Last but very much not least, of the weddings of the year.

The last wedding of the year took place on the 12th September.  The bride and groom were determined to keep the celebrations very much a relaxed family affair and because of the careful planning beforehand this is what it was.

The marquee (www.wessexmarquees.co.uk) was decorated with amazing flowers in the blue, purple and cream theme chosen by the bride. They framed the entrance, climbed the pillars and filled baskets on the tables (www.rusticrose.co.uk) The company were so determined that everything should be fresh that they put the finishing touches to the arrangements on the day of the wedding.  Blue napkins, beautifully folded as fans, on the tables completed the theme. (www.stalbridge-linen.com). 

The tables were laid with the most amazing array of vintage china, glass and jugs. (www.sarahsvictoriouslyvintage.com)

The ceremony took place in the gazebo next door to the marquee and even a few drops of rain did not dampen the atmosphere.

Canapes on the lawn followed the ceremony while the bride and groom had their photographs taken by the groom's brother in the grounds.  The canapes and the barbecue Wedding breakfast were both produced by Julian Else and his partner Heidi (www.hostaroast.com) Julian can be seen below plying his trade. A magnificent bar was put up in the marquee which sold a huge range of cocktails. 

Pudding took the form of the most delicious looking and tasting chocolate and berry cake - allmellum@fsmail.net or 'Lisa Mellum Cake Creations' on Facebook.  Each guest had a pot of honey by their place, decorated with a bee by the bride and groom. The honey came from the bees at Shillingstone House - shillingstonehouse@gmail.com

Later, after the evening guests had arrived, the wedding party packed the dance floor, dancing to the music of a disco provided by GTR Disco and Entertainments www. gtr-disco.com .  The music stopped at midnight and the bride and groom left for the night in a vintage mustang owned by the host at the B&B in Durweston where they were staying. This was a secret surprise by the groom for the bride! (http://www.53durweston.com/)

The celebrations continued the next day with family and friends returning for brunch.

HAPPY NEW YEAR!

HAPPY, HAPPY NEW YEAR TO ALL OUR BRIDAL COUPLES, PAST AND PRESENT, and to all our wonderful suppliers!

New Year at Shillingstone was mad as expected and we managed to set off some fireworks, after the storms,  to celebrate the start of 2016.

Christmas at Shillingstone

Tree up on Christmas Eve - one of the best we have ever had from our local garden centre Oasis in Child Okeford. John Harbour takes enormous care to get the perfect tree and sent the first one back as it was not large enough - he also sells a fantastic range of plants.

Decorating just done in time to go to the Christingle Service in the village church.  (Old Man's Beard woven into the garland up the stairs so fluff everywhere!)  From then on Christmas was magical, especially as our resident grand-daughter was old enough to love very moment, especially the wrapping paper!

Many of our decorations are made by Lynne Saunders who weaves the most beautiful willow creations, from baskets to decorations, here in the village of Shillingstone.  This year we added two stars for the staircase to join our angel from last year.  Lynne would be happy to weave tiny stars or hearts as Wedding Favours so contact her to find out more.  (lynne@lynnesaunders.co.uk)

Winter at Shillingstone House

The winter months are the time for making repairs and changes to the gardens and grounds.  Hopefully the drive will be re-surfaced soon - the potholes have become too many!  We have plans to re-instate the Ha-Ha as well which will make the view from the lawn more focused and new trees have been planted in the playground to hide the tractor from view as you go up the path to the kitchen garden.  The frost have made the garden into a magical place.

Christmas and New Year engagement couples have been visiting and we look as if we are fully booked for this year.

Rustic Wedding

5thSeptember 2015 brought us a truly beautiful country wedding.  The bride and groom had a very strong vision of the wedding that they wanted and through an enormous amount of hard work and making they pulled it off. A team of family and friends put everything in place the day before.

The groom is an electrician by trade and lights played a large part in the overall effect - strings of fairy lights lined the terrace and flowerbeds, strings of bulbs lit the way to the marquee and homemade lanterns hung in the tree on the lawn along with a birdcage filled with candles - a magical sight.

Dorset Garden Party Marquees    (dorsetgardenpartymarquees.co.uk ) provided the marquee which was lined inside and draped with bunting. Long tables and benches (www.woodenbenchhirecompany.co.uk & www.southwesteventhire.co.uk) were laid for the Wedding Breakfast with vintage china, produced by a family friend who also provided the bunting - http://graciesvintagehire.com/hire.html  - a newly set up vintage hire company. Vases of blue, white and purple flowers were set on long lace runners.  These, and the flowers which filled the vintage buckets and watering cans outside the tent, were produced and arranged by Emma Vowles @ Winterborne Flowers.

