Your East Anglian Wedding - June/July2020 (Issue 43)

Day 1 A s you wake, you hear a blackbird, singing cheerfully from a nearby tree. The sound wafts in on a gentle breeze through the open windows. You stretch luxuriously, deeply rested after an exquisitely comfortable night in your four-poster bed. Ah! What a happy thought. Ahead, a carefree day in The Bruisyard Country Estate’s 700 acres, happy in the company of friends and family. Nowhere to go, everyone to see. What for some can be a day of tensions and management, is for you a highlight of a three-day house party, relaxed and joyful, without a care in the world. You are at home in Bruisyard Hall. This ancient house dates back to the 14th Century, and contains rich layers of history: it’s been home to nuns, it’s hidden priests and housed royalty, and today you become part of its history too. Because for this weekend, you are the owner of The Bruisyard Country Estate. From your arrival on the Friday morning, with the luxury of time to oversee preparations for the wedding day, before welcoming your dearest guests who’ll stay with you throughout the whole three days. A sun-drenched walk across the grounds, losing yourselves in the meadows, and with an impromptu croquet match in the garden. After supper, whilst the older and youngest guests plunder the board game collection, you and your friends revisit childhood with a spirited game of hide and seek throughout the Hall’s three floors of corridors, nooks and crannies, bedecked in the extraordinary period fancy dress costumes you found in a trunk. The story of a W E D D I N G W E E K E N D AT B R U I S YA RD COUNT R Y E S TAT E Day 2 A nd so the day has arrived. The day you have planned in such detail, sharing pictures with friends and laughing over outlandish dresses, strange gifts from long-lost relatives and some of the wilder ideas for table themes. Ever since your first contact with Bruisyard, you’ve felt the pressure of planning morph into the delight of feeling fully supported by your dedicated Event Manager, Katie. Capably striking the balance between advisory and flexible, she has worked closely with you to create the wedding you’ve dreamedof, with every element taken care of and the freedom for you to simply relax, enjoy and make the most of this special time. And here you are: wriggling your toes in cosy bedding, relishing the peace of the Suffolk countryside and revelling in the sounds of laughter and the irresistible smell of coffee that drift up from the kitchen. The Dads are up and about, preparing breakfast for 28 in the Hall’s fabulous kitchen: yours even brings breakfast up to you! Everyone makes light work of the fantastic local bakery’s produce, fruit and preserves, ready to play their part in the day ahead.