8 minute read
NEARLYWED NEWS
The Good Spa Guide recently announced its 2022 award winners, celebrating the best in spa excellence across the UK, and we’re delighted to report that local lovely Aztec Hotel and Spa Bristol bagged the accolade for Best Boutique Spa!
Whether it’s a special break with your bride tribe or a much-needed wedding de-stress with your intended, Aztec Hotel and Spa is a great spot in Bristol for some R&R, particularly with the new addition of the Relax Lounge.
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A sophisticated, dedicated space for relaxation post-treatment, the Relax Lounge complete with pretty garden views is spacious and boasts a modern colour palette of muted grey and white tones, with luxurious wood flooring flowing into a carpeted seating area of sofas, club chairs and tables. All four treatment rooms have been recently refurbished too.
Here, you can enjoy expert treatments by Caudalie, a well-respected French skincare brand, known for its patented anti-aging technology. The award-winning spa is also introducing body treatments from British brand TempleSpa. While there you can enjoy a warming sauna, a spot of relaxation in the hot tub, jacuzzi, or steam room and a dip in the spacious indoor swimming pool. There’s even a well-equipped gym.
Check out www.aztechotelbristol.co.uk
ENDLESS LOVE
Wedding flowers often provide one of the most memorable talking points of a big day’s styling, however they are also sadly fleeting. Not so, if you opt to have them preserved though. Enter the Flower Preservation Workshop. The team here can capture and preserve your bridal bouquet or wedding flowers forever in handmade, bespoke floral paperweights or beaded bracelets. They’re known for their custom designs and flower preservation expertise, so your beautiful blooms will be in safe hands; and your beautiful bouquet will be transformed into a gorgeous, everlasting resin keepsake.
Never resting on her laurels, owner Rachel is always looking to expand the company’s offering and has now launched a new range of 6/8” luxury paperweights. Due to their impressive size they can feature a stunning assortment of flowers and foliage in complex designs and are bound to take the breath away. You can’t rush art and these new supersize beauties take 14-16 weeks of love and care to get just right, but rest assured, it’ll be worth the wait!
Check out www.flowerpreservationworkshop.co.uk
NEWS Nearlywed Catch up on the latest from around the region
TO HAVE AND TO HOLD
Bath Racecourse’s multi-million-pound redevelopment in 2016 put it on the map as one of the region’s most stunning wedding venues. Set in the spectacular hills just outside Bath city centre, it boasts a team highly experienced in wedding planning. Along with their trusted suppliers they’ll ensure you have everything you need to turn your vision into a reality as a wedding day you and your guests will never forget. The Royal Crescent, Paddock Pavilion, Mornington Suite and Bottega Terrazza all await, ready to welcome you on your big day. These spaces can accommodate 80 to 500 for the ceremony, and 50 to 320 for the wedding breakfast.
The best news is, Bath Racecourse has just announced that it will be holding its 2022 package prices for any weddings to take place at the venue in 2023. To find out more about tying the knot there, head over to www.bath-racecourse.co.uk and check out this issue’s Spotlight on… Bath & Mendip feature from page 15.
Rookery Bridal in Axbridge has launched a new exciting concept: Boutique Tasters and Take a Look Thursdays. The store opened up on the evening of 23rd June for its first Boutique Taster event, where brides could enjoy a glass of prosecco and a nibble or two while browsing the beautiful collection. It proved to be a great opportunity for those overwhelmed by the idea of dress shopping for the first time to do so in a relaxed manner, while chatting to the experts who were happy to offer as much advice as they could. Some of the boutique’s recommended suppliers were also invited along, so there was even more to see alongside the dresses, bridesmaids’ attire, veils and accessories.
As you might imagine, the event proved to be a resounding success, so Take a Look Thursdays were born. Every Thursday from 3pm to 7.30pm, you’re invited along to meet the team without the need for an appointment and have a mooch around their lovely boutique. If you like what you see, but don’t already have an appointment, you’ll be able to make one, but there’s no pressure.
The boutique’s Sarah Hackett says, “We’re often asked by brides if they can just pop in to see us without an appointment, so Take a Look Thursdays have been created to allow us to tell them to come and take a look.”
