On Sun, 23 Jul 2023, 10:59 Martin, <martinappleyard71@btinternet.com> wrote:
Hi All

Hope you're all well !!

I thought it might be helpful if I shared some information to you by
email, so here goes. Of course at any time you can contact me and ask
anything you like - Lucy and Simon have done most of the organising so
Chris and I are not overwhelmed with wedding organisation. So we have
plenty of time on our hands to talk about wedding things, our only panic
is what Lucy and Simon may have planned and not told us !

If you have not already seen it, Lucy and Simon have put together
information on a website here:
https://www.theknot.com/us/lucy-appleyard-and-simon-cookes-sep-2023

I'm going to repeat most of that info here, with a few additional
comments that I hope will help you plan for the day.

==================

Lucy and Simon chose the Hestercombe park for their wedding because it
has a waterfall in the grounds, and they decided they would like to say
their vows in front of the waterfall.

If there is plenty of water in the stream then hearing the vows over the
noise of the waterfall will definitely be a problem! But Leo is
bringing a microphone and battery-powered loudspeaker to the waterfall
to try and help with that. He's not sure that will make it ok for
everyone but it's the best we can do.

If we have a drought between now and September, there might not be any
water coming over the waterfall, it might be very quiet..........

So the first thing I want to talk about is getting to the waterfall.
Chris and I went there in May and walked around everything. It's a short
walk over a small hill from the car park and coach drop-off. How long a
walk and how hilly? Well imagine you are stood on the sandy beach at
Little Bispham. All you have to do is walk up the sea wall, up the slope
to the tramstop, and then continue to Greycroft. You can use a few steps
to make a short cut maybe, but like the Little Bispham sea wall there is
a sloping driveway so no need to go up steep steps. So that's roughly
the distance. And then after the vows there is a slightly shorter walk
back to the garden and the building ( the Orangery ) where we can sit
down, have a drink, and some of the photos will be taken. On this return
walk it is mostly flat and very gently downhill.

The paths to and from the waterfall are woodland gravel paths, fairly
smooth, very little to trip us up. The area where we stand near the
waterfall is fairly firm flat grass. So we don't need hiking boots. When
Chris and I went there in May it was just one week after the latest
Somerset floods but there was no problem with the paths, they were quite
dry, no muddy bits. But we all need to wear flat shoes, definitely no
stillettos !! Chris is going to take a little bag of shoes - wear some
flatties for walking to/from the waterfall, and then put on her heels
when we are back at the Orangery where we have a drink and photos.

After a couple of hours at the Orangery, we will then take a very short
walk to the dining hall, which is right next to where we park our cars (
or get off/on the coach ). I'll tell you more about the coach later.

==============

So now I will tell you the main timings and events of the day, so you
know what's going to happen, and help you think about what time you
might leave if you think you will want to leave before the end at midnight :

We should all arrive at Hestercombe by 1:15pm latest. As you drive in,
there is a public car park on the left, but we should ignore that and
drive straight on towards the main mansion house, and then we park near
a building on the left just before the main house, this building on the
left is our dining hall and later evening dance hall. We won't be using
the main mansion house unless it is wet and stormy !!

At 1:30pm all guests will start the gentle slow walk to the waterfall,
led by Simon and his groomsmen. Followed a little later by Lucy and her
bridesmaids, and me i think. Probably Chris too. Hmmmm.... I need to
ask a bit more about this.

Let me know if you think you will need a folding chair at the waterfall,
I can arrange this. There is a hut shelter facing the waterfall and I
have a feeling there is a bench seat in there but I can't remember for sure.

At 2pm they will say their vows, have a couple of photos then we all
walk slowly to the Orangery/garden where there definitely will be
chairs. There are toilets close by. Drinks and nibbles, the first
speeches and more photos till we walk to the dining hall by the car park
at around 5pm.

About 5:15pm we start to be served dinner, the staff at the house tell
us this can't be delayed as the staff will serve up and then sign off
for the day.

At about 7pm we have the next set of speeches, including mine. And Lucy
will speak last along with the cutting of the cake.

Then the tables and chairs will be moved back to make a dancefloor
space, Lucy and Simon will perform their "1st dance" at 8pm.

Then it's music all the way through to midnight when everything has to
stop.

Well that's the plan........

Leo has told us that there are a couple of additional items in this that
we don't know about, but he knows...... hmmmmm.

=====================

Now, transport.

It's less than 3 miles from Taunton to Hestercombe, up a quiet country lane.

Anybody who wants to drive their own car to Hestercombe can do so, and
we get our own car parking area just a few yards from the dining hall.
If you decide to leave by taxi or coach in the evening and leave your
car overnight at Hestercombe you can do so.

For those staying overnight in Taunton hotels, we have booked a coach to
pick us up from the Holiday Inn, the Premier Inn, and the Castle Hotel
at around 12:30 lunchtime to deliver us to Hestercombe around 1pm. And
then picks us up at midnight to take us back to our hotels.

We will share more details about the lunchtime hotel pickups in the week
before the wedding, to provide exact timings etc. The coach company seem
pretty switched on to this as they are a local Taunton company. They
also say that in their experience, Hestercombe pushes everyone out very
quickly at midnight - I guess the bar staff and security staff all want
to go home straight away. I don't think anyone lives onsite.

For anyone who wants to leave by taxi at any time during the evening, we
will have a list of all the Taunton minicab companies with us, to phone
up as and when needed.

So for those of you who are booked into a hotel for only Saturday night,
you might want to speak to the hotel about an early check-in, or just to
inform them you will be parking early / checking in late? Or maybe pop
back to the hotel briefly in mid-afternoon or mid-evening, just 10 mins
each way by taxi.

========================

Dress code: Lucy and Simon say this will be smart / smart casual. There
will not be top hat and tails as far as I know. Ladies can wear a hat if
they wish, but don't have to if you prefer not. The main issue is
thinking about a change of shoes for the waterfall walk, and then
afterwards. I'll be wearing my smart black shoes throughout, I don't
expect them to get muddy unless there is a rainstorm on the morning of
the wedding.

========================

And that's it i think. If I learn anything more, I will tell you.

Ask anything you like, doesn't have to be by email. Phone anytime.

Let me know you got this email ok please, then even if you don't have
any questions I know you have this information.

Am sure I'll speak to you all before.

Stay well, lots of love

Martin and Chris