our local farmers, fishermen and artisan producers and caterers who can give you just about anything – especially if you’d like seasonal food with a low footprint and a local flavour.
If your wedding is intimate enough (maybe under 20) there’s nothing to stop you doing your own food, and we’ve had smaller weddings doing just that. We’ve got a great site barbecue (the ultimate in recycling – a repurposed propane bottle) you organize the food - and bingo. Do remember though that you really don’t want to be doing the cooking or worrying about the food at your own wedding, and the person you nominate will end up working pretty hard so it needs a bit of thinking through.
Drink
One of the many things that makes us stand out as a venue is the next point. We don’t charge corkage!
Astonishing, we know, but it’s a pet hate of ours. We think that those of you that want to, should be able to bring your own drink without being penalized for it.
Most venues charge corkage automatically because they want you to buy their alcohol, we're happy for you to source it yourselves, get your caterer to provide it, or bring in a cash bar if the budget's tight - it's up to you.
Of course providing your own drink isn’t quite as simple as it sounds; you’ve still got to think about storing it, unpacking and serving it, glasses, ice, staff etc – but if you want to save money and use our rustic bar with some of our occasional bar staff then it could suit you very well.
Lots of you will want something more organized, particularly for bigger weddings (the more people you’ve got, the more professional you need the catering & drinks side of things to be) – one thing you don’t want is a shambles on your wedding day with things not flowing smoothly because too many corners have been cut.
Cake
We’ve got some great local cake makers for your wedding cake, or you can make your own. Lots of you are going for a wedding cheese cake with decoration on the rounds of everything from flowers to figs and pomegranates – and of course to give it that Cornish twist there’s great Cornish cheeses made in the county. You can even get a big heart shaped Cornish Yarg if you order well ahead.
Sweetie tables are still quite popular - but be warned, kids are likely to go overboard!
Crockery & glasses
You can arrange with your caterer serve all this on everything from recycled palm leaf plates to unbleached paper ones, smart white place settings from event hire firms to mis-matched vintage china. Glassware, serving dishes, table linen etc will also be ordered in by them. On a smaller budget you can source basic crockery & cutlery from home.
Music for the evening party is often really high on your list of priorities. This can be anything from a 9 piece rock n’roll to a foot stomping ceilidh band, Big Band Swing, serious dance music, or perhaps a Soul & Gospel singer – maybe a friend who’s a DJ or just your own compilation of music through our speakers and your iPod. Music at your ceremony needs to be acoustic (we know lots of lovely musicians who'll do an acoustic set or be wandering minstrels for you in the woods) or played at very low volume on a portable system if pre-recorded.
When it comes to evening guests there’s various possibilities that come into play. It usually makes sense to have everybody you want to the whole of your day so everyone can join in everything from the tear jerking I do, to the wine and song. However if you’ve got local friends and family and definitely want some of them to join you just for the evening then no problem, although bear in mind we do charge based on your overall numbers - we have to look after all your guests, whatever time they arrive!