Showing posts with label Champagne. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Champagne. Show all posts

Monday, 24 March 2014

Congratulations Claire and Jon!


Ufton Court was looking beautiful as always on Saturday for Claire and Jon's big day. Dark clouds threatened the venues gorgeous spring time vibes, but the rain held off and the weather stayed lovely. The reception drinks were held in Ufton Court's Archers Hall which was dressed in hyacinth and plum bunting; the main colour theme for the day.


The Archer's Hall is so versatile when it comes to decorating your reception drinks. The wooden beams provide a great space for hanging bunting or garlands. The neutral colouring of the Hall means that the bride and groom can be free with their colour choice, so that their reception drinks can be as unique as they wish.



Champagne, Sloe Gin, Apple Juice and Ales were served at our brightly coloured reception. Our waiters greeted the guests with summery Sloe Gin and Champagne on our unique wooden champagne trays. Drinks receptions are a great way to inject colour into your wedding from the start; against a white table cloth, the pink Sloe Gin really popped, looking deliciously refreshing!



Whilst the drinks were flowing, so were the canapés. Our chefs served Seasonal Tempura Vegetables with a Soy and Sesame dip (top), Spinach, Carrot and Cumin Filo Parcels with a Yoghurt Dip (bottom), Apple, Black Pudding and Pork Belly Ballontine wrapped in Parma Ham, Carpaccio of Venison with Pear Puree and Blue Cheese and Tuna Tartare with Capers and Lemon.


After enjoying some live music in the Archers Hall the guests were called to Tithe Barn to enjoy the wedding breakfast. The same colour scheme was kept in the barn; even the wine bottles matched the bunting! The centrepieces were beautiful; Green Parlour created such beautiful bouquets that really brought the whole colour scheme of the barn together. Visit http://www.greenparlour.com/ to see more of their lovely flowers.


We loved the pretty little vintage tea cups and saucers on the bunting. Against the painted brickwork of the barn the colours and patterns looked fantastically rustic.


The Bride and Groom had even transferred their bunting to cute little glass jam jars to make tea lights for each table. So simple, but so effective. The happy couple opted for a buffet style wedding breakfast;

BUFFET MENU

A selection of Freshly Baked Bread

Spatchcock Chicken with a Moroccan Dry Rub

Salmon with Radish and Fennel

Homemade Chickpea Falafel 

Homemade Broccoli and Stilton Quiche

Roast Garlic New Potatoes

Grilled Marinated Vegetables


Homemade Fennel and Red Cabbage Coleslaw

DESSERT

Lemon Posset with Mixed Berries and Shortbread Biscuit

Bitter Dark Chocolate and Sea Salt Tort 

&

Caramelized Pear and Ginger Bakewell Tart



Judging by the amount of guests up at the buffet table for seconds, we imagine they were enjoying it immensely! The dessert was brought to the buffet station on slate and wooden boards, arranged beautifully by our chefs with mixed berries. Yum!



Evening food was served after the guests took to the dance floor; they enjoyed delicious homemade sausage rolls, scotch eggs, a cheese board and wedding cake (which looked beautiful before it was massacred into slices!) We had a lovely day catering for Claire and Jon at Ufton Court and can't wait for the many more spring events to come.

Friday, 7 February 2014

Colour of the week

This week's colour of the week is Glittering Gold. This years wedding scene sees the rise of glitter and sequins as a trend, with gold being the main colour of choice. Whether that be shiny, metallic, bold gold, subtle, silvery, pale gold, or pretty, pink, rose gold, it's definitely on the menu.


Golden wedding dresses are becoming increasingly popular. If you feel you'd rather shy away from a completely gold dress, with the worry you might look like something from your childhood dressing up box, this dress above would be perfect for your gold themed wedding. Only featuring gold on the bodice, this dress uses gold in a bold, but subtle way. Teamed with the full white skirt, it's an extremely charming dress.


Rather than having a white skirt, this dress has a very pale coffee/cream skirt which makes the colour contrast a lot less bold and a lot more subtle. The gradual loss of sequins towards the bottom is an extremely elegant way of adding glitz to your dress.


The sequins on this dress have a lot less of a gradient, but still appear elegant and beautiful.


The bride can glitz up all the way to her finger tips! Gold make up might sound a little scary at first, and when you scour Pinterest for gold makeup you really do have to filter out a few over-sparkly examples. However, the two examples of eye make up that we have here are really dramatic, yet elegant. Blending your eyeshadow from dark to light in the inner corner will contour your eyes, brighten them up, and bring out your eye colour. For blue eyes, yellow hues and shining pigments are a must. Bringing dark browns and charcoals into the blend works best for brown eyes.

As for nails, we love these subtle designs. You want your nails to look elegant and stylish, but adding a little glitter to the base of the nail will add just enough sparkle to bring a bit of fun to the look.


