Jewelry Care 101: Keeping Your Treasures Shining
#TEAMTIMFORD: AND SO IT BEGINS… THE SEARCH FOR EMILY’S WEDDING VENUE IS ON!
All Photography by Jessica Turley of Bespoke Bride
Can you believe it has now been 4 whole months since Mr T and I got engaged? It has been a whirlwind of ring shopping, celebrations and the number one cliché question “Have you set a date yet?”
Up to now I have been pretty laid back about the whole thing, not planning on doing much organising until the New Year arrives. However a quick look at my calendar the other day revealed, that if we were to get the date that we had originally set our minds on, then we actually only have 18 months to plan. This might seem like a reasonable amount of time but when you consider that some suppliers can be booked up to 2 years in advance, that date starts to feel a little closer and everything starts to seem more ‘real’.
The first thing on my list of things to do is book a venue. As pretty much everything revolves around location, date included, I figured this should probably be top of my priorities right now.
Not long after we were engaged, we talked about the type of venue we would like, both agreeing it would be nice to be somewhere near the sea, with lots of open space, white walls and incorporate our mutual love for animals and the environment. Not too much to ask, right??
It’s quite specific I know, so I have compiled a quick shortlist of some of my favourite venues so far in the UK.
1. Port Lympne Reserve
Winners of the 2014 ‘Wedding Industry Expert Awards’ Port Lympne provides a charming backdrop and offers an authentic African Safari experience at its reserve. The rooms are adorned with paintings of wild animals from all over the world and the reception room is neutral so that couples can add their own unique touches. Aside from all the amazing animals, another of my favourite things about this venue is it accommodation, ranging from luxury country cottages or hotels, to fairy-tale like glamping packages, perfect for cosying down under the stars after a long day of celebrations. Add to this all the hard work Port Lympne Reserve does for conservation and we pretty much have my ideal venue!
2. The Palm House
I have to admit I have a bit of an obsession with this place. It makes all my Green house wedding dreams come true! I spotted it on Pinterest shortly after we got engaged and it is has kind of stuck with me ever since. Located in Liverpool’s picturesque Sefton Park, this giant-sized, greenhouse-esque stature floods with natural light to feed the array of exotic plants that climb the ceiling and rise majestically from the centre of this historical building.
3. Babington House
Next on my list is Babington House, with Tennis courts, a cosy cinema, a log room for intimate fireside dining and on-site spa what isn’t there to love! We have both talked about wanting to be able to put our own unique spin on any venue that we have and the orangery here has loads of natural space and white walls, so is the perfect neutral backdrop.
4. Oxwich Bay Hotel
We haven’t been to see any venues as of yet, choosing to narrow down the search online first, but a few months back we were camping in the Gower when we happened upon Oxwich Bay Hotel on a wet and dreary day. Although I didn’t get to have a good look around, I fell in love with its location and spectacular views of the sea. I know that secretly Mr T would love to have our wedding there, as it is where he spent a lot of time as a kid, hiking around the surrounding cliff paths and searching for crabs in the rock pools below. It would hold very special memories indeed.
We are still taking our time to look around but these are the 4 that are standing out to me at the moment. I am so excited to continue sharing my wedding plans with you. I am also very keen to add to this list, so if you know of somewhere that you think I should check out, please let me know below or send me a tweet!
xxx
P.S. If you wondering about the weird hashtag in title, it’s a mash up of our surnames together – just a goofy thing we like to do 😀
