The Events Field is suitable for functions with up to 200 guests and the views of the surrounding countryside are breathtaking. Any of our structures are suitable for use. The summer house can be incorporated inside the marquee as you can see in the picture above (a large marquee is required to do this) or we can position a smaller marquee alongside it. Alternatively, it can be set apart from the marquee and a stretch tent or oriental canopy used to cover guests.
Holme for Gardens offers excellent parking facilities and suitable power outlets for an average wedding or party. Use of the venue comes with the services of professional and acclaimed wedding planners Blue Bay Events who have a list of outstanding wedding suppliers experienced in working at the venue. They also organise regular open days so you can see its charm for yourself. We've worked with the following suppliers at Holme for Gardens: event caterers Claret Catering, photographer One Thousand Words (who took the photos you can see here), bar company A&D Mobile Bars, disco Pegasus Disco and venue dressers Perfectly Pretty Weddings. For more information and to enquire about availability please email Blue Bay Events events@bluebayevents.co.uk
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The house sleeps 15 and features a dining room with Georgian plasterwork and over a hundred 18th century plates on the walls. One of the highlights is a chair used by Napoleon on the island of St Helena. The house's many windows let in the romance of the Purbeck Hills and the open sea with its fresh and invigorating breeze and nostalgic smell.
Kimmeridge Bay is famous for swimming, surfing and fossil hunting. It is overlooked by Clavell Tower, inspiration for P. D. James’s murder story The Black Tower. The bay was once a haunt of smugglers and scene of their many battles with coast guards. The next bay along is called Brandy Bay as so much brandy was smuggled there! Marquees at Smedmore are placed directly in front of the house on a beautiful lawn. Our traditional pole marquees are particularly well suited to the elegant Georgian building and lush landscape surrounding it. As you can see in the pictures above, there is a secluded spot between some trees where ceremonies can take place with a sea view behind. Our white folding chairs are ideal and we can install an aisle with white carpet or coconut matting. Cover can be provided with an oriental canopy or two. Suppliers we've worked at Smedmore with successfully in the past include caterers Claret Catering and The Foodie Queen; photographers Courtenay Photographic and Tom Redman and venue stylist Inspire Hire. The house has a very comprehensive list of wedding suppliers on their website too including taxis and local accommodation. For enquiries about weddings, events and holiday accommodation contact Laura Dugdale on 020 7792 4565 or email smedmorebookings@gmail.com
If you're looking for a classic romantic English wedding we can think of no better venue in Dorset. The croquet lawn is perfectly flat for marquees and we've provided all styles of structure there in the past: traditional pole marquees for country style, clearspan frame marquees for elegant chic and tipis for a warm and cosy ambience.
Photo opportunities are vast with views everywhere you look plus topiary, archways tangled with flowers, water features, mature trees and secret grottoes. Civil marriages can take place either in the Garden Pavilion overlooking the croquet lawn (for which we can supply canopies and chairs) or in the nearby Sawmill. The medieval All Saints Church is within the grounds and suited to intimate blessings for up to 90. Marquees on the croquet lawn can accommodate up to 400 seated guest and there is ample parking available. Mapperton is located 15 minutes from Crewkerne and 20 minutes from Dorchester Stations, with direct links to London. There is tasteful accommodation nearby too with the Acorn Inn and Summer Lodge in Evershot and The Bridge House Hotel at Prout Bridge. Recommended caterers are Jo Killin of Oxbridge Farm and Victoria Blashford-Snell. The recommended florist is The Real Cut Flower Garden and photographers Allister Freeman and Helen Lisk. For more information on weddings at Mapperton click here or to get in touch call the Wedding Office on 01308 800114 or email mapperton@wedding-venues.co.uk Over the last five or so years hog roasts have become extremely popular for evening fodder at marquee weddings. Now don't get me wrong, I love a good hog roast as my waist measurement will testify. The question is: have hog roasts been done too much and become a bit passé and, if so, what are the alternatives?
