Whilst we never thought we would see any sun this Summer, finally it has arrived! If you are planning a future English Summer wedding our guide will hopefully be useful for all those wonderful sunny days ahead of us!
Many couples are planning a future English Summer wedding and we know that the majority of our prospective couples have dreamy plans of an English summer wedding day, where their guests can bathe in the glorious summer sunshine, where a gentle breeze helps to cool everyone, glasses of Pimms and Fizz are on hand and plenty of luscious foliage and flowers are all out in full bloom.
But, as we all know, us Brits can never be too sure what the weather will have in store for us! It could well be a day as just described, (wouldn’t that be wonderful?), but it could also be a day that is simply far too hot and therefore certain considerations, much like you’d have to consider if it were a rainy wedding day, need to be carefully planned.
Here are some ideas and points to keep cool, calm and collected on a hot English summer wedding day:
If you are planning a wedding in the summer, make sure you book the correct suppliers for your hair and make up. You want a supplier who specialises in weddings, not just events. They will have a greater understanding about the requirements needed for your hair/make up to stay in place for 10-12 hours. Setting spray is a great tool to combat warm weather conditions and wearing your hair in an up do will certainly help to keep you cooler.
As guests take their seats for the ceremony, you could provide each of your guests with their own Chinese style handheld fan on their chair which they can use to keep them cool throughout the ceremony and reception. These could be their wedding favour and you can find some lovely, and inexpensive designs online.
The Stone Barn at Hendall Manor Barns dates back to the 17th century, and with thick stone walls, it offers a perfect sanctuary to escape from the heat. Staying inside the building at times during the day will protect you from the sun and the heat and our shutters can be drawn to keep the sun out if required.
Work with your photographer and venue to establish the best shady spots for your wedding photos to happen. At Hendall Manor Barns, we have some wonderfully large trees, barns and other architectural stone buildings that would all work beautifully for your photos and provide some relief from the sun!
If you’re planning an English Summer wedding, then why not discuss with your chosen caterer about having some large Kilner jar water stations, that could be filled with mint, lemons, strawberries or cucumber, which will not only look pretty but your guests can just keep topping up their glasses throughout the day!
Our beautiful outside area offers a stunning, tranquil setting for your wedding day. We have four large parasols on the terrace which will provide some respite from the sunshine. The word “umbrella” evolved from the Latin umbella (an umbel is a flat-topped rounded flower) or umbra, meaning shaded or shadow, which might suggest that an umbrella was actually originally used to shade from the sun, as opposed to protect you from the rain.
A bit of a luxury suggestion, but we all know someone that always ‘forgets’ to apply sun lotion? Your wedding guests will be doing a lot of their own preparation before attending your wedding day and could easily forget to apply some necessary sun lotion, so, why not provide a little basket or box which can be placed in the Ladies and Gents bathrooms. In them you could pop in some useful toiletry products, including a handy bottle of sun lotion!
For an after-dinner treat that doubles as a cool down, why not provide your guests with an ice-cream. Mini magnums, or cones/tubs served from an ice cream trike or vintage van. These options will always be sure to please your guests on a sunny day.
We hope these tips might come in handy when planning for your English Summer Wedding at Hendall Manor Barns.
If you have yet to come and see us, please do get in touch and we can organise a showround for you of our wonderful barn venue and stunning scenery.
Complete our enquiry form or call us and we can arrange to show you around our unique venue.