Archives for July 2013

Romantic Heart-Themed Wedding at Old Moat Hall

The heart is one of the most recognised symbol for love. When it isn’t overdone, a heart wedding theme can be whimsical, sophisticated and incredibly romantic.

This weekend we catered for a wedding at Old Moat Hall, a beautiful venue in Chelford, Cheshire, that incorporated the heart theme along with some vintage touches.

Heart Themed Guest List

The simple and sweet hearts theme can be infused in details throughout the wedding and reception. This table plan made from caging is shaped like a heart with detailing, the delicate flowers and luggage tags adds a nostalgic rustic touch.

Old Moat Hall

The elegant neutrals of the marquee layout creates a relaxed atmosphere whilst enhancing the romantic elements of the table decoration. The chiavari is a very popular chair style, which are suited to both modern and formal occasions. They add to the vintage feel of the decoration along with the luggage tag place cards and flower and frame centrepieces.

Old Moat Hall

Roses are Red

The weekend’s glorious wedding allowed for an area outside in Old Moat Hall’s beautiful gardens. The heart theme continued throughout the venue with paper heart decorations and lanterns featuring heart shaped cut outs. There was also traditional romantic phrases placed around the venue, including the ‘Roses are Red’ sign hanging from a beautifully blooming tree.

We also spotted this charming poem about how the newlyweds feel about each other:

Poem

Would you go for a traditional romantic heart shaped theme for your wedding? We’d love to hear your thoughts.

Thank You

We catered for a wedding for Chloe and Steve this weekend. They sent us a message to express their gratitude:

Thank You

Vanilla in Allseasons Team,

We’d like to say thank you for everything on Saturday. Your staff were amazing and so many people commented on the fantastic service and wonderful food.

We would especially like to mention Jo who waited on our table. She was brilliant! Very approachable and helpful and she made things run incredibly smoothly.

Thank you,

Chloe and Steve

Many thanks for letting us help you.

If you have any questions or queries, feel free to contact us.

Grilled Pizza

Grilling is one of summer’s true pleasures but there are only so many burgers one can eat.

Grilled Pizzas

Pizza is a great appetiser for outdoor summer parties or as a lunch served with salad. You can mix some of your favourite flavours like chopped tomatoes, olives, sun dried tomatoes, and mushrooms.

You will need:

A batch of pizza dough – most supermarkets sell this ready to go. It’s also very easy to make, check out this recipe from Jamie Oliver.

A hot grill (gas or charcoal).

Oil for the grill grate or baking tray suitable for grilling, tongs and a paper towel.

All of your toppings.

It is suggested you roll the dough in the kitchen and make stacks of dough rounds alternated with sheets of oiled foil. Don’t be overly concerned with the shape or thickness; it’s supposed to be rustic. Smaller pizza (6″-8″) tend to be easier to manage than a large one.

When your grill is hot, put some oil on the paper towel and coat your grate or tray. The secret is to grill the crust first, then add the toppings. Add your dough with some last minute stretching if needed, try and put as many on as you can. Let it cook for two minutes.

Using the tongs, check to see how the bottom is doing; you’re looking for a nice golden brown colour but allow for a bit of char here and there. The top will puff and bubble up, which is what you’re looking for.

Once golden brown, take off the grill and place them on a suitable area brown side face up. Apply your toppings of choice – classic Margherita, mushroom and pesto, peppers and onions, bacon and red onion, it’s really up to you. With the toppings less is more to avoid sogginess.

Return to the cooler part of the grill, and cook for another 3-4 minutes or until the bottom is browned and the toppings are hot and bubbly.

Once cooked rest a few minutes and then they are ready to serve and devour.

Matt Johnson

We have established links with some of the finest service providers around so that we are able to deliver the very best contacts and recommendations when it comes to planning your event. One of our ‘Friends of Vanilla’ is the wedding singer, Matt Johnson.

Matt Johnson

Matt Johnson is one of the most successful independent singer in the UK. At only 27 years old he has had success in the entertainment industry and achieved goals beyond his years. Starting out at the young age of 10, Matt began to gain invaluable experience. He’s had success in musical theatre, with his highlights including playing the Artful Dodger in Cameron Mackintoshes’ West End production of Oliver Twist, and a principle role in ‘Les Miserables’, the world’s most successful musical.

Matt Johnson

At 16, Matt had an experience that would change his life and perception of music forever. He auditioned, along with 130,000 others, for a place in a five piece boy band on ITV’s ‘Popstars The Rivals’. Matt went on to win a place in the winning group, One True Voice. The band had success with their first single, ‘Sacred Trust’ when it reached number two in the UK official charts.

Three years later, Matt wanted to try something new and formed a Pop/Rock band called State Warning, with their peak success being supporting act to musical legends The Who and the multi platinum album selling band, Keane. Over the past five years Matt has performed at over 1000’s of gigs, including the privilege of performing for many now happily married couples across the UK.

Matt Johnson

Matt spends his time marketing himself as a songwriter and plans to release a song through iTunes in the near future. Due to his extreme popularity, Matt spends most weekends performing at weddings and functions, where he performs at 120 to 140 a year. Our advice is to enquire early if you are thinking of hiring Matt for your function as dates go extremely fast.

For more information and for enquiries visit his official website.

Afternoon Tea at Upper House

This weekend we catered for a wedding at Upper House. The former hunting lodge stands alone on the magnificent mountain of Kinder Scout in the Peak District National Park and is the perfect venue for a countryside event. The former hideaway of the biggest industrialists, politicians, royals, authors, and intellectuals at the turn of the century embraces fabulous interior décor with beautifully restored roof beams and has an eclectic styling to each room.

