At the Tiny Weddings Fair, Unique Venues Birmingham will be offering to take couples on tours of the various venue options within the building, and there will also be several exhibitors representing some fantastic venue options for small weddings a little further afield.
Pauntley Court is a beautiful venue located in Gloucestershire on the Worcestershire and Herefordshire borders. They offer many options for couples planning a wedding with a small guest list. One of their popular offerings is to stay with them for the whole weekend – thus having a smaller guest list, but a big celebration, allowing quality time with the people you really want to be with for your celebrations. Come along to the Tiny Weddings Fair in Birmingham on 10th March to learn more about them.
Please give a brief overview of your venue and what you do there.
Pauntley Court is a historic, family owned private house, which is now available as a wedding venue. Mark and I have lived at Pauntley Court for ten years with our three children and we were also married here at the 800 year old Norman church next door. We provide our brides and grooms with a blank canvas to create their perfect wedding, be it a blessing in one of the secret places in the formal gardens and grounds or a humanist ceremony in the glorious ballroom. The birth place of Dick Whittington, this exclusive and secluded estate, allows weekend weddings over three days and can accommodate up to twenty-four of your family and close friends in beautifully appointed rooms. Intimate wedding parties of up to forty guests can be catered for in the main house, and as we have only just launched this year, we are offering free corkage for all bookings made for 2019/2020. Pauntley is a very unique and idyllic rural estate with far reaching views across the Gloucestershire countryside. It is an enchanting and magical place where a bespoke and timeless wedding weekend can be enjoyed by you and your close family and friends.
What do you love about small weddings?
We love the intimacy and the romanticism associated with small weddings or elopements, and we know how wonderful and beautiful the Estate at Pauntley Court is, allowing any bride and groom to create a unique and special moment in their lives, with stunning backdrops for the wedding photographs. Pauntley Court is a historic country house full of character and charm, which for a small wedding gives our guests an indelible set of magical memories.
How do you think the couples are different when working with a large wedding versus a tiny wedding?
Large weddings are all about managing large-scale logistics and couples tend to be extremely focused on how to ensure the large numbers of guests are managed throughout the day. Whereas small wedding couples, tend not to have to be as conscious or stressed about the logistical side of things and are more focused on quality and uniqueness of the occasion. As we offer a three day wedding weekend, couples have time to enjoy being with their family and friends.
What are the main differences in the way you do business when dealing with a couple planning a smaller wedding?
We tend to start with a blank sheet of paper as we know that our couples will have a greater degree of flexibility on how they want the day to be planned out. As such we have no preconceptions on what each small wedding might entail and we are completely open to any ideas, which a larger wedding may not allow due to the numbers involved and associated costs. We take the view that no two small weddings are the same and so offering complete flexibility with our formula, has meant that couples are relaxed and are able to reach their dream wedding more easily. There are so many special and secluded areas in the gardens and there is a lake and small woodland offering endless photographic possibilities. We also have a list of preferred suppliers that we know and trust and who we can personally introduce to our brides.
Do you feel there has been an increase in tiny weddings in the past few years or have you always worked with a lot of small wedding parties?
We have only just launched so it is difficult for us to gauge, but since we launched at the end of last year, we are getting more and more small wedding enquiries coming through from discerning couples looking for a destination wedding location.
If you could work on a tiny wedding anywhere in the world, with any theme, what would it be?
We’d love to be involved with an Alice in Wonderland themed wedding here at Pauntley Court.
Give an example of a tiny wedding you have worked on and what you did for the couple?
The couple wanted a humanist ceremony and wanted it all self-contained in the main house, with access out into the formal gardens for post ceremony drinks. The Ballroom at Pauntley Court was the perfect space to make the ceremony both intimate and special. They also wanted the celebration to be over three days, so being able to offer luxurious rooms for twenty-four of their family and close friends to all stay on site at the property, meant that it was all self-contained, very private and exclusive. They had some younger members in the party who loved wandering down to our beautiful lake, hunting out any wildlife and quietly watching the swans. They also had time to enjoy some tennis and play croquet on the Friday afternoon while the bride was busy preparing with her bridesmaids. The feedback from the bride and groom and guests alike made us very happy, and a small wedding of this nature exacerbates this feeling.
What makes you unique in the service you can offer a couple planning a smaller wedding?
Because this is our family home, Pauntley Court has none of the corporate or commercial trappings of other venues. We are all about ‘unique’ at Pauntley Court or as we describe the estate, it is ‘a one off’. As such the service we provide small wedding parties, is access to a truly magical location at a property dating back to 1300s, oozing character and romance.
Follow the Tiny Weddings Fair on Instagram or Pauntley Court on Instagram to see lovely images of the venue and weddings they host, or check out their website for lots more information. Follow our Facebook page for helpful and inspiring articles and information, and the Pauntley Court Facebook page to keep up with the events that place at this beautiful venue, and show your interest in our Facebook event to see updates. Event better, sign up to our mailing list to make sure that you get all our news. If you’re planning on coming to the Tiny Weddings Fair in Birmingham on 10th March, then get your tickets now for 50% off the price you’d pay on the door.
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