The first thing to say is that there are hog roasts and hog roasts, and I hope your event experiences the latter! Thankfully we can recommend Else Family Butchers of Stalbridge, Dorset Porkers of Dorchester and Oaktop Hog Roast of Tiverton. If you're a hog roaster and reading this thinking 'I've served him a hog roast before and he guzzled it down like a glutton' then I'm sorry, email your details and I'll add you to this list! Here are the alternatives I've seen and enjoyed: Lamb roast: a bit more expensive but delicious and less common than pork (I once saw a cow roast at a large wedding and the machine was enormous, I think there are only two in the country and this particular machine came from Wales!). Again, Else Family Butchers can do this for you (link above). Pizza: this is becoming popular and I'm not talking about sending an usher out to Pizza Hut or Dominos, I'm talking about amazing stone-baked pizza made in a proper oven right outside your marquee! My main man from Pizzarova is highly recommended as he serves from an oven on the back of a Land Rover. There's also Dorset-based Jalopy Pizza which uses an old Peugeot van. But my personal favourite is The Wood Fired Piadizza - in my opinion the best pizza I've had; bar none. Crepes: I love a good crêpe and there's a guy from Brittany based in Bristol who is god of la bonne crêpe, so much so that he started La Bonne Crêpe. Crêpes aren't just sweet they can be savoury too: ham and cheese, Somerset brie and chilli jam, now we're talking! Bacon and sausage baps: is anything better than quality bacon or sausages in fluffy baps with all the sauces to go with them? I had these at my wedding - amazing! Your caterer could supply these. Cheese selection: augmented with artisan breads and cured meats you have an evening buffet fit for royalty. Again, your caterer could supply this. I'd really like to see a Mexican option with some tasty burritos or chimichangas but I'll have to wait as I haven't seen those on the wedding circuit yet! About an hour to go before Bath beat Leicester at rugby, so I thought I'd sneak a blog post in.
We get asked to recommend caterers all of the time and in the West Country we're spoilt for choice both in terms of caterers and the wonderful local produce they work with (meat, cheese, seafood, bread, the list goes on). We've worked with many of them and this list certainly isn't exhaustive, it's just a selection we can highly recommend. Thyme After Time (Stalbridge) Our nearest and dearest! Margot not only caters for events but she also has a very successful cafe and food shop at Spire hill farm just off the A357 between Sturminster Newton and Stalbridge which holds regular events itself (so you can go and check them out covertly!). Margot has great vision and excels at creating menus that are personal to her customers. Highly recommended. Claire's Catering (Yeovil) We met Claire at one of the first wedding jobs we ever did where she provided a proper wedding breakfast i.e. eggs benedict, smoked salmon, traditional full English etc (because the wedding was at 11.30am) followed by a succulent hog roast in the evening. Claire also runs the Orchard Food & Coffee Shop in Yeovil at the top of town opposite HSBC. Rebecca Green (Piddletrenthide) I met Rebecca because she was worried her catering tent might blow away (September 2011 at the top of a hill near Evershot on a VERY windy day). Off I went and I'm glad I did: free venison dinner for Timbo (perfectly cooked) and washed down with Belvoir sparkling ginger beer (love that stuff) followed by her famous honeycomb ice cream. Wow. I always make the effort to attend weddings she's cooking at, including one at Mapperton House where the venison made another appearance following a sharing platter of local meats and other goodies. Double wow. I've often thought I should just give up on buying food over the summer and just drift from event to event.... The Olive Bowl (Gillingham) We regularly see our friends from the Olive Bowl on the event battlefield, particularly at Chaffeymoor Grange in Bourton where we are both preferred suppliers. They offer an extremely varied and exceptional service at good prices. Dine In (Bournemouth) Roberto is a lovely guy who works tirelessly to exceed expectations. One of the preferred suppliers at Sherborne Castle, his prices are very reasonable and he also has an extensive list of hire equipment (glasses, crockery, cutlery, kitchen equipment etc). Rabbit and Rose R&R are a very professionally run outfit. We see them a lot over the course of the year, the last time was at Lulworth Castle where they served an evening selection of fish and chips and the BEST cheese toasties in christendom. In reality, they offer far more than cheese toasties (I'm obviously quite easily pleased) and every customer who has engaged us both for their job has sung their praises afterwards. Victoria Blashford-Snell (Wincanton) Victoria is one of the finest event caterers in the business. She is also an acclaimed author. Finally, how about mixing it up with some English wine at your event? "What?!" I hear you cry in disbelief. Yes, I did say English wine, and despite what you may think there is some great stuff around (part of Sussex has the same chalk soil as the Champagne region don't you know). Most local is English Oak Vineyard near Poole but my personal favourite is a little further away in East Anglia - Wyken Vineyard who produce a sparkling wine called 'Wyken Moonshine' - really worth a try. Then of course there's Ridgeview and Hush Heath who have recently out-champagned Champagne in international competitions. See, not such a bad idea after all. Give your guests a real talking point! Happy weekend and keep eating and drinking my friends! www.oakleafmarquees.co.uk |
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