Upper House

The newlyweds, Bev and Rob opted for an afternoon tea, which included sandwiches, tartlets, miniature burgers and scones, and evening bowl food. We take pride in providing excellent service by providing bespoke, tailored solutions that suit your requirements. The time we have invested time researching and developing ingredients and recipes to provide perfectly executed catering for an event.

Afternoon Tea

Afternoon Tea

The couple also chose to include locally brewed ales to feature at the bar which was complementary to Upper House and the event.

Local Ales
Photo credit: Mark R Williamson

We pride ourselves on providing an outstanding service for our clients and it is incredibly rewarding when we receive thanks for the service:

Thank you so much for helping us create such a memorable day for our wedding at Upper House Hayfield. The afternoon tea was delicious and our guests are still raving about the Yorkshire pudding canapés, the evening bowl food and the local ales at the bar. We really appreciate all of the help and advice you provided to make our wedding a truly enjoyable day and we wish you every continued success with your business.

Best wishes,

Bev & Rob

If you’re planning an event and want more information about any of our services, please don’t hesitate to get in touch. One of our friendly team will be happy to discuss your requirements.

Garden Party Wedding

Last weekend we catered for a wedding celebration at Grove Cottage for Alex and Kelly Gee. It was a glorious weekend with the weather adding to the occasion.

Garden Party Theme

The couple decided to go for a garden party themed reception in the grounds of the beautiful Grove Cottage. Evening drinks took place in this outside bar with wicker sofas, garden-style lanterns and bunting.

Garden Party Bar

We spotted this sign on a fence, which summarises the playful atmosphere of the occasion. Hanging cute wooden signs around your venue pointing towards key places, such as the bar and toilets adds a vintage touch.

Sign from Wedding

These windmill name placards are adorable as they add to the fun and excitement of the theme.

Windmill Place Seating

A garden party wouldn’t be complete without lawn games. This wedding allowed guests to enjoy a game of croquet whilst celebrating the nuptials of the happy couple…

Croquet

…Not only that, there was a bouncy castle also that allowed the adults to relive their childhood. After all ‘it is not how big you are, it is how big you play’.

Bouncy Castle

Would you go for a nostalgic garden party theme for your wedding? What games would you have?

A Thank You From The Rushgroves

We recently featured a spectacular wedding on our blog that was located in the beautiful Whitmore Hall.

Whitmore Hall Marquee

With the venue only hosting four weddings a year it was a truly unique ceremony that we were grateful to cater for. We are even more overwhelmed by this message we received from the newlyweds:

Thank You Note

“Alexis and myself had a fabulous wedding day and we would particularly like to thank yourself and your team of staff for the excellent food and service. We have subsequently received praise from a number of guests on the quality of the canapés, meal and your staff. We thoroughly enjoyed the food too! For my own part, I would also like to express my gratitude for your assistance with the cheese cake and advice with my speech. Both of which were outside of your remit but very much appreciated!

Thanks to your team.

With kind regards,

Nick and Alexis Rushgrove”

We thoroughly enjoyed the day and would like to thank everyone that was involved in the special day.

The Murray Diet

It’s no secret that Andy Murray was victorious over the weekend at this year’s Wimbledon tennis tournament. He became the first Brit in 77 years to win the title and he’s been fighting hard for a long time for it.

Andy Murray Winning Wimbledon

We decided to take a look at what’s in the winner’s diet to understand how he managed to impress the whole nation with his triumph.

Sushi

Andy’s fish-based diet mainly consists of his favourite dish, sushi. The delicacy normally consumed in small portions is eaten by Murray daily where he can eat up to 50 portions in one sitting.

Sushi and other fish based dishes are high in protein and carbohydrates and enhance concentration, which is vital for any sportsman. The omega-3 fatty acids in fish are linked to heart protection and improved circulation, whilst rice is another good source of protein. Its fresh taste is also what appeals to the tennis playing Scot that scientists believe is the reason behind the Japanese being among one of the healthiest nations in the world.

Murray playing tennis

He needs to eat within an hour of the end of a match to replenish his lost energies and has his team track down a high-end sushi restaurant near to where he plays. At Wimbledon, he has been known to have a cooler box of sushi brought to him at the end of a late game.

He also eats large quantities of red meat, pasta and rice spread across six meals in a day totalling 6,000 calories a day, which he washes down with six litres of water. The energy-rich meals are burned off throughout the day during his gruelling fitness schedule including tennis practice sessions, hot Bikram yoga, stretches and weight training.

Fancy tasting what it’s like to be a winner? There’s some great recipe ideas on the BBC Food website.

A Little Thanks…

We recently catered for a Baby Grow charity ball at Chester Polo Club. It was a privilege to be asked to cater for the charity event and we were even more overwhelmed by the thanks we received from them:

Thank you Note

I would like to say a big thank you to Vanilla in Allseasons for the fantastic catering at my recent charity ball. The food was delicious and many guests commented on how good it was.

As the organiser of the event, I was incredibly grateful for the exceptional service. Nothing was too much trouble for Adam and his team. Although I had lots of last minute additions to the event, all these were calmly accommodated. At one point Adam even stepped in to help put with an electrical problem the band had!

I can wholeheartedly recommend Vanilla in Allseasons for their excellent food and exceptional.

Leila
Event Organiser

We just want to say a huge thank you and well done to everyone involved in the event.

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