Congratulations Beth and Tom!

Saturday 8th of March saw the marriage of Beth and Tom, and the weather could not have been better. After various floods and diabolic weather, it was lovely to see Ufton Court being bathed in sunlight, surrounded by springtime crocuses and underneath a completely clear blue sky.

Games were set up in the garden to keep the children entertained whilst the adults enjoyed the champagne reception in the Archers Hall. Having said that, we did notice the adults indulging in a highly competitive space hopper race... the sun brings out the child in all of us!

The drinks reception was held in the light and spacious Archers Hall. With all the doors open, it really did feel like summer had come early. Guests mingled around the patio and garden area with glasses of bubbly, summery cider, and refreshing lagers whilst orange and apple juice were served as a non alcoholic alternative.

Being photographed on their journey to the hall in the beautiful grounds of Ufton Court, the Bride and Groom were greeted with a tray full of cold champagne. Somehow it looks even more delicious in the sunshine, doesn't it?

Left to right; goats cheese flat bread, olive tapenade, duck pancakes and mini Yorkshire puddings

Canapés were circulating during the drinks reception. Our chefs served duck pancakes, olive tapenade, rare beef and horseradish mini Yorkshire puddings, goats cheese flat bread and venison carpaccio with blue cheese and pear puree. They looked delicious, garnished with freshly chopped herbs on wooden boards and slate trays.

The venison carpaccio was served on forks, for a perfect mouthful of deliciousness! Many of the guests hadn't tried this canapé before and they were all excited to get their taste buds tingling with something new.

After the drinks reception, everyone made their way into Tithe Barn, which was decorated head to toe in deep royal blue.

Tom has a career in the wine industry, and so the main theme of the wedding was wine; their wedding breakfast was titled 'Tom and Beth's Boozy Lunch'. (Sounds like our kind of party!) The tables were named after different wines, the menu covers were decorated in glittering wine bottles and there was a big ice bucket in the middle of the table for white and dessert wine. 

The tables were decorated with royal blue napkins, glittering menus and delicate blue heart confetti. The deep blue worked beautifully with our silverware, creating a simple, clean and neat feel. Varying height is a must for a wedding breakfast table; Tom and Beth achieved this through their table names being attached to wine bottles, with a photo of the chosen wine towering above the table. This, balanced with the different wine glasses and ice bucket created an array of heights to keep the table looking interesting.

Once the guests were seated, the wedding breakfast began;

MENU

Starter

Assiette of Salmon served with a Selection of Homemade Artisan Bread

Salt Baked Beets, Goats Cheese Mousse with a Pickled Beetroot Dressing

Main

Pan Roasted Pheasant Breast, Creamed Leeks, Boulangere Potatoes and Roast Garlic Puree

Mushroom, Sun-Dried Tomato, Spinach and Ricotta Wellington with Celeriac Puree, Buttered Kale and Herb Oil

Dessert

Dark Chocolate Brownie with Dark Cherry and Mixed Berry Compote and Chantilly Cream

Assiette of Salmon

Pan Roast Pheasant with Boulengere Potatoes

After the meal, the guests took to the dance floor and the bar was opened. We served a variety of drinks, including West Berkshire Brewery's amazing ales and stout, and our own homemade toffee and Turkish Delight vodkas which went down a treat. Evening food was served; there was a selection of cold meats and cheeses, warm bacon rolls and wedding cake.

The wedding cake was so adorable, featuring Tom and Beth skiing down a slope to a little bar lodge. It was such a cute little homemade wedding cake, we felt a little bit sad that it got devoured at the end of the night! It was a lovely event and we're so pleased that we got to be a part of it.

Colette & Karl's

Last Friday we had the pleasure of catering for Colette and Karl's wedding in the lovely Tithe Barn in Ufton Court. The Barn was beautifully decorated and even the sun decided to show its face.

Straight after the ceremony the reception drinks started with soft drinks and bubbles whilst canapés circulated. These snazzy looking canned drinks would look great at a summer wedding in rustic tin buckets filled with ice.

