As we’re waking up to regular frosts on the ground now and winter has definitely set in, it got us thinking about what makes a winter wedding so special. Here are our top tips for why a winter wedding is a smart choice!

Don’t worry about the weather

Let’s face it, if you plan a winter wedding, the chances are that you’re not going to be able to spend your entire drinks reception outside having photos taken and mingling with your guests. It’s probably going to be cold. Although this shrieks alarm bells for many, just have a little think about how much time the average couple spends checking the weather forecast and praying for dry, warm weather in the lead up to their wedding, and think about how better you can spend that time!

Just assume it’s going to be cold. Anything warmer will be a bonus, right?! The good news is that we’ve got the indoor wedding thing all covered here so there’s no need to worry about back up plans; we’ve got plenty of space inside to conduct your whole wedding, from the morning preparations to the evening celebrations… it can all happen inside a warm cosy castle with no need to step a foot outside unless you want to!

Bring on the romance

Winter weddings are undeniably romantic. That dusk light and pinky-orange glow to the sky make everyone feel warm and fuzzy. Add some open fires, candles and lanterns into the mix and you’re suddenly living the winter wedding dream. A dusting of fresh snow too (disclaimer – we can’t promise this, sorry)… and yes you get the idea, it’s all about creating the magical Winter Wonderland scenes worthy of a Pinterest prize!

Wedding Availability

It’s all about supply and demand for winter weddings. They’re just not as popular at summer weddings so use this to your advantage when negotiating with suppliers. Venues and suppliers will have more dates available in the winter so don’t be afraid to ask for a discount or special deal… most suppliers will be glad of the winter work when it’s normally quiet so will welcome the booking at a discounted rate. Some wedding venues, we included, offer a discount for holding your wedding mid-week too so take a look at those dates between Christmas and New Year when the majority of your guests will be off work meaning a full guest list at a less-than-normal rate!

Wedding Decorations

Who doesn’t love a glorious, twinkling Christmas tree?! Every year, around the beginning of December, we create all the festive vibes when a 20ft Nordmann Fir Christmas Tree arrives in the magnificent Great Hall and is professionally decorated with baubles and lights to within an inch of its life. Add in some super festive garlands down the stunning staircase and glorious festoons above the fireplace and you’ve suddenly got yourself a fully-decorated venue! Apart from some simple table centrepieces and candles which you can provide on a minimal budget, you’re good to go!

Wedding Food

Two words… Hearty Food! Sometimes the heat of a summer wedding can impinge on the appetite of your guests. At a winter wedding, your guests will appreciate a delicious, hearty menu. The menus at Eastnor Castle are designed in collaboration with the happy couple and cooked by our talented in-house chefs, using locally sourced produce. Popular winter menus include Fillet of Herefordshire Beef, Rack of Welsh Lamb and Cotswold Chicken Supreme. A firm favourite for evening food is the traditional hog roast served on the Upper Terrace next to a roaring fire pit! Is your mouth watering yet?

 

If nothing else, your winter wonderland wedding will always be remembered, your wedding day will stand out from all the others held during the spring or summer and provide your guests with a reason (other than snow and Christmas!) to be excited about winter!

Find out more about Winter Weddings at Eastnor Castle or call us on 01531 633160 to arrange a viewing.

 

Eastnor Castle Wedding Cake

It’s always a pleasure to work with local suppliers over many years. To build up a sense of trust and come to understand the expertise which they bring to their work. One such company is Special Ice which is run by a mother and daughter team of Sarah and Sheila. They have been making cakes for well over 30 years and offer our brides some fantastic advice for this very important part of any wedding. The following interview with them both will, we hope, help to explain a little more.

Q. First of all does the bride need to meet with you to decide on her cake?

A. Not at all. It’s obviously ideal for her to visit, taste some of the options and discuss the decorations. However we have made many cakes without meeting the bride until the wedding day.