From browsing Pinterest, we've seen some real gold bouquet horror stories; fully spray painted bouquets of roses were among them. But we also came across some really beautiful ones. By adding hints of gold, you can transform your cream bouquet into something truly unique. Spraying fern gold will bring interesting height and width to your bouquet. Adding golden flat, round leaves will just inject the right amount of shine to your bouquet. 


It's not just cream and white bouquets that look great turned golden. These colourful spring/summer bouquets also look fabulous with a bit of gold. Pretty up peach and pink with delicate sprigs of gold, or wrap golden ribbon around your stems to keep a round bouquet sparkling.


If you skimp on glitter on the dress, make up for it on your toes. Glitter on glitter might be a little too much; there's a fine line between dazzling your guests and blinding them! Team your plainer dress with some beautifully sparkly open toed Jimmy Choos.


Mismatched bridesmaid dresses are a huge trend for 2014. Whether that be different styles in the same colour, different materials, or different colours in a colour palette, this year is all about mixing it up. Not all your bridesmaids are going to be the same shapes and sizes, so it makes sense for them to wear a dress that compliments them as an individual. Have your bridesmaids wear a mixtures of dusky pink, cream, gold, bronze and pale robin egg blue for a romantic colour scheme for the bridal party. Be sure to choose different materials and finishes; we really like the contrast of the bold sequins of the bronze dress against the soft romantic ruffles of the dusky pink one. Beautiful!

If you'd rather one colour for your bridesmaids, the second photo shows you how to really achieve this look well. Although they both share sequins and beading, they're extremely different dresses. The block separation between the gold bodice and cream skirt on the right contrasts so brilliantly against the long, slender continuous gold on the left. A mixture of short and long dresses will bring different heights to your bridal party, ensuring great photos.


It's the little things that matter. Tiny, delicate, gold details will really compliment your bridesmaid's dresses. If your bridesmaids are wearing a small amount of gold detail on their dresses like the one above, picking out the same coloured accessories will bring the whole look to life. This really simple, beautiful golden baby's breath crown looks beautiful on relaxed, long, messy hair, but would look equally as beautiful will a loose up-do or a ditsy plaited bun.

If you fancy something a little bohemian and modern, we really like this ornate, unique jewellery for your bridal party. Rings with charms are becoming very popular in high street stores at the moment, teamed up with robin egg, mint or duck egg nails, this gold jewellery will look stunning.


It's not just the girls that look great in gold, how about a golden groom? A gold tie, gold buttonhole and gold brogues are a really fresh way of bringing gold into your wedding. Fun and modern, the brogue shoes are this year's take on the groomsmen wearing converses. If you're not feeling bold enough for gold shoes, brown will go with your tie just as beautifully for a modern and stylish look.


You can completely change the look of your gold brogues with what you team them up with - accompanied by navy braces and a floral tie, you can Boho-up your groom's look. This look would be perfect for an outdoor summer wedding in the woods dressed with golden and brown pheasant feathers.


There are many ways of bringing glittering gold into the groom's look. Although bright pink and gold is a definite no no for the groom, we think this dusky pink and gold friendship is a yes, yes, yes. If you don't fancy something floral, how about using feathers to dress your suit. Teamed with ornate, interesting silver buttons, this feathers are a really fresh and modern look.


Yellow and gold are also great friends. This striped golden tie, grey suit and bright yellow flower are a great summer look for 2014. Wrap your buttonhole in a subtle golden ribbon matched to your tie to bring the look together.


You can also bring your gold theme to your wedding breakfast. Such a regal colour, this will make your wedding breakfast look fit for a king. Sequin table cloths are creeping onto the wedding scene this year. With well chosen cutlery, napkins and tableware, these table cloths can look truly beautiful. Be sure to add height to the centre of the table to draw the eye away from the table cloth; a flat table of sequins is going to give the wrong impression. A mixture of height, texture and gold hues will create a fantastic ambiance for your guests to enjoy at your wedding meal.


Gold cutlery is a subtle way of bringing hints of gold to the table. Obviously, gold cutlery and gold table cloths is really not going to work. However, this black and white table cloth is a great backdrop for the golden tableware, creating a nautical theme.


Rather than colour blocking, we love the mismatched subtle colours that the table on the left has been dressed with. The vast array of textures and colours is extremely unique and beautiful. There's almost a 'mad hatters tea party' feel to the wedding breakfast; gold and silver cutlery, different ceramics full of flowers and a huge selection of plates and bowls. This looks is great for an outdoor or marquee wedding in the summer. 

Mix a selection of floral crockery with gold cutlery for a cute, vintage tea party themed wedding breakfast. The textured, soft gold table cloth in the right hand photo is a perfect base for the gold cutlery and vintage plates. We love!


Your wedding favours can also be within your chosen colour theme. We loved the colour of this mint macaron with a chocolate filling and gold dusting. Your guests would be spoilt! The sugar lollies are such an economic and easy favour for your guests; DIY with tonnes of recipes for edible gold glitter online!


