Rebecca and Darren's Wedding Map

September, 2007

Audley End House, Essex

Hi, Our wedding was all I dreamed but not without a whole HEAP of work The wedding was at a English Heritage Stately Home 'Audley End' which meant lots of extra rules regulations and general hoops to jump through - from not being allowed red wine and berries, the amount of water permitted in flower displays, to only allowing real petal confetti, even down to the size of heel the female guests could wear!! However it was worth it, and that is just one of the draw backs from choosing such a venue - but in my opinion absolutly worth it. And at the end of the day the guests didn't know the hassles - they just sat back and went wow!! Best suppliers were Raj Tent Company - we had a fantastic small open sided Indian style marquee for the band and dance floor outside as dancing was n't permitted in the house. It was spectacular - particularly surrounded by the beautiful gardens and impressive architecture of the house. I would also particularly reccommend the Cambridge Sushi Company - which we used instead of canapes at the drinks reception - they were very professional and tasted fantastic and very reasonable. The sit down dinner was provided by Chimneys oustside caterers of Long Melford. I would not reccommend them at all. Although the food was fantastic they were an absolute nightmare to deal with, and very unprofessional both before and after the event and added a lot of stress to the organising the of event. Small details were also missed - specific guest who had an allergy should have given a different course, but was given nothing, top table was far too cramped for the number of guests - they should have supplied a longer table. Having said that it was a great reception, the drinks flowed and everyone commented what a beautiful wedding it was. We stayed the night in Cambridge at the Cambridge Garden House Hotel - which is a beautiful hotel in a fantastic setting. Guests then spent the morning looking round Cambridge and then all met up to go punting the next day on the River Cam. A truly fabulous weekend! Good Luck.