Lauren & Matts Wedding Planning Blog ~ part 5

A final blog post from Lauren, before this beautiful couple hold their September wedding at Coombe Trenchard.

Counting down the days to wedded bliss

With now less than 5 weeks to go everything is beginning to fall into place and is feeling so real! We have counted down the weekends we have left and each one is jam packed with something meaning we have no time left to do anything more, so we just have to have complete trust in our planning so far and hope that it will all come together perfectly on the day – with a huge hand from Sarah, who we know will make sure every detail is accommodated (she’s been amazing for this!).

We are also spending time over the next few weeks wearing in shoes, practicing our first dance, and hand making all the last little bits for the day.

The 'wedding planning room' at home has spanned so far out I had to have a sit down and sort out last week to remember all the things we have got! It was so exciting going through things knowing the next time they are unpacked will be the night before the wedding.

We have had nearly all the final appointments with our suppliers, and have settled the final balances with most of them too, which has been such a huge relief as we know now that anything we have extra can go towards the honeymoon - Yippee!

We have booked with Kuoni, and cannot wait for our amazing trip - 3 nights in Bangkok and then off to enjoy the beaches of Thailand for a week!

Our honeymoon will follow on straight after the wedding which will be fantastic as we carry the motion of the day on into the most amazing holiday of our lives!

After our wedding and honeymoon it will be back to reality with no planning left to do – which will feel really strange! I actually don’t know how I will get on not having something to make every week or contacting people to arrange appointments - although from the amazing people we have met throughout our planning, I am pretty sure I will be in touch with them afterwards.

For example, Kimberly at Changing Faces has been brilliant - Mum and I had our trial for makeup and hair last week and it was just lovely being pampered and trying out different styles and choices. I didn’t really have a specific idea of what I wanted which I thought might make it difficult but I think if you choose a supplier who really knows their stuff, and takes the time to understand you, they can guide you easily. This is exactly what Kimberly did and I was so happy with the results. And it was so special sharing this time with my mum as well, who also looked beautiful!

Neither Matt nor I can wait now for everything that we have planned to come together. The countdown is well and truly on, and I will be sure to write a blog with lots of pictures from the day - our wedding day at Coombe Trenchard (!!) - only next time I'll be signing off as Mrs Lauren West!

A Chat with Posh Nosh

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How would you describe your business? 

Posh Nosh is a well-established and versatile business dedicated to giving outstanding levels of service and product. We pride ourselves on being at the forefront of wedding cuisine and create bespoke menus from classic, elegant dining through to contemporary, rustic sharing dishes. Our team go out of their way to listen to every client’s individual needs in order to meet all of their expectations and more on their big day.

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What is your favourite thing about being involved in the wedding industry? 

The exciting build up to a couples big day (particularly the lay up the day before) and seeing everything come to fruition. There’s no better feeling than looking around a room or marquee full of happy wedding guests all enjoying the food, and it’s also really lovely when we receive a thank you letter from the happy couple after the wedding to say how happy they were with the service they received.

Can you describe Coombe Trenchard in three words? 

Friendly, Unique and Private

What meal do you feel best fits Coombe Trenchard’s unique atmosphere? 

Elegant Dining or Rustic Table Sharing Platters.

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What advice would you offer bridal couples when choosing their caterer? 

Look for experience and quality over cheap deals- there’s a reason for the saying ‘you get what you pay for’! And after hearing some stories from couples, if you receive poor or little communication from your caterers at the beginning, it tends not to bode well for the rest of the working relationship.

What is your favourite thing to cook/serve to bridal couples? 

This is difficult to answer as we have so many options and styles of dining and we are forever creating bespoke dishes to fit in with our couples requirements. But  if we had to choose one, you can’t beat a traditional, formal, plated meal as it looks so aesthetically pleasing when everyone’s dish is exactly the same on the table- we particularly love doing a trio of desserts!

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How should bridal couples choose from the amazing options on your menus? 

We would advise the couple to speak directly to our team of dedicated Event Coordinators, who can then get a real feel for their wedding day and advise on specific menus to fit in with their style, theme and personalities. Our team can then look to book the couple in for a private tasting at our HQ where they can go over every element of every dish in detail with our head chef and event coordinators and tweak things to create a menu absolutely perfect for them.

