After yesterdays late finish in Berkshire we were back out early for another all day package in Barnet at The Shire London. We had made our first visit to this venue just a couple of weeks before for the Civil Partnership of Alex & Roz, so it was a quick return this time for the Indian / English wedding of Katie & Chirag.
It was the start of a full on weekend for the newlyweds who had met as teenagers at a bus stop in 1999. Today was the English ceremony with the Indian ceremony taking place the day after at a different venue to be attended by 450 guests.
The function room is a lovely light, fresh and airy space with a built in contemporary bar and some classy mosaic mirrors on one side of the room. There is no dedicated dance floor but the venue have designed the floor with a natural dancing space in the centre of the room thanks to the clever use of tiling, alternatively you have the option to hire on of our starlit dance floors for your wedding at The Shire London. Just above the dance floor the ceiling is cut in by about a foot and the venue have installed some nice classy subtle mood lighting.
https://vimeo.com/97846007
The room is dominated by the rolling views of the golf course and the lake a short walk away represents some great photo opportunities as the sun sets in the west. There is also a nice outside area directly accessible from the function room which is great for hot afternoons and long warm evenings.
Katie & Chirag had booked an early set up, which is essential at this venue really as the set up area is tucked away in the corner, to set up after the meal would be quite disruptive trying to get access through with a venue full of guests.
We attempted to set up the arch here on our last visit but two plinths work much better as theres no symmetry for the disco set up. With it staying quite bright till later on uplighting is a better option as towards the back of the room its not quite as bright whereas the disco sets up in the lightest part of the room adjacent to the windows so on a summer night the disco lighting only really shows up from about 930 onwards.
Also included in the package was background music for when the guests made their way into the room from the ceremony around 330pm and microphone hire for the speeches. In addition to this I also did a small MC turn announcing the bride and groom into the room as they opened their wedding breakfast.
https://vimeo.com/97630675
Background music for the wedding was R&B Smooth Grooves, with the evening disco being a mixture of R&B and some party classics for the brides family, however the floor was chocka all night long and the music enjoyed by everyone. Liverpool fan Chirag gave me his seal of approval at the end of the night when he declared ‘you smashed it’.
A final word about Chirag, before the speeches he came over and asked me to do something I’ve not done before. He actually asked me to play the Liverpool anthem ‘You’ll Never Walk Alone’ as a joke first dance.
I asked him if he thought this was a wise move as its not the best idea to mess around with the brides wedding plans, but he convinced me she would take it in good spirits.
To be honest by the end of the speeches including a cracking performance by the funniest best man of 2014 it was clear that the groom was a very popular guy with a great sense of humour so I went for it and lived to tell the tale as Katie humoured the moment much to the crowds amusement.
It all wrapped up around 11pm with all the guests ready for a long day on the Sunday which I’m sure was just as successful. If Katie or Chirag is reading this then it would be great to see some photos from the Sunday, in the meantime we wish you all the best for your honeymoon and the future.
https://vimeo.com/97633597
With the World Cup starting this Thursday we have weddings next Friday, Saturday and Sunday …with particular focus on 10:30pm next Saturday night, I wonder why ? Looks like Sky Go may come in useful 🙂