Q. How do you decide on the size of the cake?

A. There is so much to take into account, for instance when will the cake be offered as part of the meal, as evening refreshment or as a pudding. Also will the cake be needed for absent guests or maybe you will want to keep a layer for a Christening? Also if it’s a small wedding we can use iced polystyrene to change a small cake into a very large one!

Q. Do you get requests to add heirlooms to a cake?

A. Oh yes. We have placed silver horses, china cows, antique model cars and other sentimental items on our wedding cakes. We have also used a mother’s 30 year old plaster pillars on her daughter’s wedding cake.

Q. Can you offer any guidance on how the cake should match with flowers or the bridal gown and so on?

A. The cake is designed with many of the other wedding details in mind.  If colour is to be used it is a good idea if the bride lets us have swatches of the her bridesmaid’s dress materials or any ribbons.  Fresh flowers used on a cake should be identical to those in the bride’s and bridesmaid’s bouquets because the bouquets should ideally be placed on the cake table during the cutting of the cake – this adds to the photographic presentation.  Pipework can be done to imitate lace used on the bride’s dress.  Pearls, crystals and sashes can also be made in icing.

Q. Please tell us a little about the different types of icing.

A.Royal icing seems to be a thing of the past and although we can produce this kind of finish, it clearly adds to the cost.  Fondant is now the preferred cake covering because it is easier to cut and eat.  Chocolate cakes can be covered with chocolate fondants, chocolate cigarillos or just buttercream if a rustic look is required.  The temperature in the castle doesn’t really get too hot but if it did the chocolate cakes could suffer, so using very high chocolate content can be a problem.

Q.How far in advance should the bride order her cake?

A.It is advisable to place the order for a cake as soon as possible.  When some of the decisions about the wedding theme have been made a phone call to the cake maker with the date of the wedding is helpful.  We then recommend a visit to our cake studio where our cake designs portfolio can be viewed and ideas discussed.  This gives us the chance to get a feel for the design of cake required and offer some inspiration.  At this stage some brides come to us without a clue, whilst others have everything mapped out already.  An average consultation takes about 1 ½ hours in which time we aim to find out as much detail as possible in order to be able to produce a quote which we send out in the following week.  There is no rush to make decisions, ideas can be slowly developed over the weeks leading up to the day.

Q. I guess that the bride will also need to think about the cake stand and what to cut the cake with?

A. Yes, this is important and often gets forgotten. We have a range of stands all of which are available for hire.  The Victorian Stand is particularly suited to Eastnor Castle because of its enormous size and antiquity.  Also included with the stand is a large silver cake knife which has a history of its own.  According to an old wives tale the cake should be cut with the knife upside down.  Looking at our knife you can not decide which side is which therefore you can’t go wrong on this matter!  Sometimes there is a family heirloom knife which can be used.  Our cakes have also been known to be cut using a sword.

Q. Do you use additives in making the cake?

A.Because we use time-honoured recipes there are no additives, artificial flavours, colours or preservatives in the cakes.  There is plenty of brandy, whisky and rum all of which are used in various types of cake.

Q. What do you use to bake the cake?

A.All our cakes are baked in our farm kitchen, our Rayburn is not reliable enough to cook such important cakes so we use a wonderful NEFF oven or two Electrolux ovens.  Timing is exceptionally important and a constant reliable heat is needed.

Q.What are the most popular colours for a wedding cake?

A. The majority of the cakes we make are covered in either white or ivory icing.  This choice is often based on the bride’s dress or her colour scheme.  We have however made pink cakes, pale green cakes and chocolate wedding cakes.

Q.We have seen a great variety of cake decorations. What advice would you give to the bride?

A. Simplicity is the keyword in wedding cakes at the moment and therefore a perfect fondant covering is essential.  Brides want little fuss in order to create the most elegant and uncluttered look.  None the less, you can never go wrong with fresh, silk or handmade sugar flowers as well as ribbons and iced beads.