Do you get involved in serving drinks at all? 

Yes, we can provide drinks service from reception drinks through to the toast, and we can provide a ‘free evening bar’ service (including bar front and bar fridge).

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What size catering marquee/kitchen space to you require? 

6mx6m

Finally, what excites you most about your job? 

Sometimes we will be in the middle of a field and a challenge will arise and our team will have to think on their feet to solve it and that can really get the blood pumping! After 30 years in the industry you can imagine how many obstacles we’ve had to tackle (including the collapse of a marquee roof in a rainstorm half way through main course!) and luckily them team are excellent at solving problems on the spot and solving them well! But generally it’s just really exciting to work with couples on the build up to their big day, getting as excited as they are on the day and receiving good feedback after the event- we love to be a part of something so special and we get to see some of the most beautiful places the South West has to offer and put smiles on hundreds of faces, we are very lucky people!

You can find out more about the mouth-watering delights of Posh Nosh by browsing their website here. 

A Chat with Jaded Palates

We enjoyed a wonderful meeting with Ian from Jaded Palates not too long ago, and feel so happy to be able to recommend his company to our bridal couples. Ian's passion and knowledge are truly impressive and we felt a further chat would be the best way to spread the word about the wonderful things Jaded Palates are doing:

How would you describe your business?

Jaded Palates is all about having fun with fun. Whilst we do have two shops and an online store, we like to think we are more a service business than retail. We hold a lot of events, tastings, food and wine pairings, educational talks to encourage people to see wine as fun and enjoyable, and not intimidating. We get so excited when a customer says to us "oh wow, I never would have thought that. You've really opened our eyes to this whole subject!". That gives us goosebumps!

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What is your favourite thing about being involved in the wedding industry?

Being a part of a couples' special day is very exciting. Let's face it, wine is one of the fun parts of any wedding. Whether that's just an easy-drinking sipper bottle of something simple with your meal, or a carefully matched series of wines for each course your caterer/chef have prepared for you, we think wine should be one of the enjoyable things you should be planning, not worrying about it.

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What advise would you give to bridal couples when thinking about their wedding wine/drinks?

Make sure you try it before you buy it! And don't be afraid to consider more unusual things - I've provided off-dry white wines for a couple who wanted mostly reds with their spicy Mexican buffet they were planning. They were amazed at how much better they went once we put it to the test!

How do you feel Jaded Palates can assist bridal couples in a unique way?

Quite often wine is one of the last things people think about when planning a wedding - it's often simply left down to a relative to dash down to the supermarket or Majestic to pick something up. We can actually make that part of the process fun - we'll sit down with you and your caterer to come up with something that everyone is happy with, or even send you samples to try if you're not able to be nearby. Our pricing is very reasonable of course (our house wines start at just £5.50), and we offer full sale-or-return for anything that isn't opened on the day, but that should be standard these days. We're all about helping you and providing that personal touch which you can't get anywhere else.

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What do you feel is imperative for a wedding wine?

There should be something for everyone, firstly. Quite often people will stick to offering one white and one red because that's simplest. But not everyone likes NZ Sauvignon Blanc or Argentinian Malbec. Getting a couple of options needn't be more confusing or expensive. But more importantly, it should just be good! It sounds simple, and everyone's palate is different, but a well-made wine is not always that common.

How do you advise couples keep guests happy with their drinks selection?

As above really - offer a little variety (as well as perhaps a little information on each wine if they aren't sure - we can help with this, of course!), and enough of it! You're better off getting too much than too little: you can always return it and you'll only pay for what was opened.

How much wine to you allow per guest when totalling up how much is needed?

Every wedding is different of course, and it depends on the size: larger weddings are perhaps counter-intuitively a bit easier to cater for, because things average out more evenly. But on the whole, you plan for roughly 1/2 to 3/4 a bottle of wine per person in total. Some won't drink much if anything, others much more. But it usually averages out at around that.

Tell us about your shops and what you offer for visitors to them. 

