September 2001"...long single banqueting table completely laid up with candelabras, crystal and flowers. Well, that was it.
A decision was made."
by Gill Cheshire
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Both of us being romantics we ideally wanted a dream wedding and we desperately wanted a castle venue. So a hunt ensued as to a suitable location. Time was spent searching the Internet and trawling though numerous wedding magazines, tearing out articles to narrow down the choice. We were really adamant we didn't want a hotel location and so we narrowed our choice to about 5 venues.
None of the venues were close to home; all the ones nearby were extortionately priced for their facilities. By pure luck I contacted a venue we had considered and they invited us to attend a wedding open day. After an hour and a half's drive we were at the venue, an idyllic castle set in the Kent countryside, set in wonderful parkland and surrounded by a moat.
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Leeds Castle was stunning (certainly helped by the good weather). They had set up various rooms for a wedding, which is an enormous help when starting from scratch. We first looked at the Gatehouse, which was separate from the castle and had two rooms one for the ceremony and next door the wedding breakfast, with the walls adorned with shields and armour. We immediately felt that this was what we were after; however, we wandered on to the Castle itself where the library (complete with leather books) and dining room had been set up as the ceremony room. We then followed a tour around the castle, eventually coming across the Henry VIII Banqueting Hall. A long panelled room, with tapestries adorning the walls, mullion windows overlooking the moat and a long single banqueting table completely laid up with candelabras, crystal and flowers. Well, that was it. A decision was made. Andy steadfastly refused to look anywhere else and wanted to book the venue there and then. I had to agree the ambience of the venue was fantastic and it brilliantly captured the romantic feel we were both after.
We then wandered through to the drawing rooms full of antique furniture, roped off for day visitors, but which would be removed for our guests to retire to after dinner, for drinks and coffees - our dream wedding was starting to become reality.
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We also had to consider the distance most of our guests would have to drive (including those flying in) and therefore we also had to think about accommodation. We were shown the bedrooms our guests could stay in - four poster beds and marble bathrooms overlooking the moat just set the whole mood off perfectly. Where would you get the opportunity to stay in one of Britain's heritage castles?
The open day was worth going to. It gave us insight into how each room would look on the big day, how the table would look, how the ceremony room would be and gave us the opportunity to meet with local photographers, musicians, printers, florists, etc. This was extremely important to us as we were not from the local area; therefore, we had to choose the services of people we were not familiar with and so we were able to talk our thoughts through with them. It certainly gave us a good idea what we wanted and what we didn't, so I would recommend to anyone to attend an open day if at all possible.
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We wanted to exclude children from our wedding. The venue really is not suitable for children (just thinking of the priceless antiques was enough to put me off). Also, since neither Andy nor I have any kids ourselves we didn't want our day disrupted by unruly children. Therefore, we chose to have our wedding at 5 PM, the latest in the day that we could legally hold it; thereby, ensuring children were well on their way to being tucked up in bed. We liked the idea of holding a banquet rather than a traditional wedding breakfast, with everyone on the same table as opposed to being on individual tables. Being much older, you do form ideas of how you want your day to be and what you like and dislike. Now, that we have the date set, the big slog into choosing a photographer, musicians, dresses, etc. truly begins.
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