Autumn Wedding Fair

Back in October we ran a Festival Chic Wedding Fair that we organised alongside the fab Charlotte Gifford. We had so many excited brides that mainly dragged the grooms around come along with their family and friends. We had some fabulous existing suppliers and we got to meet some incredible new suppliers that have since gone on to work at Alcott at weddings.

Our Flower lady from up the road Carole of Tuckshop Flowers, rounds up just a few of her favourite suppliers from the wedding fair - hope this wedding blogpost inspires you while away the winter days with thoughts of fun times to come!

"Back in October, a festival came to Alcott in the shape of the Festival Chic Wedding Fair, brilliantly organised by Charlotte Gifford & Lucy Poole. Buzzing with brides, and groaning with grooms, it was all go when I dropped by to say hello to fellow suppliers, to drop off some Tuckshop Flowers, and to check that Alcott’s Lucy was still standing! During the current gloomy winter days, I thought that a quick look back at the fair would be a lovely way to fire up your wedding dreams, keep cockles warm and embers alight until the sun makes a welcome return.

On a sunny Sunday, pride of place overlooking the Alcott lake, was given to the fabulous Tipi Tents tipis whose glowing fire-pit provided cheer and colour on an afternoon which definitely had a nip of autumn in the air. Wandering within, were the modern minstrel charms of Dan Greenaway who, with his acoustic guitar and 300+ song playlist, can be booked for 2-hour music packages to add a real festival atmosphere (minus mud) to your wedding. For those wanting to dance the night away with a full DJ package, and a total absence of wedding cheese, the rather marvellous Karl and Kate of Deckheds (whose charms I have sung elsewhere), were also busy chatting to the 450 visitors who attended the Festival Chic Wedding Fair.

But the star of the show for me, was the heart stealing Dita. A VW wedding campervan and mobile photobooth, lovingly converted by owner, Drew, for his own nuptials to now-wife Steph earlier in March 2015. With the conversion finished only at 5.30 on the morning of his wedding day, Drew told me how he went up the aisle with makeup covering a gash on his forehead from an over vigorous clunk with Dita’s underside in the wee small hours of the morning. But it was worth it, and after their wedding photographer told them that all that work was far too fabulous to use only for their own celebrations, Drew and Steph decided to hire out the charms of their VW-sized baby to other wedding couples. With her immaculate interior contrasting with the worn vintage charm of her cream paintwork, she, to me, is the pinnacle of wedding vehicle wondrousness.

Next door to Dita, was the eye catching caravan, serving up crepes and locally made McNabs ice cream in all sorts of delicious flavours – thinking classic vanilla? Now add things like bubble-gum, Snickers and Mars Bars too! If weddings have a hiatus between ceremony and food, or a long afternoon from the wedding breakfast to the evening buffet, crepes could be the perfect way to fill guests’ hungry gap. With crepes priced on a per head basis for weddings, these crepes bring a West Midlands twist of Breton ooh-la-la to the festival theme.

I was very impressed by the high standard of photography on display from the pros, being a keen amateur snapper myself, and loved Daffodil Waves fly-on-the-wall approach weddings, and also the top quality videography and stylish documentary style shots adopted by David Boynton and also the quirky Julian Marment.

Also catching my eye was Gail’s Cake Pantry and her beautiful pastel wedding cake, decorated with amazingly detailed icing sugar buttons. The dedication and eye for detail in cake designs never ceases to amaze me!

Before dashing off, I found Lucy, the co-ordinator of Alcott Weddings, catching a quick sit down before going off on her rounds to meet, greet and chat to the enthusiastic couples arriving in droves to soak up the festival inspiration at her very unique, countryside venue.

Bring on summer and all your weddings!