Gold decorations can adorn your wedding reception too. These paper and lace decorations are so fun for a summer wedding. A great alternative to your average bunting, these textured colourful tassels would look beautiful strung from thick wooden beams in a summer barn wedding. Paper spirals and bunting bring a summer fete theme to any wedding, use as a backdrop for your cake table.


For a vintage, Great Gatsby evening reception, these gold dipped feathers are a great decoration. Hung from beams or hung from door frames, these feathers inject a little fun and sparkle to your evening party. With fairy lights or oversized string bulbs you can create a great ambiance to dance.


Keeping with the Great Gatsby theme, how amazing is this cake? Mint and gold are the perfect couple.


A little more subtle, this wedding cake features extremely pale mint icing and a delicate gold edge around each tier. Gold and mint, as stated before, are the perfect couple; and pink is their love child. Adding hints of pink to a mint and gold wedding injects fun and summer vibes. 


Gold and peach are a strong rival to the gold and mint love affair. You can subtly add gold into your food and drink. Gold leaf cupcakes are a really elegant and delicate addition to your dessert table. Rose champagne in gold dusted glasses provides a fun way of sparkling up your reception drinks.


If gold dusting the rim of your champagne flutes isn't your thing, how about hiring or purchasing some beautiful gold stemmed champagne flutes. This is a very soft, silver gold, and would be an extremely sophisticated edition to your drinks reception. For a Paris themed drinks reception, adorn your reception table with gold dipped macarons. Perfect!


Simple is very often the key. This gold and white tiered cake is so simple and sophisticated. Colour blocking is a great use of the colour gold, with no sparkles or sequins in sight, this cake looks perfect with just a few berries draped over it. For a simple addition to your dessert table, add home spun sugar. Naturally a golden colour, this simple accompaniment to your cakes and desserts will bring a gold splash without too much fuss.

For the original sources of these photos, head over to our Pinterest and have a browse through our Glittering Gold board. Pinterest is full of such lovely ideas for your wedding, and we've short listed some of our favourites to make it easier for your to plan the perfect glittering gold wedding. 

Sunday, 22 December 2013

Daisy and Martin's Wedding

Yesterday we spent the day at Ufton Court to cater for Daisy and Martin's special day. 

Daisy and Martin invited their guests with a unique 'save the date' canvas bag
This couple shied away from a traditional Christmas themed wedding and instead followed Martin's roots to Japan. The whole of Tithe Barn was full of 1000 paper cranes which the couple had made together as a Japanese tradition to represent hope and happiness. Some were hung on the tree decorations in the middle of the tables, others hung on strings from the barn's rustic beams and individual cranes were given as favours. 
Paper cranes hung from the big rustic beams of Tithe Barn
Beautiful Japanese paper was used in the origami cranes
Tithe Barn decorated with festive fairy lights
At the back of the barn was a 'best wishes' cherry blossom tree which lit up and featured all the guests best wishes for the couple. Cherry blossom was also featured on the table plan as the guests entered and brought the whole theme together beautifully.

Instructions for the guests to use the 'best wishes' tree
The 'best wishes' tree before the guests decorated it with their messages
The 'best wishes' tree covered with guests wishes for the bride and groom
Beautifully decorated tables and chairs
The mother of the bride knitted unique napkin rings for the place settings
Canapés were served in Ufton's lovely Archery Hall whilst champagne and mulled wine were served for reception drinks. The guests enjoyed teriyaki beef, edamame beans in a soy and chili glaze, tempura vegetables with a chili dipping sauce, salmon blinis, duck and hoisin pancakes, lime and garlic king prawns, lamb koftas and pork belly with black pudding all cooked by our wonderful chefs.

Our delicious canapés

The guests made their way into the barn for the speeches before their three course meal. It was one of the most touching and heartfelt speeches we'd heard and the groom had everyone in tears, including us! A starter of seasonal gnocci garnished with pine nuts was served and followed by a traditional Japanese rice wine called Sake. The bride stood up and made a small speech in Japanese and everyone toasted to the couple with their Sake in hand. The meal continued with pork belly, braised cabbage, roasted baby carrots finished with caramelized braeburn apple. Vegetarians could enjoy the option of carrot fritters with halloumi cheese. 

Gnocci with ricotta and pine nuts
Pork belly, baby carrots, braised cabbage and caramelized apple
For dessert the naked wedding cake was cut and presented on platters with beautiful roses and festive cranberries. There were two different flavours; spiced apple or a traditional Victorian sponge. Our chefs served the cake with cinnamon and vanilla icecream.

Naked wedding cake with origami paper cranes and roses


After the three course meal, space was cleared to make way for dancing to a live band. The bar was opened for the evening and included a Japanese Lager called Asahi which was very popular with the guests and went down a treat.