I’ve worked here for 12 years, initially for one of the private chefs that cook at the castle and and now as a permanent member of the castle staff, and I’ve seen pretty much every single party and wedding we’ve hosted. Sometimes we have back-to-back weddings every weekend and in the middle of the week. We are constantly moving the furniture back and forth – I can do it with my eyes closed!
We work full-time, all year round, working on the public opening, weddings, shoots, private parties and corporate events. There’s something to do every day. I’m in charge of alcohol and the bar staff, as well as things like checking all the crockery and plates and making sure we have enough of everything. Managing small private parties is my favourite part of my job, because they’re so easy-going, and the majority of the time you get such nice people.
In general, anything goes at Eastnor. We organise events that are exactly as people want – they come to us with a programme, and we just follow it and try to cater to any special requests. For example, at one wedding, the guests requested a very specific whiskey for a toast, and we managed to find it.
Weddings can get quite crazy here. Sometimes, people run and chuck themselves on the sofas, and I’m always watching the antiques on the shelves behind them like, ‘Oh my god, please don’t break them.’ Or people’s children are roaming around trying to climb everything. And once, the groom didn’t even make it to the cake cutting…
I love my job because even though we do so many weddings, every single day is completely different, and every event is different. It’s a nice job, and you get to work with so many lovely people. We spend a lot of time together, and, as a team, we always pick each other up and make sure we’re all happy.
The thing I’m most proud of from working at Eastnor is going from a pot washer to an event manager. I started out washing dishes in the kitchen, then I supervised waitstaff at weddings and now I’m an event manager. That, and being a full-time mum and keeping both sides of my life going.