Micro Wedding Inspiration - unique spaces for your wedding breakfast at Pauntley Court
Written by Melissa
At Pauntley Court we love our Micro Weddings, and we have many indoor and outdoor unique dining spaces for you to choose from, for your one-of-a kind wedding breakfast.
For small, bijou weddings, Pauntley Court has so many quirky and magical spaces for you to create the wedding breakfast of your dreams, giving you and your guests some very special memories. Whether you decide to have an intimate and atmospheric dinner in the ballroom or a wildly romantic and quintessentially English set up amongst the yew hedges, the choice is yours!
Since opening in 2019, we have seen a huge increase in interest for our Micro and Petite Wedding packages. We feel Pauntley Court offers the most perfect setting for the intimate wedding as there are just so many options for you and your close family and friends to spend time together over the three days you are here. You could choose to dine in a different place for every part of your three day wedding event.
I have brought together some wonderfully inspiring ideas from some of the photoshoots that we have had at Pauntley Court, which I think will give you a strong sense of the blank canvas we can offer you and the many options that there are. You can let your imagination and creative ideas run wild with so many backdrops and beautiful settings!
Underneath the Hornbeam Arches
Our first photoshoot was with Krysta of For the Love of Weddings and Kirsten of Little Wedding Helper. A magical, almost mediterranean setting was created with a long trestle table set up under our hornbeam arches. It felt like we were in Italy that day with the elegance of the linens (from 88events) in combination with the warm colours of the floral arrangements by Honeysuckle Flowers and terracotta candles, cleverly married with the warm reddish glow of the house. I loved the details such as the crystal lanterns hanging from the hornbeams (from Crescent Moon Events).
Photographer: Gyan Gurung
The Flower Room
Another exceptionally unusual and characterful space is the Flower Room, which I often suggest for the pre-wedding day supper. We have a fantastic bar that couples are free to use and the rustic trestle tables are a perfect fit in here for up to 24 guests to sit and enjoy the evening sun streaming in. Couples can ask their chosen caterer to create an outdoor feast of a barbecue or make an indulgent paella for all your guests to enjoy. A freshly made pizza, cooked from from a converted horsebox is also a fun thing to do, saving the formal gardens until your wedding day the next day.
The fresh and natural flowers by Kate's Cutting Patch, add vibrancy and embrace the warm, rich colour of the Flower room.
Photographer; David Liebst photography
The Ballroom
Round tables and the banqueting style trestles both work well in here, and with its large sash windows, this naturally lit room is wonderful to dine in. Jules of Wild & Co created the fabulous tall flower arrangements that lend themselves to the ballroom with its high ceiling and large mirror over the fireplace. These were created for our Open Day in September 2019.
Photographer: Red Maple Photography
The 'Ruin Garden'
For a quintessentially English feel for your intimate dining with your close family and friends, you could choose to have your wedding breakfast amongst the yew hedges. There are numerous spaces with yew windows cut into the hedges and the deep dark green backdrop of the yew. Here Claire of Clementine Moon used wonderfully romantic colours and lots of roses.
Beneath the Tentickle Stretch Tent
We love our stretch tent which has its very own unique atmosphere, forming a large cradling canopy on one of the flat lawns in the formal gardens, offering far reaching views out across the Gloucestershire countryside. From under here your guests can shade from hot sunshine or be cosy from a passing summer shower! Our rustic trestle tables, made for us by Nick of The Pear Tree Woodwork, work really well with our vintage cross back chairs.
The Hornbeam Arches
The Moroccan themed photoshoot by Lauradana Day of Wedding Creations UK also took our breath away. The tablescape was set up underneath the hornbeam arches, close to the quince orchard and sunken garden, and it was simply stunning and unforgettable. From the hand made wicker lanterns by Jenny Crisp , to the foam free floral meadows by Hazel Designs and the exquisite stationery by Retro Press, this was a stunning and very unique table set up for an intimate dining experience.
As you can see, there are so many fantastic spaces at Pauntley, full of atmosphere and character, allowing you to indulge your imagination to the fullest extent. With a Micro Wedding, you can really focus on all the intricate details which would make your wedding unique, styling your tables precisely how you imagined your dream wedding would look.
The year ahead, with all the different styles and preferences our couples are asking for, is going to be very exciting and truly wonderful to see and myself and the brilliant team at Pauntley look forward to helping these come to life.
Best wishes,
Melissa and the Pauntley Team x🌿
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Having recently visited Pauntley for our first wedding anniversary, I was reminded just how magical a place it is.
James and I celebrated our marriage with our closest family and friends over three days in August 2024. Spending both the night before and day after our wedding with our nearest and dearest only enhanced our celebrations; Pauntley’s beautiful bedrooms and cosy communal areas greatly facilitate being able to have all of those you love in one place for an extended period. Waking up in the bridal suite greatly reduced the stress on the wedding morning; the Elinor Fettiplace was the perfect setting for bridal preparations.
We knew it was the venue for us when we walked into the ballroom on our first viewing and I burst out crying (happy tears); those tears were present again when I walked down the aisle (ironically outside) the following Summer.
Everything about Pauntley makes it the picture perfect venue - from the indoor furnishings to the beautiful gardens outside. A special touch are the beautiful flowers that Melissa's mother (the flower fairy!) collects from the gardens and arranges in the communal areas and bedrooms; she even treated our guests to a tour of the grounds on the Sunday.
We took full use of all of the spaces - firstly by hosting a grazing table, English sparkling wine and real ale welcome supper in The Flower Room on the Friday, complete with “s’mores” for our flower girls and page boys on Pauntley’s fire pit. On the day itself we had welcome drinks under the stretch tent; said “I do” alongside a string quartet amongst the quince trees; enjoyed canapés, fizz and acoustic music in the sunken garden; had our cake cutting, wedding breakfast and speeches under the hornbeam arches (complete with Melissa’s chandeliers!); took photos down by the boathouse; poured our champagne tower in front of the beautiful staircase and danced the night away with our band in the ballroom before collapsing in front of the fire in the main sitting room after our “light stick” exit in the courtyard. The morning after the night before was spent preparing for our send off BBQ on the terrace.
The stunning setting is only complimented by Pauntley’s true highlight: its team. Melissa could not have been more friendly and helpful from the first time we met her until our wedding weekend itself (and beyond!). The list of recommended suppliers provided was especially helpful given I had no knowledge of local hairdressers, make-up artists, florists, caterers, etc; all of the vendors that we chose were wonderful. Our wedding coordinator, Mel, put this type A bride to shame with her efficiency and organisational skills, all delivered with a smile and a wealth of industry knowledge. A special mention to Pauntley’s head housekeeper Rachel who took excellent care of us and our guests throughout with delicious breakfasts and a yummy BBQ on the Sunday. The whole team are warm, welcoming and ensure that you never feel like just another couple; they are all truly invested in making your wedding day the best it possibly can be.
As we are London based, we chose to stay on the Thursday and Sunday nights and I would highly recommend that option to future couples. Being there the night before - just the two of us - allowed us to sort various Waitrose / butcher / crockery deliveries and get ready before our friends and family descended for our welcome supper the following day. Equally, we enjoyed strolling around the gardens as husband and wife on the Sunday after everyone had left; an opportunity to reminisce on the best weekend of our lives in truly beautiful surroundings. We struggled to leave on the Monday morning!
We couldn’t recommend Pauntley enough and can’t wait to visit again on our second anniversary next year.
Thank you Melissa, Mel and Rachel for everything.
Image by Siobhan Beales Photography