A weekend of unforgettable moments for Sophie and Mike at the beautiful Brinsop Court.
Sun-dappled courtyards surrounded by gorgeous gardens, woodland and even a moat! The perfect setting for the perfect day.
What was your most favourite moment of the entire day?
It was the same moment for both of us – when we got back from the church we had our drinks reception outside. It was forecast to rain on the day but the sun came out and we had the perfect weather to all have a drink outside together overlooking the beautiful gardens and moat outside Brinsop Court. We hadn’t seen a lot of our family and close friends for 18 months during the pandemic and we both had that sense that it had all somehow come together in the end and we were so pleased we were able to share that moment with all of them.
Why did you choose your venue?
Brinsop Court was one of the last venues we visited and we instantly had a great feeling about it. It had enough rooms for our close family and friends to stay, we could book for a couple of nights to create the relaxed atmosphere we wanted, the different spaces inside and outside were beautiful and above all, everyone who worked there has just been brilliant with us. We booked in Summer 2018 and had the wedding in Summer 2021 after a pandemic postponement, so it’s fair to say we’ve dealt with everyone at Brinsop Court at one time or another, and without fail they’ve always been incredibly friendly and accommodating. They made the whole experience so much easier and we can’t say enough good things about them. You could have the most beautiful venue in the world but if the people working there don’t make you feel welcome, the experience just won’t be what you want it to be.
Did you have a specific theme for your big day?
Not really, we were just trying to keep everything as relaxed and stress-free as possible. We stayed over the night before at Brinsop Court so preparations were a bit less frantic on the morning of the wedding, and we tried to build in some free time in the day so our guests weren’t completely exhausted by the end of it!
How did you hear about Velvet Soul?
We were looking for a live Motown band and saw Velvet Soul on the Music HQ website. We absolutely loved them and went to see the band at a wedding fayre near Monmouth which confirmed they were the band for us!
What did they bring to your day?
All the guests loved the band just as much as we did! Everyone commented how great Velvet Soul were and quite a few of our guests have asked for their details already for other events. They were extremely flexible in fitting into our timings and the quality of the performance was just superb.
What did you think of the service provided by Music HQ?
We had to postpone our wedding in 2020 because of the pandemic and Music HQ were extremely helpful in helping us find a replacement band when we had to reorganise our date, and then also let us know when Velvet Soul became available again for our rearranged date! They’ve been really accommodating throughout and using a service where they have multiple performers takes a lot of the risk out of booking a band when things might have to change at short notice.
Best piece of advice for other couples planning their wedding during a pandemic?
We would say just to remember that everyone is doing their best to give you the best possible day you can have. It’s a really challenging time for a lot of people in the wedding industry and being patient with your suppliers is the best thing you can do as they are trying to figure out things in the same way as you are.
The other thing we would say is be ready to be flexible – things will have to change at the last minute and you just have to roll with the punches. Try not to be too fixed about everything you want – worry about the big things and getting all of your guests there safely, and the little things will take care of themselves. Coming up with a Plan A, Plan B and Plan C really helped us (as well as being quite conservative with Plan A). We started with creating a much smaller guest list, and then when the rules changed a few days before our wedding, it was a positive being able to invite a few extra people that we had on standby rather than a negative in having to uninvite guests just before the wedding. It removed quite a lot of the stress for us and made planning a lot easier.
Looking back, is there anything you would change?
There honest isn’t anything we would change – we would probably just tell ourselves to worry a bit less in the weeks leading up to it about the little details – a lot of these will go completely unnoticed by your guests and it’s way better just to focus on enjoying the day as much as possible.
(Music HQ: A huge thank you to David Liebst for the superb images)
Suppliers
Flowers – Herefordshire Flower Studio
Videography – Elliot Fogel
Photography David Liebst
Wedding Dress – Justin Alexander
Make up – Lauren Wheeler
Hair – Tabith MacCurrah-Paine
Wedding Cars – Worcestershire Wedding Cars
Catering – Marvellous Medicines, Tewkesbury Treats and AtoZest
