And the invites are out...
So if you've just got yours, welcome, and use the RSVP links to tell us if you can make it and any special requests.
Thanks!
T&S
T&S
The story
All about One Kew Road
Finding a venue in London which can do a sit down dinner for 120 guests, serve them well, in nice surroundings which don't feel too "wedding-y" is a tall order.
Most big venues are specifically designed for weddings and they have that dreaded "bows on chairs" feel that S in particular was dead against.
So after declining several, we were amazed when the perfect venue was right under our noses and we'd never even noticed it.
One Kew Road is a big pub in Richmond, spread over two floors, which opened in April 2011 and is doing a roaring trade.
They offer good hearty food, crisp wines and incredible decor - with a lower floor bar area and a more sophisticated dining room and bar on the floor above.
Most importantly they can easily cater for 120 guests and we've hired the whole pub so that we can have the evening we want.
All about Petersham Nurseries
We're having our wedding lunch at Petersham Nurseries.... or as S likes to call it "a Garden Centre"...
Internationally prized garden centre, Petersham Nurseries is a tranquil oasis and seedbed of inspiration.
We aim to bring you a delightful selection of plants, useful and beautiful tools, gifts and antiques in a setting influenced by our imagination and travels.
Ideal for browsing, buying or enjoying homemade seasonal food in the Teahouse or restaurant, Petersham Nurseries Cafe.
In our heated, plant filled Victorian greenhouse, head chef Skye Gyngell works almost exclusively with seasonal produce, creating simple food inspired by what she sees growing and flowering around her. The short menu changes weekly, five starters, five main course dishes, simple desserts & one cheese. In season, she picks herbs, leaves & fruit from the walled kitchen garden of Petersham House and uses as much local produce as she can source.
Basically it was made for intimate lunches like we wanted with our family and friends after the ceremony and we hope it'll be a great place to take photos too.
And the countdown is on
Before Christmas, an April wedding seemed like such a long time away. Now we've rounded the final corner and are thrust into the finishing straight...
Stag and hen dos are being furiously planned, reception venues are changing (good - we found a corker!), hotels are being booked, outfits selected, the invite list finely whittled and this website being scrubbed for attention from the invited masses.
Are you coming to the wedding of the year?
A large cake
Into the wedding cake went:
2 kg of sultanas
1 kg of raisins
764g of cherries
420g of mixed peel, apricots, prunes and figs
553ml of French brandy
974g of butter
764g of sugar
1146g of flour
704g of macademia nuts and almonds...
oh and 19 fresh eggs provided entirely by our own flock of hens.
A local cake.
And S carefully determined the three tier recipes by volumetric ratios - very impressive.
You can be the judge on the day
A very local wedding
So we started our wedding planning... it's going to be a very local wedding. The registry office, lunch venue, reception venue, photographer, florist and cake provider all live within a 2 mile radius of our house...And this weekend we made three large tiers of the wedding cake ourselves, using 3kg of fruit...Happy days, starting to get excited