The bride and groom were determined to get married outside and the weather was on their side.  Guests sat on straw bales covered with vintage tablecloths and huge rolls of hessian had been bought to construct the aisle which was lined with flowers.

Tubs of flowers decorated the grounds - the tubs had been made by the bride's father and filled with perennials donated by a family friend - a garden in the making for their new home.  Hessian was used again round the marquee which was on the main lawn.

After the ceremony, guests mingled on the lawn for drinks and canapes, while the bride and groom went off to have their photographs taken in the grounds by Claudia Claudia Vye Photography -http://www.claudiavye.com -  The bride and Claudia had spent some time before the wedding choosing places for the photographs and this shows in the beautiful, artistic and original pictures taken.

The bride was cooking right up until her wedding day!  She made her own cake and made or sourced all the food for the Wedding Breakfast - amazing!  The caterers from the True Lover's Knot - http://www.trueloversknot.co.uk  - served the food with impeccable style.

After the meal, the party were joined by evening guests and they danced until midnight to the sound of a Folk Band - Liar in the Light - a youth band from Devon (https://www.facebook.com/liarinthelight ) who were fantastic and kept the dance floor full all evening.

The following day, the guests who had camped in the grounds joined family and other friends for brunch in the sun, followed by a grand tidy up session.

The bride and groom left for a honey moon in Morocco and a wonderful weekend sadly came to an end.

Glamping celebrations

August Bank Holiday brought us a beautiful celebration of a wedding held earlier in the year in London.  Guests came from all round the world and many of them joined the glamping village set up in the playground field where they camped from the Friday to Monday - ww.bellandbreakfast.co.uk/info@bellandbreakfast.co.uk )

All photographs by ( stefanosnowskiphotography.com )

The bride and groom arrived in "Ben Hur", an open Morris Minor, bedecked with flowers, driving onto the lawn where a "blessing" was held by the gate on the Ha Ha. The wreath decorating the gate and the cut flowers in the tent were provided by Florabunda in Blandford Forum.

The bride and groom mingled with their guests before going off to have photographs taken in the fields by Stefan Osnowski (stefanosnowskiphotography.com) before more formal ones of the family in front of the house.

Whilst this was happening,  guests enjoyed drinks and canapes on the lawns and had time to explore the marquee (http://www.collinsmarquees.co.uk) while the bride and groom went off to have photographs taken in the grounds.

The marquee had been decorated the day before with bunting, and beautiful flowers, arranged by family friends.  Many hours had been spent making personal touches from napkin rings to notice boards, table decorations to fans and hankies for those weeping during the speeches and ceremony and speeches.

Outside, lanterns had been arranged in the gazebo, along the wall and on tables set up on the lawn.  Huge wheelbarrows and pots of flowers were placed around the tent - all grown by the family and family friends.

Guests had their photographs taken in the vintage caravan photo booth shown above (www.hellosweetpea.co.uk) where the bridal couple had provided a selection of hats to try on.

The first official photographs taken, everyone repaired to the marquee for a delicious dinner prepared by Julian and Heidi (www.hostaroast.com) who also produced pizzas from their pizza oven later in the evening and the canapes served earlier.

Pudding took the shape of a superb chocolate and berry wedding cake made by http://www.abbystrulyscrumptiouscakes.co.uk/

Drink was available at the bar ( www.southernmobilebars.co.uk  ) with personalised cocktails on sale.

Dancing followed to the sound of a rock band ( http://afterdarkmusic.ie/ ) which packed the dance floor until the witching hour of midnight.

And with the weather on their side,  the party continued outside as well.

The bride and groom spent the night in one of the bell tents.   The following day they hosted a barbecue before chilling out in the glamping field where they stayed another night, bravely gathering round the fire pit in the rain!

It was a wonderful weekend with a mixed feeling of wedding and rock festival - perhaps something to explore one year! - "The best weekend of my life" were the words of the bride.

Autumn days are starting.

The leaves are beginning to take on their Autumn colours,  with the Virginia Creeper already an incredible shade of crimson.  The light in the mornings is magical.  Harvest continues with everyone taking their part!

Picking Figs

Last wedding of the year mid September :( and we are now into harvest!

