Wedding #1 - The Venue

Welcome to the first in a series of 7 wedding posts running all the way up to Xmas week. Each wedding post will be released on a Wednesday, which I have now adopted as 'Wedding Wednesday'. Each post shares our journey up to our big day itself - thought processes and mood boards, all from my wedding file. To kick things off for week 1, I am covering 'The Venue', and here is the week structure for the other 6 weeks to come:

Week 2 - 'Attire' (dresses, suits, accessories, palette, purchase details)
Week 3 - 'Beauty' (hair & make-up, artist's details)
Week 4 - 'Flowers & Decor' (bouquets, arrangements, room dress ideas and visuals, florist's details)
Week 5 - 'Cake & Favours' (cake design ideas, favour ideas and visuals, baker's details)
Week 6 - 'Our Big Day' (an array of pictures from our day, photographer's details)
Week 7 - 'Our Honeymoon' (an array of pictures from our honeymoon, destination details)

Our venue hunt was pretty straight forward, as we already knew exactly where we wanted to get married. In our first year together, Jay whisked me away to a charming little village in the Cotswolds called Bibury for the day. He had done his research and found that William Morris had declared it the most beautiful village in Britain...and boy was he right. We spent a cool September day there, where the sky was clear, and the leaves were perfectly autumnal; it was a a day that I will never forget. As we strolled along the river, we fantasised about one day marrying there....

4 years later, and there was Jay down on one knee at the top of the Malvern Hills - our special place for walking, thinking and relaxing as the sun goes both up and down. It was perfect. And through bleary eyes, and sniffles, the image of Bibury sailed into both my head and his, and it was the very following weekend that we ventured off to Bibury for the second time.

The Swan Hotel, Bibury

As we rolled over the little bridge, greeted by The Swan Hotel in all it's glory at the other side, I could hardly contain the butterflies that were eagerly waiting to burst out of me. With old cotswold stone cloaked in ivy of the richest autumn shades, it couldn't of looked more picturesque and warm, on what was a bitterly cold day. Inside the log fires roared and we had a spectacular lunch in the cafe area after being shown around by the most welcoming and accommodating staff. Another perfect autumn day....

Top to bottom (left to right)
The Swan Hotel; the gardens of The Swan Hotel; Arlington Row; a walk around Bibury. 
(All pictures by Leaff)

Top to bottom

The Bridal Suite; The Lounge; The Bar. 

(Top 2 pictures grabbed off google - author, please feel free to identify yourself - last picture by Leaff)

From the very beginning when we were viewing The Swan, right through to the end, the staff were absolutely outstanding. 

All in all, we visited the venue around 5 times - most of the time asking to take measurements and photos for this and that - and each time the staff could not be more helpful and accommodating. Julia, our wedding Co-ordinator at The Swan, was on hand through the entire 12 months of planning, answering my obscene amounts of emails with such ease. And on the day? They did us very proud.

For pictures of The Swan on the day of our wedding, you will have to wait a while longer, until that post is revealed in week 6.

The Swan Hotel, Bibury, Gloucestershire, GL7 5NW.

Visit: www.the_swan_hotel.co.uk
Email: jhearnden@cotswold-inns-hotels.co.uk

Call: 01285 740 695

To read about and see our wedding invitations, follow this link to an earlier blog post.

Don't miss next week's post on Attire. Includes dress visuals, suits, accessories, palette ideas and purchase details!