Easter Weddings at Ufton Court

After doing a Pinterest board and blog about Easter Weddings, we were very excited to see how last weekend's brides and grooms incorporated the Easter theme into their big day. It was great to see how differently two couples can take the theme and make it their own; Friday's wedding had a mixture of two themes; they had a very traditional Easter theme, but also a record theme too.

Pimms and Buck's Fizz were served in the Archer's Hall along with a selection of nibbles. The Hall was kept plain and simple, with only cream bunting and Ufton's Coat of Arms which hang on the back wall of the Hall. The vinyl records and album covers were placed around the room on the window sills, making sure the hall didn't look too overcrowded. The Easter theme was kept to one small table in the middle of the room which was a table set up for the children to do an Easter egg hunt. There were traditional chicks and eggs in bright and pastel colours, it screamed Easter!

The mixture of themes were also present in Tithe Barn. After reception drinks, the guests made their way to Tithe Barn to enjoy the Wedding Breakfast. The tables were decorated with beautiful Easter flowers, and the table names were records on stands.

The vinyls were put onto a table plan so that the guests could see where they would be seated. We hadn't seen a table plan like this before, it was really fun and unique.

MENU

Starter

Coarse Hampshire Wild Boar and Gresingham Duck Pate with Spiced Apple Chutney, Cornoichons and Mixed Salad

Main 

Lemon and Rosemary Roasted Bass Fillet, Cauliflower Puree, Pommes Anna and Beurre Noisette with Spring Greens

Dessert

Chocolate Wedding Cake, Fresh Fruit, Cream and Coulis 

The evening then took a sweeter turn, with a fun and bright sweets table with cupcakes and classic pick n mix sweets in big retro jars with traditional pink and white bags. Dotted around the cupcakes and sweet jars were the traditional chicks once again, keeping the theme incorporated throughout every aspect of the day. The guests then took to the dance floor and enjoyed a bar full of some of our local favourites like West Berkshire Brewery's Mr Chubbs Lunch Time Bitter.

The wedding on the Saturday didn't have such a strict theme, and subtly introduced Easter through the colour scheme rather than Egg hunts and bunnies. The flowers weren't traditional for Easter, however the delicate pastel colours were exactly those you would expect at an Easter Wedding.

The tables were decorated with brightly coloured napkins with a mismatched jam jar tied with pink ribbon. The guest names were featured on small luggage tags, handwritten in black ink on decorated jars. The idea of the jars was that the guests would go up to the sweet table at the end of the Wedding Breakfast and fill it with their favourite sweets and take it home.

Also on the table were cute little vintage tea cups filled with different coloured roses and textured leaves. The whole style was really charming and pretty.

The weddings showed us that even in the same venue, you can really make a theme yours. Even a theme as traditional as Easter. A lot of people might worry that having an Easter wedding will mean covering your whole venue in chicks and bunnies, but this really was not the case at Ufton Court; even the theme of Easter can be done in a classy, elegant and subtle way.

Using food and drink to decorate your wedding

Food is for eating, and drinks are for drinking, right? Mostly, yes. But you can use food and drink for all sorts of things on your big day. Here are some unique ways to incorporate food and drink into your reception.

Your reception drinks can set the entire theme for the rest of your wedding reception. In 2013, vintage wedding receptions were rife, starting the theme off with a bang. Traditionally, your reception drinks would be a simple table cloth + glass + drink combination. But gone are those days! You can do all sorts wtih your reception drinks. Funky drinking vessels, vintage drink crates, beautiful straws and fancy cocktails. These drinks can look as beautiful as the rest of your decorations!

By layering heights, textures and colours you can create a beautiful centerpiece for the reception room or outdoor reception. 

Fruit has also been seen used as a wedding decoration. This wedding in the woodland features fantastic, raw and natural centrepieces made entirely of apples. Simple green and white flowers have been added to keep the whole theme subtle but beautiful.

You can also use fruit for your place names. Apples and pears are such beautiful shapes and colours, you don't need to spend lots of money on place names. Spray paint your chosen fruit gold for a more decorative place name, or keep them plain for a natural feel.

Clear glass vases of fruit are an extremely effective way of colour blocking. Layer oranges, limes and lemons in a bowl for a beautiful centrepiece for a summer wedding or fill oversized cocktail glasses with winter berries for a festive feel.

This year, a huge trend is going to be unique and interesting bouquets featuring fruit, vegetables and herbs. Last year saw the rise of the herb bouquet, with rosemary being extremely popular. However this year, you will be seeing more striking and interesting additions such as artichokes and crab apples.

Now, we're not quite sure how many vases made of squash you might come across at weddings this year... but we stumbled upon this on Pinterest and thought it was such an amazing idea! Whacky, but amazing.

Sweets and cakes have been an extremely popular way of decorating weddings last year, and we hope to see more of it this year because it works so well! Use candy floss as a way of colour blocking for a pastel palette wedding.

We cannot believe how popular macarons have been this year. Such versatile little treats, you could use them like a cake pop and put them into a tall vase to decorate your dessert table, or alternatively poke name flags in for your place names.

Finally, how about a centrepiece made of cake? We like the sound of that. Instead of having a traditional bouquet of flowers in the centre of your tables, why not use beautifully iced cupcakes?