We had so many figs this year that we contacted Ross Kidner at Moonraker Preserves (www.moonrakerpreserves.co.uk) to come and pick them and make them into jam and chutney for his market stalls. He was cooking until 3am to make sure that everything was used when fresh so look out for his stalls of preserves.  He is going to be at Gully's Autumn Craft Fair on18th October 2015 - 10.30 - 4.00 at the Scout Hall, Canford Heath, Poole.  Gully's place is a purpose built suite of rooms for the families of terminally ill children in Poole Hospital.(https://www.poole.nhs.uk/support-us/poole-hospital-charity/gullys-place-trust-fund.aspx)

David helping to pick figs

Toile de Jouy wedding

Everything at our June wedding was themed round blue and white "Toile de Jouy" material - even the bar.

Beautiful blue and white flowers were on every table and around the marquee -  www.dpmarquees.co.uk  and the amazing wedding cake was decorated with yellow sugar flowers to match the yellow stripes in the tent. 

Guests were serenaded as they arrived by the Miserable Man One Man Band, who was not miserable at all! www.miserableman.com

Beautiful and original wedding photographs were taken in the grounds by Kirsty Hardiman - www.kirstyhardimanphotography.co.uk -  the last one was taken of the photographer in an upstairs window ready to take a group photograph.

In the evening guests were treated to delicious fish and chips from a local firm - littlestchipshop@gmail.com - served from the van which drove onto the lawn.

The following day guests returned for a barbecue cooked by the bride's father and the party continued in the sun until well into the afternoon - the end of a lovely, relaxed but beautifully planned weekend.

Sweet Pea Wedding

July brought us a wedding made very special by the amount of making put into it by the bride and groom.  The bridesmaids wore sweet pea colours and every thing else had been made to match - from the decorations in the tent to the deckchairs on the lawn!

The bridegroom had made a wonderful bar from old pallets and a huge photograph board for the law which was a great success with guests. Props had been made to use in the Photo-booth tent.

The bride and bridesmaids arrived, looking stunning, in a stretch limo - www.rrelite.co.uk. The couple had taken a huge gamble with the English weather and arranged to get married outside - the gamble paid off and a beautiful ceremony took place in the sun.

Tea followed with guests provided with their own hampers, assembled by the family the day before.   Later, after drinks and games on the lawn a wedding breakfast was served in the amazingly shaped tent provided by www.taddlefarmtents.co.uk. 

Pudding came in the form of "Stop me and Buy One" ice creams - www.chillywhite.co.uk - which were delicious.

The bride and groom had their photographs taken in the grounds by Remy from www.lovesyphotography.co.uk, who also took the last two photographs of the wedding pictures and the one of the tents at the end of the blog.

Later in the evening mobile catering van arrived and guests could chose their supper - anything from Fish and Chips to pasties were available. 

Dancing continued until midnight but the campers continued the party until 5am! 

The bride and groom spent their wedding night here too in a very stylish Bell Tent provided by Taddle Farm.

Everything seemed to be as perfect as the Bride and Groom had planned so meticulously over the months leading up to the wedding.

Classic Car Rally

Classic Car Rally in Aid of Weldmar Hospice Dorchester

On Sunday 7th of June, Shillingstone House welcomed the Transport of Yesteryear's 'Hardy Country Classic Tour' 2015, a classic vehicle rally in aid of Weldmar Hospicecare Trust.  Over 80 cars traveled the 70 mile route through Hardy country, stopping at Shillingstone House for a picnic lunch from 12 noon to 1.30 pm.  The Rally drivers were soon joined by many other enthusiasts to look at the cars and to picnic in the sunshine.

The Rally itself raised £770 and the stop off at Shillingstone House raised a further £285.18 which was fantastic.  Shillingstone House would like to thank Martin Carwardine & Co for giving us the coffee and tea for free - £98.10 of the total came from the Coffee Stall -  Rob Beale Ltd for the Portable Loos that they lent us and Brandon Tool Hire for the mats which made the entrance to the field smooth enough for the cars.  We could not have done without their generous help.

Steam Wedding!

23rd May saw our first "Steam Wedding" reception here.  The Bride drove herself to the church in her own Steam Lorry and then Bride and Groom arrived at Shillingstone House on a traction engine, driven by the bride in full wedding dress!  8 other engines followed. The reception took place in the field as the lawns would not have taken the weight of the engines

Photographs taken by Debra Radford unless mentioned otherwise

Photograph taken by our resident photographer - stefanosnowskiphotograpy.com

The bride and her future mother in law had taken so much time and trouble sourcing and making the decorations for the marquee using browns and greens which blended so beautifully into the country around. (http://www.oakleafmarquees.co.uk )

Lunch took place outside on long trestle tables with guests choosing from an amazing array of food.

The Bride and Groom had photographs taken in the grounds.

photograph by stefanosnowskiphotography.com

After dancing the night away with their guests, they spent the night in their Shepherd's Hut under the stars.

More improvements to the grounds!

