May 21 2013
In the past month or so we have had a great variety of events, from clay shoots to birthday parties, weddings to team building.
The Clay Days in May were sold out early on - we ran two consecutive days, shooting c 10,000 clays on each day. Each day 2 teams of 8 people took their stands and fired at clays (varying sizes to mix it up) from both a cherry picker, a 60ft teleporter and a trailer. Challenging to say the least, but lots of laughs! The competitive nature of some shone through! After two different drives we stopped for a BBQ lunch in the gardens at the main house before driving to a different part of the estate for two more drives. Both days were in glorious sunshine so despite handing out sun cream there were some rosy faces at the end of the day.
In April Peak Discovery came in to run a fun filled afternoon of team games in the paddock area (adjacent to the Walled Gardens and across the courtyard from the barn). Whilst we had a wet weather option of games inside the barn we were lucky that the sun shone – so with snow still lying at the edges of the paddock and courtyard areas we had a couple of hours of games (varying from plank walking to Knights and Maidens) – and even those who initially weren’t so keen were soon giggling away as they tried to co-ordinate themselves and their teams to win prizes. It was a huge success. Catering (Indian style nibbles with drinks in the courtyard area as the sun shone down) followed by Thai Chicken curry was provided by Janes Kitchen. Music in the evening by the Diesel Drinkers. If you are looking for a fun way to get your team out of the office we would highly recommend. This event was for 90 but we can easily scale up or down.
We are also looking forward to a couple of charity evenings and corporate summer BBQs at Larchfield Estate in the next couple of months. If you are looking for somewhere competitively priced for your summer event then do please contact us – as well as not charging corkage we have very good pricing on staffed bars and BBQ style food…
On the 1st April we held our first wedding reception in the newly converted Stables – for 40 people. With snow still on the ground, the ceremony was held in the dancefloor room of the barn – and guests then moved across to the Stables for drinks and canapés in the hallway before sitting down to dinner. We laughed as we had to distract the groom when a big poster with the words of his favourite song were delivered – a surprise from his bride – but we succeeded and the whole day went really well. The braziers outside warmed those outside later in the evening and the couples dog (who was in the wedding photos) stayed the night in the kennels onsite.
We have helped 6 other lovely couples host their weddings with us too in the past month or so – each and every one having their own personal touches. Whilst the gardens seem to be about a month behind this year – the Cherry Blossom, Magnolias and many Rhododendrons are now fully out – all the couples had a fantastic day – a few of the comments below for you. Many of the couples stayed in Rose Cottage for the night of their wedding, and in addition to The Willows (which is currently 3 double bedrooms) we are really excited to be very very close to finishing the two additional rooms in The Willows Archways. We expect these to be available to rent from the very start of June. They can be hired separately to The Willows or can interconnect to each other and the main cottage depending on preference.
“We cannot thank you enough for all the help in the lead up and on our day. Everything exceeded our expectations. The venue itself is one thing which I loved the minute we first viewed it but the service provided was equally as amazing and made our day even more special. So many lovely people working in the same place!”
“Gr8 day loved every minute of it!”
“We had an amazing time, thank you - you guys couldn't have been better.”
“Thank you very much. We had the most perfect day on Friday, all of our guests commented on how it was one of the best weddings they had ever been to, and obviously the venue played a huge part! We loved being able to setup the barn how we wanted it and I wouldn't have changed a single thing. Currently still on cloud 9 and we head off on our honeymoon on Thursday- avoiding normality entirely until we return. Thank you for all of your help with everything, I would recommend Larchfield to any couple planning a wedding.”
“A heartfelt thanks to you all for making Saturday such a truly special day for Lynsey and James, the venue was amazing and certainly had the ‘Wow’ factor.”
If you are looking for somewhere to hold your wedding, birthday or corporate event then please don’t hesitate to contact us – we have a full time team of 5 onsite here to help whenever and wherever we can and are great believers in you having the flexibility to be able to personalise your day – be it a vintage style wedding, a wedding with rustic charm or a haute cuisine experience!
