Weekend Weddings

Does everyone tell you that your wedding day will go so quickly? That’s because it will! Before you know it, your day will be a whirlwind of hair and makeup, excitement, nerves, ceremony drinks receptions and greeting many of your guests. These days, weddings are often no longer confined to one day only and there are so many benefits of extending your celebrations to the whole wedding weekend and choosing a country house estate wedding, providing a relaxed and convivial atmosphere for your celebrations.

The Friday Night – Welcome Party

Guest flow and experience is an important aspect to consider at your wedding. For your overnight guests, start your weekend wedding with champagne and afternoon tea for those who arrive on a Friday afternoon.

Here at Ugbrooke, a popular option with our couples, is to host an intimate welcome dinner or party on the Friday evening. For a chilled-out vibe host your closest friends and family at a beautifully styled dinner table in the sumptuous dining room.  With 24 guests seated around a table, why not push the boat out and host a four or five course tasting menu with locally sourced and caught cuisine with artisan cheeses and pairing wines. After dinner you could retire to one of the many reception rooms for traditional parlour games (anyone for charades?) or head to the billiards room for late night revelry. Hosting a weekend wedding means having the country house all to yourselves, you can make yourself at home and host your own house party, albeit a fancy one!

                  The Saturday Ceremony

Waking up on the estate is a morning like no other. With views overlooking the Capability Brown landscape, acres of paddocks with sheep, ducks and formal gardens, the view and tranquil atmosphere will provide calm for your wedding morning. The wedding suite at Ugbrooke is so large that there is plenty of space for you all to get ready and your Butler will ensure bubbles aplenty.

To begin with, your personal Butler will provide a beautifully laid out English breakfast for you and your guests. Whilst the wedding party is getting ready, some might like to take a walk around the estate or relax in the morning room with their morning coffee. 

Hiring a country house estate means that you can use the house and grounds as you please, whether that is for an intimate wedding breakfast for 30, or large lavish marquee wedding for 200 guests. With an abundance of spaces, you have choices in terms of your ceremony whether you want that hosted inside the house, outside in an outdoor ceremony, or in the Catholic Chapel.

Often Country Estates have so many beautiful backdrops and rooms, you’ll have a huge variety of spaces to choose in terms of where you hold your ceremony, and more importantly the post ceremony drinks reception.  Just remember when you are constructing your timeline, to leave adequate time for your guests to move from one space to another.

The Sunday Brunch

To make the most of your weekend wedding, hosting a brunch enables you to speak to some guests that you might have missed the day before and spend time with your friends and family before they head back home. Mostly, these are relaxed events, either hosted with lounge style seating, or you might like a relaxed sit-down lunch before everyone heads home.  

 

A Few Weekend Wedding Tips