David and George hard at work planting Marguerite Daisies in the long grass - ball pit balls to help random planting!

First repairs to the drive have been done - Kingsmere Surfacing is waiting now till after our "Steam" Wedding in May! (www.kingsmeresurfacing.co.uk)

Garden beginning to come alive

Daffodils in the camping field

The garden is beginning to come alive again!

Magnolia tree outside the front door

In this beautiful weather it is looking wonderful and Our fantastic part-time gardeners are working hard to make everything perfect for this summer's weddings

Sieving soil for planting

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David Lewis on the left is one of our resident wedding photographers lewisandschofieldphotography.co.uk

The other being Stefan Osnowski stefanosnowskiphotography.com

Improvements to the grounds continue

Thanks to our wonderful electrician, R. and W. A. Ellis,  we now have an outside plug for use at weddings!  This will not power the whole marquee but will cover freezers etc that need to be powered overnight.

Dennis Crane, our equally wonderful builder, has put in a new path to enable guests to get to the walled Kitchen Garden more easily.

D.W.Crane General Builder - 01258-454-104

Valentines is coming up fast! A box of wine goes to the couple who book with us first!

Valentines is coming up fast as the view from my bathroom window reminded me!

We are finalising our current bookings to make sure that we have room for all those couples who get engaged this week-end!  And even more exciting we are offering a box of wine to the couple who book with us first!!

Winter at shillingstone House

Winter is the time for repairs and changes to the gardens and grounds.  We are waiting for the drive to be re-surfaced - the potholes have become too many!  We have planted new trees in the playground to hide the tractor as you walk to the kitchen garden and we are hoping to re-instate the Ha-Ha to focus the view from the lawns. 

The frosts have brought magic to the gardens as you can see in the photographs below (taken by my brother in law Malcolm Coombs with a fish-eye lens). 

September weddings.

September 2014 brought two wonderful weddings to Shillingstone House – both completely different in design.

The first started with a civil service in the Dining Room of the house.  This was followed by a family lunch, with the wider circle of friends bringing picnics to eat on the lawn in the afternoon.  A delicious Hog Roast supper from local butcher J Matto of Blandford - Woody's Hog Roast - woodysenquiries@gmail.com), had been cooking all day, and was fallen upon by a ravenous gang of children in early evening!

The evening brought a Moroccan flavour to the day with dancing in a magnificent tent provided by www.dorsetpartymarquees.co.uk.  Friday had seen the lawns covered with cushions, low sofas, cushions, drapes and Moroccan lamps waiting to be installed in the marquee. 

Campers took up their spots in the big field, with some staying to picnic with the bride and groom the following day.

It was a very relaxed wedding and the sun shone throughout the day.

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The second wedding had a lovely traditional feel to it and was again a wonderfully relaxed day with a great family feel to it.

Wedding guests gathered on the top lawn for drinks and canapes while the Bride and

Bridegroom had their photographs taken in the gardens and grounds by simonfurlongphotography.co.uk

Photograph by Simon Furlong

Photograph by Simon Furlong

Photograph by Simon Furlong

After the first of the speeches they moved to the marquee -www.affordable-marquees.com -

Photograph by Simon Furlong

wedding photo

wedding tent

wedding photo

bride and groom in garden

wedding photo

bride and groom in garden through wooden door

wedding photo

bride and groom in garden

The inside looked stunning with lowers arranged on the poles and tables by a family friend - www.topiary-tree.co.uk.

The bride's mother had baked and designed the three tier wedding cake which then assembled by www.cakes-by-christine.co.uk.

A delicious dinner followed the speeches, provided by www.rebeccagreencatering.co.uk, who also cooked the barbeque provided on the following day for close family.  Everyone danced the night away to live music with taxis coming at about 12.30.

Photograph by Simon Furlong

Debbie & Stuart 21st of June 2014

We are a little late in writing about the wonderful wedding reception of Debbie & Stuart here at Shillingstone House, but here goes! It was a perfect day from the wedding breakfast to the campfire songs at 2.30am.  The weather was fantastic and helped everyone enjoy the space on the lawns to play games and celebrate the day. 

Everyone mucked in to help with the preparations on the day before and those camping were up at 7am to help tidy up on Sunday before having a BBQ breakfast.  The bride and groom had worked so hard to make all the decorations, props and signs giving the day a great atmosphere.  

The cake stands were hand crafted by Sir Michael Salt and can be borrowed if needed for weddings!

Photographer – Kasia Novak www.peppermintlovephotography.com

Marquee supplied by Affordable Marquees (Traditional canvas pole marquees. Specialising in weddings) www.affordable-marquees.com