May 2023 - The Wedding Man

Sweets and selfie mirror fun at Limpley Stoke Hotel

On Friday, the 19th of May, we had the pleasure of attending Vicky and Dean‘s wedding at Limpley Stoke Hotel, near Bath with our sweet ferris wheel and selfie mirror from Garbanzo’s Event Hire. We always love a trip to Limpley Stoke Hotel and attend many weddings there with our selfie mirrors, ice cream bicycles, sweet carts and other items that we hire out for weddings and events. For this event, Vicky and Dean, hired the sweet ferris wheel, which offers a more unique alternative to our traditional sweet cart. Sitting on a tabletop, it consists of a large metre high ferris wheel, with 16 trays. These are all filled with individual varieties of sweets that guests then spin to take their pick and fill their sweet bags. Whilst sweet carts are a common – and always popular – sight at weddings and corporate events, the ferris wheel offers a slightly more unique alternative that is less commonplace and always a great talking point angst guests. True to form, Vicky and Dean‘s wedding was no different. By the end of the night the guests had all taken advantage of the sweet treats available to keep themselves energised for the evening! What always makes me chuckle when speaking to engaged couples upon booking our sweet cart or sweet ferris wheel, is how this will be perfect for any kids attending the wedding. Whilst this is true, there’s no doubting that after a couple of drinks in the evening, the adults will always get caught up in a nostalgia charged feeding frenzy at the sweet cart! Making these the perfect hire items to keep both children and adults happy! Selfie mirror Our selfie mirror comes to Limpley Stoke Hotel regularly and is a great feature that is always extremely popular at weddings, special occasions and corporate events. We normally set this up in the Georgian Room in the corner alongside the DJ. Guests can then nip in and out as they dance the evening away capturing memories of the wedding day with printouts for them to keep. At the end of the night, we also give a photo guest book to the couple with all of the photos from the evening inside, alongside a USB stick so that they can enjoy the memories of their big day for years to come! Limpley Stoke Hotel The Limpley Stoke Hotel was first opened on the 29th August 1863. It was not actually opened as a hotel, but as the West of England Hydropathic Establishment. This offered water therapies that were potentially inspired by the nearby spa at Bath and its Mineral Hospital. It was later taken over by the Abbey National Building Society during the second World War when they evacuated from London. It was then reopened as a hotel and came into its current ownership in 1993. The Limpley Stoke Hotel is located in the gorgeous Limpley Stoke Valley. I’ve previously heard this area referred to as the Beverly Hills of Bath and it’s no wonder why with its gorgeous views and wealth of amazing properties to match! All just a stones throw away from the amenities and gorgeous Georgian streets of Bath. Limpley Stoke Hotel offers a one-stop shop for all things wedding. The beauty of having your day here is that couples can have their ceremony, entertain guests all day, have their wedding breakfast and evening entertainment and host all of their guests in the rooms upstairs – all under one roof. It’s also just a short distance away from our base in Westbury, so it’s ideally placed that we can pop in and set up equipment earlier in the day, then come back as required at different serving times and monitor hire items throughout the day. All set up and ready to go! With our selfie mirror and sweet Ferris wheel all set up and ready for the evening wedding party, the evening got going with something slightly different in the form of a Robbie Williams impersonator! Fake Robbie brought the party, playing loads of Take That and solo classics to get the evening started earlier on. During which, guests sported funny hats, wigs and glasses and took some great shots on the selfie mirror! Our Selfie mirror standard hire times are either 2, 3 or 4 hours. This evening Vicky and Dean went for three hours from 8-11pm which is our most popular hire period. This leaves plenty of time for guests to enjoy the selfie mirror booth and create lots of memories from the day. Wedding fairs at Limpley Stoke Hotel Through the year, we normally attend 10 to 20 weddings at the Limpley Stoke Hotel with either our traditional ice cream bicycle, sweet cart or selfie mirror. We also regularly attend the annual wedding fair that Limpley Stoke Hotel host at the end of January. This is organised brilliantly by Helen Pinkett from I Do Weddings. These are always great events to attend both as a supplier, and prospective bride and grooms who are planning their wedding day. As a supplier these events allow us to meet other local suppliers and network, whilst also meeting lots of brides and grooms who are planning their big day in the local area. For the brides and grooms, it gives them a chance to have a good look around the venue in a relaxed atmosphere. They can see the set up of how the rooms would appear on their day, such as the ceremony room, the ballroom where the wedding breakfast takes place, the bar area and outdoor gardens where they will have their pictures taken on the day. Weather allowing of course! It goes without saying, the wedding fair events also allow the bride and grooms to sample some of the treats on offer. These regularly include Prosecco, cake samples, and of course, our usual offerings of Marshfield Farm ice cream samples served from our traditional ice cream tricycle! The beauty of our ice cream bike at Limpley Stoke Hotel is that we can set up outside on the patio area, which is perfect for drinks receptions and enjoying the gorgeous views across the valley. (With a delicious ice cream in hand of course!) Or alternatively, we can also easily