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We're based in small-ish towns in Dartmoor, and very much part of the local communities we serve. We keep our selection purposefully quite small - choice is often far too intimidating when it comes to wine in my view. Why have 25 wines from the same region and leave the choice to the customer? I see our job as partly being to pick the best and put them on display, so that no matter which bottle is picked up and taken home, it will be really good. We do a lot of tasting events in store, and in Ashburton, we have a tasting room with 16 wines in dispensers permanently for people to try. It's often a great starting point for a hen or stag night too...!

Finally, what excites you most about your job?

Seriously?! I get to talk about wine all day every day. What is not to like..?!

Lauren & Matt's Wedding Planning Blog - Part 4

I can’t believe that in March, when it was 6 months until Matt & I get married, we were out in knee deep snow! The mile stone we have been working towards was the 6 month mark and now it’s been and gone and things have really started to get moving!

I had my hen weekend at the start of April, where we stayed in a lodge in Cheddar, Tor Farm, relaxing with spa treatments and a hot tub and catching up with some of the closest people involved in the wedding. We have also met again with our incredible florist, Amy from Blossom Parlour based is Weston-Super-Mare. She is just brilliant, as I said before I think the most important thing when looking for a supplier is to work with someone who when they are talking about an idea it’s pretty much what you were going to say! Amy has literally taken the ideas out of Matt & my minds and made it real and really understood what we wanted – including an incredible floral feature called a ‘moon gate’, look this up! It will be the back drop behind Matt & me for the wedding breakfast.

I have also seen my dress again at Bridal Boutique in Street. It had been a few months since I last tried it on, so my memory was a bit sketchy on how it looked. But trying it on again was just lovely and I am so pleased with my decision. For my veil I have what was originally my auntie’s cathedral length veil, which my mum then wore to her wedding – which I am now wearing! It is so beautiful and I remember being little and wearing it and thinking how much I wanted to get married – it’s also my something old and something borrowed! I couldn’t believe just how perfectly it went with the dress and it means so much to have something which holds so many memories.

Everything slowly is starting to come together now, the wedding room is full of all the things we have been collecting and have been given by family (the incredible handmade post box!) and is still growing. I have really enjoyed making things for the wedding – entirely fuelled by my Pinterest account, somethings have worked really well, others not so well but it’s all been part of the experience. The next few months I think will be filled with appointments with our suppliers and sorting out the details of the day which I am so excited about, the more people we meet the more real it all feels. Also the more our ideas grow and develop, when we look back at how we thought the day would be to now it has evolved so much and we just can’t wait for it to come together.

The biggest thing I think when you start to plan a wedding especially with over a year of planning, is to understand that things do change and ideas will grow and develop. But I would say that from the start have the things in mind which are your core ideas which are essential to you and build around them, ours were; church, family, tradition and our day has grown around these key points, so we know when we look back we can say it was exactly what we wanted.

The next mile stone will be July, which leaves only 3 months and I know everything will start to move even quicker with final appointments, fittings and getting bills settled! We also have Matt’s birthday in July to celebrate and are off to see Ed Sheeran, which will speed up the time even more with lots of exciting things to look forward to whilst we wait for September 1st 2018!

I will keep you posted

Lauren x

Nikki & Ant - May 27th 2017

Back in May 2017 we were lucky enough to host the wedding of Nikki & Ant, a couple who wowed us with their creativity and style. As a stationery designer that we adore (you must take some time to browse Nikki's Knots & Kisses website), we knew the day would be a masterclass in colours and design, but it was also packed with personality, love and so much laughter. It gives us great pleasure to relive the day with Nikki, and Clare Kinchin's beautiful images. 

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Clare Kinchin Photography

What were your reasons for choosing Coombe Trenchard?

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Clare Kinchin Photography

I first discovered Coombe Trenchard when we first moved to Devon and I was looking to connect with fellow wedding suppliers in the local area. I popped along for a chat with Sarah and she fed me the most amazing shortbread and showed me round her beautiful house and I was pretty much hooked from then!

When Ant proposed Coombe Trenchard went straight on to the shortlist of 5 venues I thought we should see.