Once a month more suppliers will be asked to join in, so keep an eye on social media to find out when these special events will take place – @RookeryBridal or @rookerybridal. Also, check out https://rookerybridal.co.uk
LET BATTLE COMMENCE
If you and your other half have competitive streaks a mile wide, you’ll love Boom Battle Bar for your hen or stag parties. With 18 venues around the UK, including one in Bath at the Kingsmead Leisure Complex. Each one sports premium food and drink menus, specially curated music and an entertainment-filled battleground bursting with games you won’t want to miss. And now Boom Battle Bar has added augmented reality axe throwing to its roster of immersive games that already includes favourites such as crazier golf, augmented reality darts, beer pong, American pool, karaoke and shuffleboard. With heightened sensitivity for targeted scoring, this newest challenge will test your skill more than your strength. Perfect for a bit of friendly rivalry – why not pit hens against stags?
Here, you’ll find all you need for a full day of gameplay, with a selection of Boom Bites, which includes street food-style small plates such as chicken tenders and nachos, and you can enjoy a whole host of battleground-themed cocktails at the bar.
Check out https://boombattlebar.com/uk/bath THE TWILIGHT ZONE
More and more couples from across the South West are choosing to tie the knot in the evening, moving away from the more traditional early afternoon nuptials. The Twilight Wedding, as it has become known, is now growing in popularity at venues such as Cadbury House in Congresbury, which has been working hard to ensure it can cater for this increase in dusk ceremonies.
Matilda Burgess, wedding coordinator at Cadbury House says, “There’s been a steady increase in this new phenomenon over the past 12 months and it’s certainly something we can see continuing to grow in popularity.
“Cadbury House faces west and is renowned for its stunning views and contemporary boutique style, so opting to say ‘I do’ with the sun setting in the distance makes for a spectacular occasion.”
Those who are choosing a twilight wedding tend to skip the formal wedding breakfast and go straight on to their evening reception and with Matilda also noticing a trend in Thursday weddings, the stage is set for the wedding party to continue into the weekend.
With several rooms licensed to hold both civil marriage ceremonies and commitment ceremonies there are many options for couples to choose from and those yearning for al fresco “I dos” could consider the thatched gazebo, complete with panoramic views reaching across the North Somerset countryside and Bristol Channel.
Check out www.cadburyhotelbristol.co.uk/weddings
www.adambarnardphotography.co.uk
Fabulous Farms & Blissful Barns
We love country houses, hotels, castles and inns too - it's like picking a favourite child - but there is something special about barns and meadows for a wedding day. So what is it about Farm wedding venues that makes them the number one request when we're talking to couples at wedding fairs? The White Barn Frogmary Green Farm
Yarlington Barn
Our Licensed Farm Venues
The Scenery! Our county is just gorgeous, from wild Exmoor, across the open Levels to the rolling Mendips. Our farm venues come complete with some of those peaceful countryside views. The Style! Each farm has its own unique character, but if your kind of chic is shabby, rustic, festival or boho then this is where you'll find it. Old bricks, oak beams, fairy lights and bunting - yes! The Vibe! Kick back and relax with fields (and often animals) all around. Cosy campfires with haybale seats, orchard picnics and tractor rides, glamping and shepherd's huts galore. The Food! Lots of farms offer home grown options, or have great local catering links for seasonal, low food mile menus. They're also perfect for more laid back dining like hog roasts, BBQs, picnics and DIY potlucks - or there's going to be plenty of space for the full on sit down banquet too. The Photo Opportunities! Wedding photographers love a venue with lots of quirky corners, interesting architecture, fun props and panoramic views. Your album will be amazing, trust us.
Aldwick Estate, Redhill, North Somerset The Cider Barn, Whitelackington The Barn at Cott Farm, East Chinnock Croftview, Hinton St George Dairyhouse Farm, Langport Frogmary Green Farm, South Petherton Greenway Farm, Wembdon, Bridgwater Huntstile Organic Farm, Goathurst, Bridgwater Little Quarme, Wheddon Cross, Exmoor Old Oak Farm, Curry Rivel, Langport Pennard Hill Farm, East Pennard, Shepton Mallet Quantock Lakes, Nether Stowey The Old Milking Parlour, Henstridge, Wincanton Waterside Country Barn, Bradford on Tone, Taunton Wick Farm, Farleigh Hungerford, Bath Yarlington Barn, Lympsham Say I Do In Somerset
