Being a wedding blogger certainly does have its perks. T’is true that Charlotte and I spend what is probably an unhealthy amount of time out of direct sunlight, tapping away on keys (or glass), twittering this, that and the other and constantly checking emails, RSS feeds and social media. Every so often though, one of those emails or notifications that we receive is an invitation to go somewhere and actually be social.
It was the result of one such invitation that saw me walking down the driveway of a Grade II listed, Queen Anne mansion designed by the English architect William Talman with internal murals by the renowned artist Louis Laguerre and grounds originally landscaped by Capability Brown (…thanks Wikipedia).
I was at Fetcham Park In Surrey.
So what was I here for?
Well the long and short of it is that I was there for a spot of lunch, with 20 or so of the biggest movers and shakers in W-day land. And very nice it was too!
Laura Caudery was the perfect host, charming, witty and full of facts and interesting anecdotes about Fetcham Park. Laura has the supreme knack of making you feel comfortable and at home in an instant, which is handy when you have a bunch of new peeps to meet.
Lunch was fantastic, and I’m not just talking about the food! Sat to my left was the eminently entertaining Emma Meek from Miss Bush Bridal Wear. I’ll never forget her and she may well have inadvertently stolen the show with that leg-out-of-the-limo moment perfectly captured by Eddie Judd.
To my right I talked cakes with Janet Mohapi-Banks and Krishanthi from Cakes By Krishanthi, although we also managed to geek it up with our discussions on the pro’s and con’s of social networking and the effect it is having on the English language… very Radio 4 – John Humphries would have been proud of me. I also talked laser cutting and all things ‘stationery’ with Dominic from Cutture. I was suitably impressed with Dominic’s business card that not only had intricate laser cut details but the text was actually etched by laser – no ink required… but that is probably a story for another day. Laura had certainly seated me in the right place.
Fetcham Park really is as grand as these images by Eddie Judd report it to be – if you are looking for an opulent mansion location for your wedding then Fetcham really will tick all of the boxes. The Team That Laura had assembled for our intimate lunch really did knock the w-day ball out of the park too. Infact, I’m now going to hand you over to Laura who can tell you more about that dream team, as well as give a little bit of a behind-the-scenes insight.
Laura Caudrey: When I launched Parallel Venues I wanted to introduce people not just to Fetcham Park and Cams Hall, but also to our partners. And just as I did for guests at our launch when I worked with Penny from Tigerlily Weddings and Emma of Miss Bush Bridal Wear, I wanted this lunch to show what Parallel Venues weddings are all about: a beautiful backdrop, delicious food and lots of fun.
Whilst I could have been nervous that our guests were some of the leading names in the wedding industry, I have complete confidence in every single person we work with. Most important is our catering partner, At Home. I interviewed 12 catering companies for my own wedding at Fetcham Park (obsessive, me?!) and have worked with many more but can honestly say that At Home are the best team I’ve ever worked with. And I think guests left knowing just how important great food and great wine are to Parallel Venues!
In fact every single detail is important: from the beautiful Sugalily invitations, the amazing flowers by fairynuff, the exquisite styling from Kim at The Pink Pumpkin, name cards and menus from the laser-cutting geniuses at Cutture, delicious champagne and fine wines from Les Caves de Pyrene, music from Matt Maurice and not least the gorgeous cupcakes from Cakes by Krishanthi that guests left with (at this point I hope Adam confesses to just how many he took!).
I was definitely showing off on Friday: not me, not the house, but what great partners can achieve. My job is to create the ‘dream team’ that make your wedding day the best that it can be – I open my Little Black Book (actually a rather large folder!) for our couples and I hope that Friday gave our guests a little insight into the way we like to plan our events and look after our guests.
Host Laura Caudrey at Fetcham Park
Design & Styling The Pink Pumpkin
Photography Eddie Judd
Catering At Home
Flowers fairynuff
Cupcakes Cakes by Krishanthi
Invites Sugalily
Stationery & Menu Cutture
Tables, chairs, crockery Abacus Hire
Glassware Jones Hire
Linen Options Hire
Candelabras, tealights and cake stands Idyllic Days
Music Matt Maurice
Wine Les Caves
Thank you for that insight Mrs C, and thank you for the invitation too!
And before I go, by way of confession (Thanks Laura) I took two delicious cup cakes home with me. One for me and one for Charlotte…
I ate mine on my journey back home from Surrey and unfortunately the other one got damaged-beyond-repair-during-transit so I had to eat that one too. Really quickly.
I’m not even lying.
Adam.
You robbed my cake?! How very dare you!!!
Wow what a gorgeous venue!!! any idea how much it is to hire or per person costs?!
@Charlotte I think you should demand another cake!!!
@Faye – I know!! to be fair I did have quite a few on Saturday night….
Gorgeous venue!
I saw on a wedding featured on these hallowed polka dot pages that someone had their table plan etched on what looked like glass, but was in fact plastic. In this feature the menu appears to be etched – would anyone know of a company that does this? I have scoured the internet to no avail!
Sorry folks – I can see the mention for Cutture now!
I went here for the Surrey tweet-up last year and it really is a beautiful venue. Can’t wait to shoot a wedding here
As Charlotte wasn’t able to join us, and her cupcake (apparently) didn’t survive the journey, it’s only right that we do it all again soon! It was lovely to finally meet one half of RMW and it’s the highlight of my year to see the house on your pretty polka dot pages.
@Rachel – do feel free to drop me a line (laura.caudery@parallelvenues) or give me a call (07966 463719) to discuss weddings at Fetcham Park – it was lovely to see your note above!
I hope you don’t mind me asking but what kind of tulips are they? I really love tulips but worried about drooping
Sx
just seen this, it all looks amazing! and the guest list was perfect and venue well, i needn’t say anymore! so upset to miss it all xxx
This looks like such a beautiful and wonderful event, well done ladies x
rather upset i wasnt invited…of to cry in the corner
Honoured to be invited to such a fabulous lunch with equally fabulous company. It is such a joy to photograph at Fetcham – it’s beauty and opulence really make my job easy! It really makes an amazing venue for a wedding, and the catering is incredible! Also delighted to see my pictures on the RMW pages!
x
Thank you so much for the invite Laura, you have the most amazing venue there. Anyone getting married and looking for an elegant venue with the wow factor should definitely check it out. And the food was amazing too!
For someone that’s always behind the camera, it was like being the guest at a wedding instead….and I enjoyed that immensely! In fact I think I am rather good at it…. (any vacancies for a full time wedding guest?)…
Was so nice to be there! Food was out of this world. Best part is the venue is about 10 mins up the road from me in Dorking.