I was happy for Ant to make the final decision though as all 5 I had shortlisted were venues I knew, had worked with and loved so it was really difficult for me to look at them objectively.

Ant fell in love with Coombe Trenchard immediately and we both loved the relaxed atmosphere and stunning surroundings. It combined both of our love of historic buildings and architecture without being too big or ‘grand’ and it made for the most amazing relaxed and fun day!

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Clare Kinchin Photography

Where did you find your inspiration?

When I’m designing for a client I always start with asking them about the things they love in general. I like to see how they live and how they decorate their house. I think this shows a lot about a couple’s personality and it should always be this that show’s through in their wedding.

Fortunately Ant and myself had just bought a renovation house in Torquay and were already discussing colour schemes so we ended up picking a colour scheme which was based on our lounge and dining room!

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Clare Kinchin Photography

Navy and dark wood are our favourites and I adore blush pink and dark pink reds and burgundy’s, so this is what we went for.

We also picked a subtle animal skull and floral motif to run through the day and introduced lots of references to films and books which we absolutely love. We wanted to incorporate all the things we love but in a really pretty and hopefully stylish way so it didn’t look like there was too much of an overall ‘theme’

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Clare Kinchin Photography

What are your top supplier tips?

Be organised and understanding! Most of the suppliers in the wedding industry are small businesses who are working all the hours to try and make your day amazing so being friendly via email or phone goes a long way.

I’m a natural stress head but I tried to be as nice and friendly as possible to all my suppliers even if I was stressing out!

Having all the information they need to hand and making decisions quickly I think not only helps suppliers but yourself. Stressing for hours over tiny decisions which in the end won’t be noticed on your wedding day is not good for anyone’s mental health! I tried to make decision as quickly as I could.

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Clare Kinchin Photography

What was your favourite part of the day?

We have two which we have discussed at length since the day!

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Clare Kinchin Photography

Firstly our ‘first look’ before walking into the ceremony room together. We had the music start up and I walked down the stairs from the bridal suite and Ant met me at the bottom of the stairs before then walking to the front of the hall. This was the best decision ever … it was incredibly emotional and it actually made us both much less nervous about walking in in front of everyone as we were hand in hand.

Secondly was half way through the day when we asked all the guests to join us on the second terrace for the evening reception part of the day. None of the guests had any idea there was going to be whole other area for the evening and seeing their faces when they walked through under the clock tower and realised there was another area with photobooth, band and pizza van was amazing!

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Clare Kinchin Photography

What advise would you give to future Coombe Trenchard bridal couples?

Take all the advice Sarah and Emily offer … they know what they are doing and are used to planning a wedding that is perfect for both you and makes the most of Coombe Trenchard! Be as organised as you can and create a timeline which you can add to gradually once you have found out timings from various suppliers. Having this timeline though means that you can hand everything over to the venue easily the day before and know that everything will go as closely to plan as possible. ( But be prepared that something might go wrong and realise that if it does that’s absolutely fine.)

Also have a separate wet weather plan just in case – you’ll be far less disappointed on the day if you do.

We ended up not needed ours but it was raining the morning of the wedding so I’d convinced myself it was wet weather plan anyway!.

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Clare Kinchin Photography

What is your tale from the other side?

We absolutely love being married but it was never the be all and end all of our relationship. Make sure you love and enjoy your day but realise that the ceremony is the most important thing and everything else is just a beautiful bonus!

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Clare Kinchin Photography

Photographer: Clare Kinchin

Florist: Brompton Buds

Caterer: Coombe Trenchard and Two Birds

Cake: Edible Essence

Dress: Needle & Thread, with embellishments from Abidemaids and hair piece from Kye Tew Jewellery. Shoes Rachel Simpson Shoes.

Groom’s Suit : Vintage Suit Hire Company / Accessories : Mrs Bow Tie

Entertainment: Swing Kings and Your New Favourite Band

Marquee Company: World Inspired Tents

Bar Company: Thirst Choice

Hair: Giselle at The Event Studios

Make Up: Giselle at The Event Studios

Other items and props : Virginias Vintage Hire, The Prop Factory & West Country Wedding Planner

Stationery & Styling : Knots & Kisses