So the day had arrived for not only football fans all over the country as England prepared to face Italy in the World Cup, but also for the friends and family of football fans Kate and Alfie who were staging their special day at one of our favourite venues in Kent.
We have reviewed Westenhanger Castle before for Becky and Chris’s wedding last year but its worth emphasising once again how everything works just perfectly at the venue, the attention to detail and smooth running of day. Since our last visit, the venues weddings are now being co-ordinated by Sarah Poole.
As we did last year, today we were once again supplying our SoundProof Package which takes care of all the Wedding Photography & DJ, Sound & Lighting. Click here to read the full breakdown of this package
We arrived around 11am to capture it all, starting in the house in the grounds of Westenhanger Castle that is used for the bridal prep photography, so whilst Julia was doing that I went off to the marquee to meet Sarah and get the disco and uplighting set up for the evening.
The architecture at this venue is great for photos, there are lots of quirky places to get couples photos amongst the ruins and whats great when you arrive is being able to use the house for the bridal preps. Its so different from a hotel room as it feels relaxed and private so you can really get to bond with the bridal party prior to the ceremony …its a really nice touch. The venue also provide background music which can be heard throughout the venue all morning/early afternoon so its nice and ambient and feels very personal as the bridal party are able to come and go from the marquee and house to set up the final touches.
We know the venue well from providing this package here previously, on that occasion the ceremony was inside whereas today we were outside with the use of the lovely gazebo. The video below shows the venue following the ceremony and shows the disco set up.
https://vimeo.com/98389176
Personally as a DJ I love the dancing area at this venue. The dance floor is a half moon shape and has black curtains along with a black starlit ceiling which keep it nice and dark despite the long summer evenings. Also there is no sound limiter and use of haze is permitted enabling the full effects of the lighting can be enjoyed.
Its a venue that really gets the very best out of our equipment and once set up an environment that partygoers would really want to be in. I’ve set up both our arch and 4 plinths here, both look amazing but I think my favourite set up is the plinths as they fill the whole area, although you could pay a bit more and have the arch and 4 plinths which would be an incredible looking set up.
On our last visit we provided background music and speeches for the meal, however since then the venue have installed a surround sound system for background music which is excellent and provide a microphone if required.
SELECTION OF PROOFS
Love the top table here too as its a curved shape with ‘King & Queen’ style seats for the bride and groom which make it look very grand. There are a couple of up lighters installed behind the top table at the venue, however we installed an additional 10 to cover the entrance side of the marquee and the dance floor area which really tie it all in together, up lighters can be set to any colour theme.
The floor and the area have a real old skool feel and its a huge dancing area compared to most places, having been here several times have enabled me to understand the best way to get the sound set up and that is by placing subs (bass) speakers at the front of the floor whilst leaving he tops (vocals) towards the back. With marquees a lot of the bass is lost because theres no solid walls, its means a little more cabling but its worth placing them nearer the crowd as this keeps the clarity very nice indeed. I know a lot of performers who either don’t know how to set up sound properly or don’t take the time to do it but its something I’m very hot on as I want to be playing my music at its very best as well as wanting people to hear it at its very best.
Its worth emphasising as well that another great part of this package is that Julia also stays on and works until the last song so bride and grooms benefit from all the evening photos as well, believe me these will be some of your most animated of the day and are an excellent addition to the collection.
We provide all of this as a disc package, however we do have upgrades to fine art albums and pre wedding shoots which we can go over during the initial consultation.
The night ended up at 1130 on a massive high with everyone going off to (enjoy) the football at the couples nearby hotel, which just left us to pack up listening to Englands game against Italy on the radio, for the record the game ended in a 2-1 defeat. There would be an opportunity for England to put things right on Thursday against Uruguay but at the time of writing this blog this proved to be a costly point lost.
Congratulations to Kate & Alfie and all the best for the future, if you are having your wedding at Westenhanger Castle please feel fee to drop us a message and we will be happy to discuss all aspects of your photography and music with you.