Cumbria wedding venue | Appleby Castle | Campbell & Rowley

Matt & Meemo’s Wedding at Appleby Castle – Sunday 27th August 2017

Wow. Wow. And wow! This is certainly a wedding that we aren’t going to forget in a hurry.

Matt & Meemo had taken the plunge and booked the stunning Appleby Castle for their big day which is the first wedding the castle and Campbell & Rowley had worked together to create. As with any first weddings at a venue, there were a few stumbling blocks along the way but everything was over come to create a spectacular day.

Our event manager, Heather first met with Matt & Meemo back in December 2016 to work through their ideas and held a tasting so they could see and taste everything that was available to them! It was soon apparent that these two liked a party but also seriously enjoyed their food! The final menu they decided on was individual, entertaining and was a perfect meal for their surroundings.

The day came around so quickly and thankfully the bank holiday weather held off and gave us some breaks in the cloud perfectly timed for reception drinks and canapes. Appleby Castle staff set up a grand table full with glasses and ice cold prosecco to greet the guests straight from the ceremony in the middle of the landscaped courtyard. Our own staff promptly led out with the hand-made canapes of Mini Cottage Pies – a lovely warming bite of hearty goodness – closely followed by steak and chip skewers with our home-made peppercorn sauce (the sauce is to die for even if we say so ourselves!). Mozzarella, Sun-blushed Tomato & Air-Dried Ham Brochettes made their way out of the kitchen and were a refreshing crunch for the guests. For the vegetarians we served up Sun Blushed Tomato, Parmesan & Pesto Mini Quiches, not only the veggies devoured these! Canapes are great pre-dinner nibbles and get your guests mingling and talking!

Whilst the guests tucked into mouth-watering canapes, another part of the C&R team turned the Great Hall around from a ceremony room into somewhere guests can sit and eat! And what a turn around it was! Throne like chairs were positioned for the bride and groom along the top table with slates set out for place mats so as not to damage the century old tables. Banqueting tables lined either side of the Great Hall with benches adorned with flowers guiding people up the centre aisle. Tall, gold candle stick holders were just enough decoration for the tables sat upon runners to give the overall look some height. The Great Hall is such a stunning room but not highly decorated, giving any couple the freedom to make it their own- Matt & Meemo did just that!

Guests were seated, the Bride & Groom welcomed in by one of the three best men and dinner was to commence; To start with guests were presented with Skewers of Chicken Satay with extra amounts of the lightly spiced peanut satay sauce and a mixed leaf salad. Safe to say these didn’t last long and as fast as our staff had served them they were clearing the empty plates away!

Onto the mains and before we could serve anything it was up to Matt to stand up and get people’s attention as the main meal required some guests participation. As one by one guests were asked to stand the anticipation was building and Heather was stood at the back of the room ready to guide everyone through to the back where, you guessed it! Host the Roast! There were 9 guests who were handed a chefs hat, an apron and their very own chopping board with which was to be adorned with the most gorgeous and tender cut of beef! One by one the honorary chefs lined up and were ready to be sent back into Great Hall – the laughter and cheers from the other guests as they made their entrance was brilliant! Whooping and hollering soon swapped for Ooo’s and Aah’s as the chefs began carving and the beef was flying onto people’s plates. Our staff followed out with bowl after bowl of fluffy Roast Potatoes, Giant Yorkshire Puddings, Seasonal Vegetables, mountains of

Cauliflower Cheese and so much roast gravy it was a surprise people weren’t drowning in it! The room soon became almost silent with the just the noise of happy guests munching away and the occasional chortle as the chefs were still sat with their hats and aprons on!

Trying to prise the leftover beef away from the content guests was another matter entirely! Deals had to be made to make sure the left overs were laid out for the evening buffet before they agreed to surrender what was on chopping boards!

Finally getting round to dessert the guests were presented with warm chocolate brownies and Bonds of Elswick Vanilla Ice Cream. Not knowing where the guests had managed to put the insane portion sizes of the Host the Roast, but the brownies were gone in seconds and plates licked clean. The room was soon filled with groaning and many a belly rub as all the guests had filled themselves with a fully lined stomach ready for the (lengthy) speeches and evening party!

Matt & Meemo are a couple who were just made for each other and the dancing and hilarity of the evening showed why! There wasn’t a moment where either of them wasn’t dancing or in conversation with one of the wedding party! So much so the evening food became more of a statement rather than a meal! The music was blasting and the dance moves being thrown, people were enjoying themselves too much to eat chicken drumsticks, melting mozzarella dippers, curly fries and the left over beef (however this certainly caught some people’s attention!). There was also a sizeable platter of desserts of Mango Cheesecake, Carrot Cake, Eton Tidy (you make the mess) and Chocolate Fudge Cake! These were enough to tempt some but the dance floor was singing peoples names louder!

For our first wedding at Appleby Castle it was without a doubt extraordinary in every way! We hope this will be the first of many and we can’t thank Matt & Meemo enough for taking the plunge. Their wedding day was gorgeous just like the pair of them and we wish them many years of happiness together!

Add Comment

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *