Just Engaged? 5 Things We’d Love You to Know
So, you’ve said yes, congratulations! Now for the fun bit…
Photographed by Amy Sampson Photography.
If you’ve already started picking bridesmaid dresses, have a suspiciously strong opinion about your wedding venue, or have found yourself casually discussing napkin colours despite only being engaged for five minutes, you’re in good company.
After helping so many couples bring their wedding to life at Pentillie, we’ve learnt a thing or two along the way. From deciding how you want your wedding to feel and choosing the people you really want around you, to making a whole weekend of it and getting out there to explore, these are five things we’d tell a friend who had just got engaged.
Planning a wedding isn’t just about working your way through a very long list of decisions. It’s about creating a day, and perhaps a whole weekend, that feels like you. So whether you’ve only just started looking or your Pinterest board is already getting slightly out of hand, we hope these tips give you some inspiration.
Begin With the Feeling
Before you get too caught up in colours, flowers, menus and whether you’re having long tables or round ones, think about something much simpler: how do you actually want your wedding to feel?
Do you picture something relaxed and informal, with drinks on a terrace and your guests enjoying vintage garden on a lawn? Or an elegant and romantic candlelit dinner followed by dancing late into the evening? Perhaps what matters most is having a brilliant party, with great music, a packed dance floor and everyone staying until the very end.
Think back to the weddings you’ve loved. What made them special? The atmosphere, the food, the music, the setting or the feeling of being surrounded by loved ones?
You don’t need every detail figured out yet. Start with three words that describe how you want your wedding to feel and let that become your compass when all the decisions start coming your way.
Emily and Reekesh had always imagined an elegant, South of France feeling for their wedding, with the River Tamar behind them and their favourite people gathered around them. When they visited Pentillie, they could see how they could bring that vision to life while still making the day completely their own. Take a look at Emily & Reekesh’s wedding.
2. Your People, Your Celebration
Who absolutely has to be there? Who couldn’t you imagine celebrating without? And who do you want around the dinner table, on the dance floor and sitting beside you as you reminisce the morning after?
You don’t need a final guest list, just a rough idea is more than enough at this stage. But knowing whether you’re imagining 40 of your very closest people or a big gathering of everyone you know will help you when you start looking at venues.
3. Why Stop at One Day?
If you’ve gone to the trouble of bringing all your favourite people together, it’s also worth thinking about how you want to spend time with everyone. There’s something rather lovely about giving yourselves more time to actually enjoy being together.
A Friday night drink. A relaxed supper before the big day. A countryside walk. A swim. A barbecue in the garden. A late-night glass of wine when the wedding is over but nobody quite wants to go to bed. Then breakfast together the next morning, talking about the best bits of the night before. You don’t have to plan every minute, either. Some of the best moments happen when you leave a little space for people to simply enjoy themselves.
For Abigail and Charlie, “adding on the extra night at Pentillie turned out to be one of the best investments we made, it was so special being able to get everyone back together the day after the wedding to celebrate and reminisce.”
And with 11 bedrooms at Pentillie, there’s plenty of room to keep the celebrations going a little longer, with your loved ones just down the corridor.
4. It’s Not Just Instagram Worthy Pictures
When you’re looking at wedding venues, it’s very easy to fall in love with the beautiful spaces. You see the photographs, imagine walking down the aisle, start picturing your favourite people gathered around you, and before you know it, you’ve decided this must be the one.
But before you fall completely head over heels, find out what it’s actually like to get married there. What does the venue take care of? What do you need to organise yourselves? Is there accommodation? What happens with catering and drinks? Who is there on the day to make sure things run smoothly? And if you’re planning to stay for the weekend, what can your guests actually do while they’re there?
You’re not just choosing somewhere that looks beautiful. You’re choosing the experience you’ll have while you’re there. The only thing a venue wants you to do is to concentrate on is enjoying your wedding with the people you’ve invited to celebrate with.
So, when you’re visiting venues, ask the questions that matter to both of you. Find out what’s included, what you’ll need to arrange yourselves and, most importantly, whether you’re getting enough bang for your buck.
5. This is Our Favourite Tip
Get out there and see what you love!
It’s very easy to start planning a wedding from your sofa, spending hours on Pinterest, saving 47 dresses, comparing 17 venues and deciding you definitely need peonies in a colour you didn’t know existed. But nothing beats getting out there.
Go to wedding fairs, visit venues and meet their team, taste the food and don’t forget the cakes too! And when it comes to the dress, try everything ~ even the one you’ve already decided you won’t like.
The same goes for venues. Don’t just look at the photographs and tick the boxes. Walk through the rooms and imagine yourselves there on your big day. Picture your ceremony, your first meal as newlyweds, the speeches and dancing. Sometimes, you can look at a hundred venues online and still not know what you want. Then you walk through a venue, and everything might suddenly make sense.
You’re allowed to change your mind. You’re allowed to fall in love with something unexpected and say “actually… this is much more us.”
If Your Still Searching for Your Wedding Venue…
Why not book a viewing and come wander around the Castle and grounds, meet the team and get a feel for what a wedding at Pentillie could really be like.
There’s no big decisions to make on the spot and no expectation that you’ll have everything worked out. Come with your questions, see what catches your eye, imagine your own day unfolding here, and discover things you love, as well as a few thing you realise you don’t like.
We’d love to welcome you to Pentillie and let you see for yourselves.