Q. Sugarcraft seems very popular at the moment?

A. Yes, it is. Sugarcraft is a vast subject to discuss quickly because it ranges from covering the cake with all types of icing to the most delicate handmade sugar flowers.  In between we cover model making, pipework, embossing, cut-outs, flooding, hand painting etc.  No two cakes will ever be alike, we cope with whatever brides dream up next.  It really is the challenge of their new ideas which fuels our creativity.

Q. How do you get the cake to Eastnor Castle?

A.Delivery to the castle is part of our service since it is well within our delivery radius.  Because of our locality, we feel that cakes are at very low risk whilst in transport.  We aim to be at Eastnor 2 hours before the wedding but will time our delivery to coincide with the florist when using fresh flowers.  We will happily liaise with the florist if required.

Weddings can be such an exciting time, but there is also a tremendous amount to plan and to do. We help as much as we can to make it a really special day but we also thought that it might be a good idea to ask all the marvellous people who come to the castle to help to see what advice they could give.

Superflowers Chipping Camden

Our first interview was with Charlotte Gabb from Superflowers in Chipping Camden.

This is what Charlotte said:-

Because Eastnor is such a wonderful place with so many interesting things to look at my feeling towards the flowers is that you don’t need that many but the arrangements you do have have to be big and bold.I like to use either strong colours (Autumnal Orangey red colours) or white and cream to show up best although summer pastell colours are ok.  I like to use large simply flowers such as Lilies and Gerbera (although some people don’t like them) with large headed roses as these are dramatic. Using lots of small flowers tends to make the arrangements over fussy. Also it is important to fill the arrangements out with as many English seasonal flowers as possible as the effect in the Castle is essentially English!!! These arrangements look best with lots of mixed foliages with wild trailing Ivy. (other florists do trendy 1 lily in a vase stuff but I don’t think it looks right in the surroundings.. big is best!!)The places I like to decorate are ………..The marble urns at the bottom of the staircase. These look good with  lots of flowers spilling over the edge of them and also look good in the winter with dark, wild foliage and thick candles.The arrangement on the table in the centre of the Octagon room has to be large, striking and arranged to be seen from all angles.The dining room – this is my most tricky room as the lighting is not so good .. (candlelight is important in here for an evening do) tall candelabra look good either with flowers amongst the arms (and above the diners heads) or more simply with a ring of flowers around the base. Or even with nothing although thats not so good for my pocket!!!! or hurricane lanterns with a circle of flowers around them or even more cheaply a ring of flowers around a thick church candle. Summer lunchtime weddings can have low vases filled with flowers.Theses are the essential places but as well as them it is nice to have a tall glass vase in the Great Hall and something a bit more elaborate on the table in the Gothic room (although they do always have one there) Candles in hurricane lanterns look lovely lining the staircase in the hallway.Allergies are normally hayfever so non scented flowers avoid that.. I would replace the scented lilies with a non scented variety although the castle is so big that it is not normally a problem. Other flowers people tend to be allegic to are things like foxgloves or Alstromeria and these are only a problem if they are touched.Every wedding is different and so I need to speak to each bride to make sure I am using the colours and flowers she likes.Bridal work is also very individual … some brides like trailing wired wedding bouquets (£££) whilst others go for simple tied posies.Little bridesmaids look cute with tied posies and coronets ( a circle of flowers on the heads)The church is lovely and looks really pretty fully decorated although most people can back here. Again the essential places are …Other places are an archway around the porch (gorgeous) and wild loose collars of flowers with trailing ivy around the pillars down the centre of the church. Silk flowers in a place like Eastnor would cost a fortune. We hope that this conveys some of the marvellous choices the bride has to make. Also as a reminder it is worth reiterating that:-

  1. The Great Hall with it’s 60 foot ceilings is where the reception is normally held.
  2. The Gothic room is where the civic ceremony usually takes place.

Flowers – Weddings at Eastnor Castle

We hope that this , the first of our wedding interviews, is helpful. If there are any questions then please just call.

Eastnor Castle is the perfect, wedding venue where flowers help make your day the most romantic ever!