Noah & Jon's Garden Wedding Party

Living in London, Noah and Jon legally married at Southwark Registry Office a couple of weeks before their wedding celebration. 

The day before Jon and Noah’s big day I drove to Jon’s parent's home in Winchester which is where their party was taking place. This pre-visit gave me chance to have a good look around and to see where everything would be, so I was fully prepped ready for their big day.

All around the garden, pool, party room and stretch tent they had put up the most amazing handmade bunting made from tied strips of material and ribbons.

 Under a gazebo on the main lawn was a DIY bar, which was next to a beautiful pond and a spot of croquet, if anyone fancied it!

Meeting suppliers and showing them where to set up is always one of the jobs on my list. The first supplier to arrive was the photographer, Jamie Flood Photography who took all of these fantastic images and captured Jon and Noah’s wedding party just perfectly.  

Next was the caterer, Pete and his team from Queen and Whippet who made the most delicious canapés and three course meal of meat and fish platters with salads and the yummiest of puddings.

Just before the party officially began some of the glampers arrived to find their bell tents and set up camp. We were there to greet the glampers and show them to their tents. Always on hand for any questions, we were able to help with solving the mystery of the missing deckchair, which was eventually found...

When it was time for the guests to arrive Abbey and I waited at the end of the drive to relieve them of any bottles of drink they may be carrying and direct them round to the bar to meet Noah and Jon. 

Once everyone had arrived, Abbey and I helped The Queen and Whippet team by topping up anyone’s glass that was empty and by serving some of the canapés.

Whilst everyone was eating, we tidied away the welcome drinks and prepped the bar ready for the evening, refilling the wheelbarrow with more beers and ice too.

Even though the guests had only just finished their meal, Abbey and I laid out the evening buffet food down by the house, which Jon’s mum had left on the table for us to arrange. We covered it all in foil so when they were ready for it, they could just uncover it. From mountains of cheese, to french stick, olives, vegetable crudités, chutneys and dips, there was so much food we ended up using the kitchen breakfast table inside, as well as the tables outside.

Slowly the guests left the tent and worked their way over to the house looking for a hot drink, which we had prepped ready.  The hot water urn had been turned on when we arrived. The tea, milk, sugar, recyclable paper cups and wooden stirrers were laid out, whilst the ground coffee had been put into the cafetières ready to brew. You might think your guests won’t want a hot drink but I can assure you, you will be surprised. It seems to be a natural request after the meal and if your caterers aren’t doing it for you, I would highly recommend you have a ‘Help Yourself’ tea and coffee table like Noah and Jon.

Now most of the guests had left the stretch tent Abbey and I helped clear the tables of any dirty glasses, plates and cutlery that were left, and moved any half full bottles of wine over to the bar.

It was soon time for Abbey and I to leave, so we checked the remaining team members from the Queen & Whippet were ok, as they were serving on the bar until midnight. From that point they would stock it up and turn it into a DIY bar for the guests to help themselves through to the early hours of the morning.

In the morning I arrived at Noah and Jon's with Abbey, Michaela and Jenson at 8am. 

The house, grounds and bell tents were silent when we first arrived. We crept around to see what we were faced with before we made a start. Michaela and Jenson began by collecting all the scattered glasses, empty bottles and food plates lying around, whilst Abbey and I stripped down the bar and restocked it for the guests to continue. We also replaced all the tea lights in the paper bag lanterns with new ones, so they could relight them again later.

Guests slowly started to appear looking a little bleary eyed, but they all seemed pleased to see us again which was really nice.

The catering tent was being dismantled and also some of the tables and chairs were being collected. Between us we carried 70 chairs to the drive to make it easier for collection and cleared out the catering tent so it could come down more easily.

Noah and Jon had booked The Bean Bike to serve all their guests tea, coffee, bacon, sausage, halloumi and avocado rolls...

I met with the guys from The Bean Bike and showed them the options of set-up depending on whether their van could get down the gravel track or not, and where the electricity points were. Seeing the Bean Bike ready to serve, this soon lured the rest of the guests from their beds!

Once the garden was clear, the four of us moved onto clearing and tidying the food tables and the kitchen. Being the little clear up fairies that we were, we cleared away any food, washed and dried up, swept the floor and emptied the bins, so Jon’s mum wasn’t faced with a messy kitchen first thing in the morning.

With a pile of rubbish bags and boxes of empty bottles stacked against a wall, our job here was done.  It was actually quite rewarding seeing the transformation from the aftermath to a fresh set up. I wish I had thought to take a before and after photo, but with my clean-up head on I went into auto drive and annoyingly didn’t think about it until my drive back home.

We all thoroughly enjoyed our time with Noah, Jon and their family and friends. The feedback we received on the day was lovely and it was even more lovely to receive this amazing review from Noah and Jon after their big weekend...

Whether you have an intimate wedding planned or a huge weekend booked full of wedding fun, don’t hesitate to get in touch and we can chat through exactly what help you need.