Your Bristol & Somerset Wedding - August/September 2020 (Issue 78)

Being based overseas, we had to find a venue that was experienced in managing weddings. We had a limited amount of time to find somewhere when we returned for Christmas 2017. I visited Ston Easton Park with my parents and immediately felt at ease; I knew that planning a wedding from the other side of the world would be no problem for the team there. Having exclusive hire was another big draw for us. We wanted beautiful pink peonies for me and ivory roses for the bridesmaids. Peonies were coming to the end of their season, but our florist managed to source some. Our centrepieces were edible, so people could garnish their G&T favours with them. I spent days dehydrating citrus fruits and our florist made bunches of herbs. We named each table after a gin, and our wonderful graphic designer friend, Amie, drew each bottle for the table plan. I took some calligraphy classes in Manila for our place settings, but the girls in my class were so natural at it that I put them to good use and they hand- calligraphed all the names. We’re big cheese fans, so we chose to have a six-tier cheese cake. We served it in the venue’s old kitchen, along with crackers, chutneys and sausage baguettes. Unfortunately, we didn’t get time to enjoy much of the cheese ourselves! 40