The tables looked lovely, this couple went for a cheerful fuchsia colour for their table theme. Usually couples tend to go for the ivory napkins but we think coloured ones can look really good, it's great to be creative with your table set up! The flowers were in huge glass vessels in the centre of the tables surrounded by petals.This photo really shows off the lovely timber beams of Ufton Court's Tithe Barn.

Standing proudly on the way into Tithe Barn was our chef's masterpiece. Instead of the traditional tiered wedding cake, this couple opted for a croquembouche which looked absolutely delicious! Each bun was filled with creme patissiere and decorated with white chocolate-dipped raspberries and mint.

After a champagne toast the starter was served, breaded pig cheeks with caramelised braeburn apple and frisée salad. The starter was followed by a hearty venison stew with roasted root vegetables.

The poached pear dessert went down a treat, which doesn't surprise us as it looks delicious! This photo may well make your mouth water.

After the meal the tables were cleared and the bar was open for business. The guests danced away to a live band who performed some really unique covers of well known classics.

Happy New Year everyone! Last year was host to many fantastic weddings and events that have made the year such a special one. However, we're extremely excited to see what 2014 has in store for us. We are using this post to sum up the themes and trends of last month, and speculate what exciting themes are to come in the new year.

Winter warmers seemed to be the main theme throughout wedding breakfasts and canapés. During the winter months, our guests seemed to crave comforting game and familiar, traditional dishes. Venison was very popular and often teamed with a classic - creamy dauphinoise potatoes. This often had our mouths watering! Clare and Dave's wedding at North Hidden Barn featured big rustic dishes of venison and dauphinoise on each table for their guests to share.

Venison and shallots with rosemary at Clare and Dave's wedding

Crispy and creamy dauphinoise potatoes

Another favourite was pork belly. Whether this be as a canapé with black pudding and apple sauce, or paired with caramelized apple as a hearty main course. Daisy and Martin's Japanese themed wedding also kept with traditional winter themes, and they too had pork belly and braeburn apple as an option for their guests to enjoy at the wedding breakfast in Ufton Court's Tithe Barn.

Pork belly was a popular option for guests at Daisy and Martin's wedding

Cheese towers were definitely very fashionable the whole way through 2013, but especially during the winter months. Everybody knows how important cheese is during December, we just can't get enough can we! Who doesn't love a great selection of local cheeses with a great red wine? We witnessed some truly artistic towers and hope that the theme doesn't die down in 2014, because we loved it!

This cheese tower was beautifully decorated with brightly coloured fruit

If you haven't witnessed the naked wedding cake of 2013, we're not quite sure where you've been? Especially popular over the last month, this cake doesn't feature any icing on the outside, just different flavoured sponges layered with butter cream and jams. We think this cake was so popular in the winter months because it is so beautiful to decorate in Christmassy decorations. We saw many dressed in icing sugar and winter fruit, and also some sprinkled with edible glitter and cream roses. At Daisy and Martin's wedding, there was a naked wedding cake that featured a spiced apple sponge; perfect for a winter wedding.

A stunning example of a naked wedding cake at a wedding at Wasing Estate's walled garden

Daisy and Martin's Christmassy naked wedding cake

Location, location, location. One of the first things on the to do list. During the winter we found ourselves very often in beautiful countryside barns. Yes, they are a fantastic venue for all months of the year. But they really do come to life in the winter, and there is something so comforting about enjoying each other's company in a barn covered in fairy lights and rustic timber.

Ufton Court's Tithe Barn is somewhere we found ourselves often in the winter months of 2013. Their Christmas tree and fairy lights are a stunning backdrop for your winter wedding.

