Mrs &
Mrs F 25th Wedding celebration weekend Venue Charingworth Manor.
This event
had been in the planning for about 10 months. We found a venue very early on
and really without too much bother or fighting. (Plenty of that later)
It was a
cold rainy Saturday November 2012 with remnants of snow still on the ground
when we first drove up that long drive to the beautiful Charingworth Manor.
When we got to the front of the hotel we were very excited as from the outside
it was holding out a lot of promise.
Opening the
heavy old oak door and into a worn flag stoned reception area, we were even
more excited. We talked menus, wine, canapés & champagne ate lunch and
viewed many of the bedrooms, before we left we had put down our deposit we had
found our perfect venue. Now just for the fine details.
On a lovely
Sunny day in August we drove up that drive again to finalise arrangements, roof
down this time. The Manor was bathed in sunshine and the warm Cotswold stone
glowed through the trees. The welcome inside was just as warm and after
finalising a few details we had to tear ourselves away. We really loved this
hotel when we saw it in the cold, wind and rain, In the sunshine it was a
little bit of heaven, however it would not be long before we returned and this
time with our friends and family.
Throughout
the year we hunted for Silver decorations, we managed to get hold of a few in
the Christmas sales. Silver candles proved to be the hardest we found some in
Henley just 3 weeks before the big day.
Invitations
were sent out, changes of plans and numbers of guests were made. New dresses were purchased, suits tried on
and new ones bought due to expanding waistbands. The hunt for shoes took months
and lessons from work colleagues in how to walk in them when they finally
arrived. Even a new hairdresser was sorted out for the occasion. Hours were spent
searching the internet for Orchids only to find what would fit the bill
perfectly in Waitrose for a fraction of the price and relax…..
Seriously
we had no hassle at all. A bit of an epic fight in House of Fraser over a tie,
must have been some other underlying thing going on there & the tie brought
it all out.
Ian spent
hours and hours sorting out the music; we had Champagne Reception music, dinner
music and after dinner music. We had several listening evenings until I had to
put a stop to it or I would be sick to death of it by the time the night
arrived. However during the actual evening most of the music was drowned out by
the conversation that went on, so we could have played any old tunes and I am
not sure too many people would have noticed. Fantastic.
So the 7th
September dawns with the promise of quite good day weather wise. We wanted to
put the roof down but the car is stuffed full. It seems to take ages to get to
Chipping Campden. Kings hotel is the arranged meeting point. We bump into Anne
& Joyce outside and take over a large window seat in the bar and sunshine.
It is like Noah’s ark, people arrive 2 by 2,
it was great for us as we had time to say hello to everyone & introduce
people without too much confusion. Sarah & Jon had not yet arrived and
after I perceived they were an hour late I started to panic, no phone signals
did not help the matter. I paced up & down outside for a while but that
didn’t help either. Anyway they arrived safely and if I had only read Sarah’s
email properly I would have known they were going to be a bit late. We all had
a bite to eat and a drink. The sandwiches were excellent, the chunky chips were
mammoth & fed several people.
We left
Chipping Campden in convoy and arrived en masse at the manor. The sun was
shining so it looked as splendid as we wanted it to. People were soon escorted
to their respective rooms, we were lucky to have a suite the TS Eliot to be
precise. All the rooms are a bit quirky; Jeremy & Nic had a room with doors
that lead to a small patio and the most amazing view over the countryside.
Joyce had a lovely room with the best view in the hotel!
Whilst some
people made straight for the bar, others sunned themselves on the terrace and
drank tea. I and a few helpers decorated the dining room and then we went to
the bar and polished off a bottle of sparkly. As you do.
A quick
relax and then it was time to get ready. Party frocks on!
The
Champagne reception was held in one of the drawing rooms the canapés were
lovely and the champagne nicely chilled.
It was not long before we were seated for dinner and the room was buzzing
with chatter which did not stop until we all went to bed. As I mentioned
earlier there really was little need for any music.
We had an
ice breaker which was not really required but we did it anyway. 25 questions on
how well do you know your hosts. Some people took it seriously. There were
various other things going on like betting on which side of the table would get
their food first, how many of what pudding would be ordered. I wonder who the
ring leader of that was. At one stage some sparklers appeared, 25 of them I
think and mass conducting went on outside the hotel. I have no idea what time
this was but surely some people would have been in bed by then oh dear!
We received
some wonderful thoughtful gifts and we were amazed at the imaginative 25 things
people came up with.
All too
soon it was midnight and as a couple of people drifted off to bed some decamped
to the bar to try and make another dent in the pin of Hooky beer. At 12.30 I
had to admit defeat and dragged Mr F away from his drinking buddies.
I had a
good sleep until 5ish when a Woodpigeon decided to wake the world with its
flippin cooing then its friend joined in. It was lovely & comfy in that big
soft bed but then I remembered the devastation of the dining room & knew
that I had to get it tided sooner rather than later. However the night porter
and Anne (not sure if they were together) had done most of it all I had to do
was pack it up.
The smell
of fresh baked croissants and coffee & bacon were wafting through the
corridors and I was getting hungry. 2x2 all the guests arrived to enjoy a
scrumptious breakfast, Helen & Simon made it by the skin of their teeth and
we managed to create a heck of a din once again, even though we had a private
section of the room.
The sun
shone as we bade our guests a fond farewell. We have lovely memories of a happy
sunny weekend with the people that mean the most to us.
Thank you
all for making it so special.
Ok so the helipcopter was not ours but it looks good!
.jpg)
No comments:
Post a Comment