10.20.2008

# England # Hotels

The Stoke Park Club and Weddings!


This past weekend I attended at wedding at the gorgeous Manor house in Stoke Poges, just overlooking the golf course. I love a good wedding and this was one of the nicest I'd ever been too. It was also my first traditional English wedding and I was loving every minute of it. The night before we stayed at the illustrious Stoke Park Club hotel to catch up with friends and get ready for the wedding festivities in style- and did we ever! The hotel is magnificent. You'd be hard pressed to find something so utterly gorgeous, old fashioned and luxurious in Los Angeles so it was an incredible treat for me to stay there.

As we drove to the hotel I noticed the magnificent green of the golf course on my right and on my left a rather large pond- complete with graceful swans and beautiful water lilies. A strange sense of deja vu came over me. The feeling continued as we checked in at reception and then were presented to our room- The "William and Mary" suite. I later found out that Bridget Jones' Diary was filmed here- and that pond was the infamous one that Hugh Grant had so much trouble in. Our room was beautiful and traditionally English with overstuffed chairs and sofas- a grand bed and a stately color scheme.


The loveliness continued at the wedding the following day. Every guest turned out in their finest- gorgeous dresses and flamboyant hats; the men in tails and colorful ties. (My dark blue Temperley dress and Vivien Sheriff hat were a big hit!) It was a church wedding complete with traditional hymns (I had to do some improvisational lip syncing). The celebration continued afterwards as we were ushered towards the tents on the lawn, glowing with candle light. After cocktails and hors d'oeuvres, we made our way towards the dining area- an amazing marquis shining with the light of chandeliers and candelabras. Dinner was traditional- shrimp cocktail and lamb with roast vegetables. The conversation was lively and the dancing afterwards was even more so. My favorite part, as always, were the speeches. I always get emotional when I hear family members and friends give speeches at weddings- maybe it's because I know they feel safe in saying the things they wouldn't otherwise say and give expressions of love and emotion. My favorite speech was given by the father of the bride...

The evening ended with over two dozen Chinese lanterns being released to the sky... pure magic.

For information on staying at the Stoke Park Club please visit: www.stokeparkclub.com

Image of Stoke Park Club provided by: www.vivideventgroup.com

Image of room provided by: www.stokeparkclub.com

8 comments:

Dining on Deals said...

Oh it sounds SO lovely!! That hotel looks absolutely amazing - positively classic. Glad to hear your wardrobe was such a hit and that you had such a great time!

Rose said...

I'm so glad you had such a great time. Your outfit sounded perfect and I'm very glad it was so well received.

The Chinese lanterns being released sounds like a great end to the evening- a really nice idea and more unusual than fireworks I think.

The Daily Connoisseur said...

Jules- It was so fun! I was so out of my element lol! I'm having a great time but am looking forward to coming home next week... can't wait to catch up :)

The Daily Connoisseur said...

Hi Rose- The Chinese lanterns were so amazing- it was really original and I hadn't seen anything like it before. They all went in the same direction in the sky, ultimately looking like a beautiful and strange ufo...

Perfumeshrine said...

You obviously had a smashing time! Love the cinematic references too ;-)

The Daily Connoisseur said...

Hi Helg- Yes it was a fabulous night to remember... now back to reality! :)

Unknown said...

I am so jealous that you got to go to the estate featured in Bridget Jones; what can I say I love the water scene. What a gorgeous way to end a wedding.

The Daily Connoisseur said...

Hi Jena- I KNOW I was so excited to be there... Bridget Jones is just one of those movies that I could always watch- it is like comfort food for me...