This was our first visit to wedding venue Ridge Farm near Horsham…a bit of a long way but a lovely venue in the small rural village of Capel.
wedding set up
The guests have full use of the manor house with accommodation as well as the grounds for camping, the tennis courts and the pool house, which doubles up as the dining room for the wedding breakfast. The pool is covered with hard flooring and the tables and chairs moved in the day before the wedding. Then the day after it is reverted back to a pool house for the wedding party to use.
Lucy and Tim had a large group of 140 guests, and the room seats this comfortably. With its glass exterior the guests can enjoy the views across the gardens. The weather was touch and go at times, but the rain held off which was the main thing, especially as the ceremony was outside, albeit partly under cover.
After the ceremony the guests were greeted with bubbles and then canapé once everyone had a drink on the go.
smoked mackerel pate
The canapé consisted of Arancini – risotto balls filled with sun-dried tomato and parmesan, oven-roasted king prawn & chorizo skewers, butternut squash & feta filo tarts, and melon with Parma ham.
Once seated in the pool house the starters were served, the most popular choice being our home-made smooth smoked mackerel pate served with home-made focaccia.
Mains included poached cod with a chorizo & butter bean ragout, vegetable lasagne and bacon wrapped chicken breast stuffed with cream cheese. Fresh strawberry and cream pavlova was the dessert.
With plenty of kids to feed including their own adorable little girls, Lucy and Tim chose for the children to have their own menu of Shepherd’s pie and chocolate brownies served in bright bowls, all of which came back clean so I think this was menu was a hit for them.
After the meal the on site bar staff moved tables to allow for the dancing and disco, and then much later on a pizza van was due to arrive to keep the guests fed into the night.
Lucy and Tim were a delight to deal with and we’re so glad we were part of their big day. We wish them both all the very best.