Tell us about some exciting weddings you have hosted at RCPE.
We have had a few very interesting and unique weddings. From inter-faith to small but classy weddings – there has certainly been a few that spring to mind. I think one exciting one for me was a destination wedding of a couple of who are based in London. They had a double wedding, with a small intimate ceremony held in the New Library with 10 guests and then a large, elegant reception with their remaining friends and family of approx. 60-70. The whole event was sophisticated with a black and white theme, romantic candlelight dinner and the bride looking like Snow-white – which was a request from the bride. The whole two days where simple, elegant and romantic – it was a beautiful match to the venue but also so lovely to see something so sophisticated, yet minimal with great suppliers.
Describe a time when you provided a creative solution to a problem. What was the result?
I had a wedding recently that was a very big wedding, not huge on numbers of approx. 100 but had lots going on throughout the day. The couple had multiple vendors & activities going on such as, a magician, artists, harpist, wine tasting table, bread table, champagne tower, photobooth – the works. They even had 16 bridesmaids - with their heart set on having the ceremony in the New Library. This made us get creative on where they were going to stand – the numbers worked for the capacity of the New Library but the concept of having 16 bridesmaids standing at with the Bride & Groom proved difficult due to space around the alter/mantelpiece. So, we had the bridesmaids stand in the two top alcoves, 7 aside (2 flowers girls stayed seated). By pushing the rows of seats back slightly we were able to make enough space for the bridesmaids to walk down the aisle and then split into the alcoves. The gave the illusion of them standing at the front with the Bride & Groom but didn’t restrict the space by the mantelpiece.
What was your most successful event planning experience. What did you do that made it so successful?
I would say my most successful event planning experience would have to be the wedding I just mentioned above where the couple had a lot going on. For this wedding I worked extremely closely with both the Caterer & Décor specialist who was also their coordinator - We of course work with them closely on all weddings - but this one we had many meetings, emails and phone calls to keep ourselves on track, between ourselves and the couple. As there were multiple elements to this wedding, more than usual, we kept each other in the loop with new updates or generally just talking the day through on multiple occasions. I think the constant communication we have the other main suppliers for each wedding make the events successful – it is a joint effort of everyone working together to help bring the couple’s days to life.
How would you manage stress as the date of an event draws near?
It all about preparation – for me I plan my month out. At the beginning of each month if see what I have for the upcoming few weeks – looking into the current month and the next month – rating what is urgent to least urgent based on the time frame between then and the event in question. This helps me breakdown what I need to do for each event coming up and what I need to do for the ones in the near few weeks. As well as this, we follow a check list as a team – in particular weddings. We take note of what each have received/ done with us based on when their event is – this also helps us keep track & keep us up to do date but also helps with anyone covering us if we happen to be away while one of our events are on.
Having said the above – we talk to each other. We are a very communicative team, we are constantly talking things through with one another, asking questions or asking for advice. Sometimes it is easier and more beneficial to talk a problem through with someone with a fresh input – it really helps reduce any issues prior to an event and keeps others in the loop if they ever need to jump in on a project.
What can couples expect from the wedding team at RCPE?
We are here to help – as much as you want us to. From enquiry, we will discuss dates & options with you, invite you for a viewing, talk through your ideas and help as much as you like regarding planning. We have a variety of recommendations that couples are welcome to use but also advice if they wish to find their own suppliers and need some pointers on what to look out for. When it comes to getting close the wedding date, we work closely with your chosen suppliers and our events team to help build, run and host your wedding. Our experienced college officers work with us closely to help make sure set up & down runs smoothly but also act as security for the day.
Talk us through a wedding day held at the College.
For us a wedding day isn’t just the one day – each wedding will start at least a week or two before for us. Around a week before we have a logistic meeting with college officers to run through the wedding, transfer notes and covering any questions that might arise. We arrange delivery & collection timings for all vendors & even the couples, and plan where certain things are going to be stored/set up ahead of the wedding.
All weddings are different, and how the historic rooms get used is based on each couple and the number of guests. Having said that, most of our weddings have ceremonies held in the New Library, Reception in the Cullen Suite and Dinner & Dancing in the Great Hall with Bar in the New Library for evening.
On the wedding day, suppliers arrive to begin setting up. Caterers arrive, florist begins décor set up, cake gets delivered etc – this all takes place before midday while the Bride & Groom are getting ready. Once all suppliers have arrived and set up for the first portion of the day, guests begin to arrive – they will then head into the allocated room based of the couple’s timeline. The wedding couple arrive, Ceremony takes place, and everyone heads into the welcome reception which would be held in the Cullen suite – at this point the couple would be around the venue or in our gardens having photographs done. While guests are sipping champagne & eating canapes, our team - with the caterers will be changing the ceremony room into the evening bar reception. This would consist of their evening bar set up and any additional suppliers that they may have hired (ie photobooth). After approx. 1.5 hours guests will head into the Great Hall for Dinner.
Dinner & speeches would take place – while dinner takes place the other rooms would begin any further set up for evening. For example, a photobooth may arrive at the New Library or children’s créche service could be done in the Cullen Suite. These are just examples of how these rooms could be used for after dinner. Once dinner has finished, guests would move back into the New Library for cocktail hour (also known as turnaround). This is when we would turn your dinner set up into dancing, we would move some tables to each side for seating and then the centre area of the hall would be clear for dancing – DJ or band would arrive at this point and begin setting up & soundcheck. This could take anytime from 1 hour to 2.5 hours depending on numbers of guests and table set up & décor. Once ready, guests would be invited back into the Great Hall and they would have access to all 3 rooms for the rest of the evening.
