Blog Layout

Notes From The Bride

Coombe Lodge: The Venue

"I Knew From The Moment We Pulled Up To Coombe Lodge It Was Where We Were Going To Get Married."

I knew from the moment we pulled up to Coombe Lodge it was where we were going to get married. I remember seeing the venue online and despite not ever really thinking about where I’d get married, it struck a chord with me and I knew we had to visit.

I remember the first visit on a weekend morning and seeing suppliers setting up and the staff whizzing around getting everything sorted - it all just seemed to be going like clockwork. Everyone knew what they were doing, no one was flustered and importantly everyone seemed like they were enjoying setting up for that couples big day.

We visited twice after we had booked our date and on both of those occasions it was the same atmosphere which really comforted me in knowing that the team would be on top of every detail when it came to our big day.

Then covid came (yay!) and just like thousands of other couples we had a stressful few months and deliberating what to do, but we stuck to our guns and our original date. Throughout the lockdown, Charlotte, Tom and Martha were all around when we called with questions and advice and it was beyond what I had expected from a venue - by the time the wedding rolled round Charlotte really felt like a lifelong friend!

Button
Button
Button

Button
Button
Button

Our Big Day

Getting ready in the morning was like a dream, our hair stylists (Stacey Jade) and make up artist (Sophie Wylie) were already set up when we arrived and we went straight into being pampered. I can’t recommend both of these women enough as both of them helped us all relax and really contributed to that excitement in the morning.

Then our photographer (Jodie Hurd) and videographers (James and Corey from Poshbear) arrived - and weirdly, due to covid, none of us had met in person before. I’d come across Jodie online and then saw her photobook at Coombe Lodge on one of the days we looked around and we actually had our first call the week of lockdown!! I just had complete trust in her from that first call and knew she’d do a stellar job.
Deciding on a videographer is often considered an ‘extra’ and in all honesty it was for us too - but due to us reducing our numbers we had extra savings and we decided we’d get a videographer! After we started looking I was surprised why we hadn’t decided to get one sooner - and then I came across Poshbear. The way they captured the day was incredible.

Everyone who came has since said that they forgot that Jodie, James and Corey were there as they all slipped into the background, occasionally popping up and making us all smile.

Button
Button
Button
Button
Button
Button
Button
Button

I’ve been told by many of our suppliers, but mostly by Hannah my wedding florist (The Rambling Rose, Bristol) that I was quite chilled out about styling the day and finer details. I’d describe our wedding as whimsical, flowing and colourful. Our flowers replicated that exactly and Hannah did an amazing job - the flowers all looked like they were growing wild, even for the flowers we had at the bottom of the stairs! Don’t be afraid to show your florist your favourite photo and say ‘work with this!’, that’s what I said to Hannah! Over breakfast the next day we gave all our flowers to our guests to enjoy at home. Our huge centrepiece for our registrar table/sweetheart table came with us on honeymoon down to Cornwall!

Button
Button
Button
Button
Button
Button

And our cake!!! Anita at The Macaroom was the ONLY choice for me. Her designs are incredible and she is the only person we met with for cake tasting and the rest is history! She worked with Hannah at The Rambling Rose for the flowers and it tasted amazing. We had coffee and walnut, pistachio with rhubarb curd and a white chocolate and morello cherry sponge.

Button
Button
Button
Button
Button

I’d also like to shout out Kieran Clarke who did our music and entertainment in the evening. He was great on the lead up to the wedding and we had a few calls with Kieran to talk about what we could do. Let’s just say we had a great evening, one set of our parents even got involved with a Mr & Mrs game!!

Button
Button

Advice

Everyone has said to me that the day will fly by, and whilst it did go very fast, I think having a smaller number of guests at our wedding meant that we were able to really enjoy everyone's company and importantly our first day as man and wife.

My absolute top piece of advice, and one that I have even told my closest friends, is just how much we valued having a ‘sweetheart table’ during the wedding breakfast. Instead of a top table with 8-10 people on it, having our table just be Dan and I meant that we had all that time to sit and chat to each other and admire our guests enjoying themselves. Our families all understood why we wanted the sweetheart table and looking back at our photos and video, you can see how much fun we were having just the two of us!