Open Air Business January 2018

a clear day. If the weather permits
we have drinks and nibbles up here
too.
This year we have planted a 10
acre wild flower meadow next to
the gardens and marquee - very
exciting!
We have a pretty dining marquee
that is attached to the manor
house. It’s fully carpeted and
heated, with a fairy-light lining
and mood lighting in the evenings.
There is also lighting throughout
the gardens and grounds, festoon
lights, and coloured uplighters
through the mature trees and
shrubs. Firepits are included - and
the option for a big bonfire, which
always goes down well!
What services do you offer?
Whatever is needed we can provide
it. There are two outdoor ceremony
options - the Garden Room for
a civil ceremony, or the stone
circle for a humanist ceremony or
blessing. The team can also assist
with any planning required.
We have three wonderful
chefs working at Huntstile and
can provide everything from the
very simplest of cream teas to
a mouthwatering seven course
banquet. We also have the facility
for an outdoor rustic bar in the
garden, cask ale on hay bales, kegs
of cider, a Pimms bike - even gin
and tonic kilner jars dispensing
delicately flavoured botanicals into
pretty glasses with paper straws.
Several years ago we planted
a cutting garden and from the
beginning of June we can supply
buckets of stems for use in the
marquee and house. We can
arrange pre-wedding dinners,
activities such as clay-pigeon
shooting, therapies, pizza nights,
picnics, treasure hunts - whatever
the client needs.
Describe how you researched and
sourced your structures
The dining marquee is ours, we
had it made to measure especially
for Huntstile. It’s an all weather
structure which is fabulously
resistant to everything Mother
Nature throws at us. The marquee is
a tasteful blank canvas for whatever
is required and we can easily
change its nature with lighting,
flowers, furniture, plants and
materials - or it can remain in its
natural elegance.
How do you work with your
customers to make their event
unique?
Every event is unique. We have lots
of suggestions, however we want
to create the day that a couple has
been dreaming of - not coerce them
into doing what we want them to
do! It's very important to listen to
clients, to listen to their ideas and
the dreams they have for their big
day - then we arrive at the true
nature of what they really want and
can translate these dreams into
workable models and build from
there.