The Newest Wedding Venue in Gloucestershire

Written by Emma Hla

Twyning Park is a Grade II listed manor house overlooking the beautiful river Avon. The oldest part of the house dates back to the mid 17th Century and boasts a wealth of original features – oak panelling, sash windows, ornate stairways, beautiful fireplaces, ornate cornicing and an Adams fireplace in the drawing room… there are little treasures to be discovered in every room.

There are 5 acres of grounds to enjoy and explore including the two main lawns, rose garden, secret garden and river meadow with private access to the river Avon.

Twyning Park is primarily a family home to 3 generations of the Simmons family. After holding several large celebrations, including family and friends weddings, the owners realised how well suited Twyning Park is to hosting fabulous parties, elegant dinners and ultimately exceptional weddings and have decided to share their home on an exclusive hire basis with couples looking for somewhere to create their perfect day.

Last month, the venue opened it’s doors and welcomed couples to their very first Wedding Open Day. In partnership with West Country Marquees, bride & grooms-to-be enjoyed a glass of fizz (or two!) and soaked up the inspiration and advice from a range of award-winning suppliers. If you missed this event, then fear not because we’re lucky enough to be taking a peek inside thanks to Charlotte, custodian of the venue, and Captured by Katrina.

Notes from Twyning Park

Charlotte:

Individuality, creativity and a celebration that is unique to them – that’s what our couples can expect from their wedding at Twyning Park. We only hold a small number of celebrations here per year. This maintains our exclusivity and allows couples the flexibility to be really creative with their day. We don’t have packages, charge corkage or insist couples use our preferred suppliers. We believe that couples should be able to create a day that fits their style, personality and history and at Twyning Park we love nothing more than something a little bit different.

Weddings here are relaxed affairs where Twyning Park becomes home for our couples, their friends and families. With an average of a three day hire period, there is no need to spend any time on the big day rushing around. The styling and preparation can all be done the day before and with no early morning checkout time the celebrations can continue the day after the wedding, allowing suppliers plenty of time to pack up, and couples and their guests the opportunity to reflect on the day over a bacon sandwich or barbecue.

A small team of industry experts consisting of West Country Marquees, Krysta Smith from For the Love of Weddings and Katrina Bartlam from Captured by Katrina joined Twyning Park in creating a brief that would showcase the flexibility of the venue and the different styles that can be created here. The finished results needed to be of the highest quality, and allow couples to visualise their own day at Twyning Park.

We wanted the open day to reflect our personal, home-from-home ethos, allowing couples to relax and chat to suppliers in their own time. Many couples stayed for a couple of hours exploring the house and grounds and chatting to suppliers, it was really lovely to listen to couples ideas and explore different options with them. The atmosphere was very happy and relaxed.

We had some amazing suppliers at the Open Day!

Jenny Fleur – Jenny Fleur has a passion for creating wedding flowers which are lush, abundant and reflect the changing seasons, resulting in distinctive and eye-catching designs. Her signature style is very natural, romantic and relaxed; full of gorgeous flowers, scented herbs and verdant foliage. Jenny works closely with her couples to create something unique and special to them.

West Country Marquees – West Country Marquees have a wide range of marquee styles with several lining finishes available and also supply lighting, including the fabulous Edison lights seen at our open day, flooring and furniture to complete the marquees.

Curtis & Co – Owner and designer Jennie Brooks specialises in made to order hand painted cakes, delicate fine icing details and intricate sugar flower work. Her beautiful designs and exceptional customer service have won regional and national awards.

The Best of Taste Catering – Belinda Sparey from The Best of Taste Catering offers a full range of catering services. Bespoke menus, high quality, locally sourced ingredients, and the ability to cater for everything from a formal silver service dinner party to a spectacular marquee wedding.

Table to Dine For – A wedding stylist based in the Cotswolds Table to Dine For offers a range of beautiful bespoke linens and accessories to create beautifully styled receptions and unique table settings.

Vintage Gold China – A boutique vintage china and gold cutlery hire company based in Gloucestershire. They have a beautiful collection of elegant tableware consisting of quality vintage and vintage style English fine bone china, French porcelain, vintage bronze gold cutlery, Victorian style glass dessert plates and bronze and glass candlesticks all available for couples to hire.

Caroline Clark Bridal – Caroline stocks beautiful dresses from internationally renowned designers in her family run boutique in Worcestershire. With an eye for detail and a wealth of knowledge Caroline is perfectly placed to help brides find the dress of their dreams.

Oscars Bar – Oscars Bar provide a range of Bar Hire Packages for any event which can be tailored to suit couples requirements. Oscar’s philosophy is to deliver a hassle free service which exceeds your expectations. Their fabulous horse box bar “Harriet” was a very popular feature at the open day as were their vintage hire lawn games.

D’Arcy Wines – D’Arcy wine merchants have been established since 2006 and specialise in wine from family owned and run vineyards found all over the world. As well as supplying top restaurants they can help couples match wine to their menus and provide a complete bar service for the day.

Elizabeth Spry –  Elizabeth Spry trained at the London School of Make up and has received the best tuition in technical skills and bridal specific make up. Elizabeth aims to make brides look and feel at their most beautiful, in a strss free way, with make up that is camera ready and lasts the day.

The Big Badge Theory – Amy from the Big Badge Theory is an embroidery expert and specialises in personal commissions. Examples of her work include a wedding proposal on a picnic blanket and a dedication to a brides father who had passed away, embroidered into the lining of her dress so he could still walk with her down the aisle.

The Little Top – The Little Top offers bespoke wedding childcare, events and parties in beautiful tents and dens. Their amazing childcare and entertainment team will keep the little ones occupied through to the early hours, meaning couples and their guests can relax and enjoy the day knowing that everyone is safe and happy.

For the Love of Weddings – Krysta plans, designs and coordinates beautiful, captivating weddings throughout the UK, Europe and beyond. From small intimate dinners to grand week long celebrations, Krysta creates stylishly beautiful, elegant and experiences which are planned and executed meticulously.

Captured by Katrina – Katrinas photos are creative, light filled and inspired by nature. Every wedding day is an adventure and she captures this spirit beautifully. Katrina loves to get to know her couples on their wedding journey, which ensures that on the big day couples are completely at ease.

2017 & beyond…

With 5 acres of grounds and gardens to keep looking beautiful summer is always a busy time at Twyning Park. They will be redecorating the third floor bedrooms which will increase the number of bedrooms available to 7 for bookings in 2018.

They are also very excited to be applying for a licence which will allow them to hold ceremonies here in the future.

After such a successful first open day, plans will also be starting for their second open day in partnership with West Country Marquees in the Autumn. So stay tuned for more information!

Lots of love…

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