Festive strings of fairy lights at Ufton Court's Tithe Barn

Sally and Lisa's ceremony at Ufton Court's Tithe Barn

Ufton's beautiful Christmas tree

2013 has been a very busy and exciting year. We have seen many trends that have held on throughout the whole year - including shabby chic crockery, pick n mix sweet tables, cheese towers, naked wedding cakes, vintage reception drinks and traditional game and British cooking. We are left wondering what this year will hold. Will we shy away from the whole 'shabby chic' craze or will it be so popular that it shines through 2014 too. Will we dress our naked cakes back up, or keep them going throughout the next year. A little birdy gave us a heads up for all the future brides and bridesmaids; this year, mismatched shades and styles of bridesmaids dressing are going to be very popular, so get ahead of the game!

We feel there are going to be big changes in the year to come, visit our twitter @potkilnanywhere and tweet us the changes you think are coming to the wedding and event scene of 2014.

Christmas Party at Well Barn Estate

On Thursday we catered for a Christmas Party at Well Barn Estate. Deeply in picturesque countryside the shooting lodge boasts a large reception area ideal for weddings, parties and corporate dinners. The barn is decorated with a mixture of country, luxury and modern fixtures from all over the world.

The roaring fire set the Christmas mood perfectly last night, as the evening started with pink champagne and canapés which included devils on horseback and salmon gravlax on a bed of cucumber with dill. After the reception the guests were seated for their festive feast.

The food was served onto tables named after Christmas icons, including Santa Claus! Each of the tables were decorated with tinsel, Christmas crackers, holly, cinnamon and baubles.

Each guest had a choice of starter, main and dessert; with a festive choice within each course. This included a traditional smoked salmon starter, Christmas dinner with all the trimmings for the main course and Christmas pudding with custard for dessert. Other choices included a deliciously rich Chicken Liver Parfait to start and a Mandarin and White Chocolate Trifle for dessert. Delicious!

For those daring to shy away from the Traditional Turkey Christmas dinner, venison was on offer. If you feel that you don't know where to start when it comes to venison, The Full Venison Course at The Mike Robinson Game and Wild Food Cookery school will ensure you can to try something new in your kitchen. Visit http://www.gamecookeryschool.co.uk/our-courses/the-full-venison for details.

Clare and Dave's Big Day

Yesterday, we catered for Clare and Dave's wedding at Folly Farm in Brightwalton. The reception took place in a rustic barn situated in the middle of picturesque rolling hills.

The theme for the wedding revolved mainly around winter and Christmas; There was an enormous Christmas tree on the dance floor, covered in twinkling fairy lights, that really set the mood for the bar and evening entertainment. All of the table decorations featured festive pine cones and sprigs of fir trees. A country theme was also brought onto the table with pheasant feathers and jute string to tie the napkins together.

 Other winter decorations included the big stag heads that were featured on either side of the entrance hallway and festive blooms suspended from the rustic beams of the barn. Jane Lawrence Flowers did a fantastic job on decorating the barn, it looked breathtaking! Visit www.janelawrenceflowers.com to see her beautiful work.

 The food carried the winter and country theme as well as all being locally sourced. Canapés were circulated during the reception drinks; there were mini Yorkshire puddings with rare beef and horseradish, honey mustard sausages, carrot and cumin filo pastries, fish cakes with a chilli dip, lamb koftas with mango chutney and lime and garlic king prawns.

To start, the guests shared baskets of locally baked bread followed by a comforting winter meal. Our chefs prepared butterflied legs of venison with caramelized shallots, creamy dauphinoise potatoes with rosemary, bowls of buttered curly kale and braised red cabbage. It was a perfect winter warmer and there were compliments to the chefs all round! The guests had a choice of a hearty sticky toffee pudding or classic creme bruleé with homemade shortbread biscuits.

The evening food was a selection of cheese from the couples unique cheese cake tower, a range of breads, carving ham, game terrine, olives, sunblushed tomatoes and different chutneys. Pippin Doughnuts provided a range of chocolate, cinnamon and berry jam doughnuts which went down a treat! 

All in all it was a lovely event, stunning location, beautiful barn and friendly guests. Everyone enjoyed the food and drinks and had a wonderful time.