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Evening antics with our ice cream bicycle at Antrobus House

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On Saturday, we were very excited to take our ice cream bicycle to Antrobus House in Amesbury. This was for a late evening service for Naomi and Daman from 8.30pm to 10.30pm as a light and refreshing snack to keep those feet moving away and dancing on the dancefloor throughout the evening. And boy did they need it this evening, as the energy levels on the dancefloor were off the chart! This was actually our second trip to Antrobus House this month after attending just last week with our ice cream bike and chocolate fountain for Rhea and Jamie’s wedding. This was skilfully manned by Mrs Garbanzo throughout, while I attended Emma and Ben’s wedding at Holbrook Manor. With Garbanzos Event Hire now in its eleventh year, I always find it a strange and amusing coincidence that I won’t attend a venue for months on end. Then all of a sudden i’ll attend the same location two or three times in the space of a couple of weeks or a month. Whoever the venue gods are they were certainly smiling down on us. It was beautiful clear blue skies on both visits to Antrobus House, making it the perfect weather for ice cream and wedding celebrations! Visiting the same venue over a short period of time (when you haven’t been there for ages!) is always a lovely coincidence that makes me chuckle and provides good conversation and banter with the staff, venue and guests. Antrobus House Antrobus House itself is a fantastic venue in the heart of Amesbury that serves as a popular wedding venue. It has a very regal feel with a fantastic hall for the wedding breakfast and evening entertainment, and a lovely lawn out the front for drinks, photos and relaxing. Currently it is also exhibiting it’s crowning glory ‘The Hauntings‘, an imposing 6 metre sculpture created by Martin Galbavy and Chris Hannam of Dorset Forge & Fabrication. ‘The Hauntings’ portrays a forlorn and battle weary First World War soldier returning from the frontline. Crafted from scrap metal, including nuts, bolts, old horse shoes, brake discs and chains. The sculpture is designed to evoke the horrors and traumas of those that endured the war and the troubles they had upon their return home. Antrobus House, a stunning Grade II listed manor house, has it’s own history tied to the devastation of the First World War so the sculpture and venue mesh together perfectly. Commissioned by Lady Florence Antrobus, Antrobus House stands as a memorial to her only son Lt Edmund Antrobus. A member of the Grenadier Guards who was killed in action on the 24 October 1914 near Ypres at only 27 years old. Built in her son’s memory and opened in 1925, Antrobus House was left for the benefit of the local community. On Lady Florence’s death, she bequeathed a substantial sum of money and express wishes upon its future use. Her legacy continues to this day as the venue is run as a community facility by the Lady Antrobus Trust and is now a popular event space that hosts weddings, local clubs and fitness classes. Wedding venue The venue is meticulously run by Catherine Dunning who is the business manager for Antrobus House. We’ve actually known Catherine for a few years as she is also the owner and director of Love That Wedding and continues to organise one of the best wedding fairs in Wiltshire, the prestigious Salisbury Wedding Show. We have attended the wedding fair with Garbanzo’s Event Hire on a number of occasions which was based at City Hall in Salisbury for many years and has since moved to over local venues including Antrobus House itself! Catherine’s attention to detail is second to none. So we know that whenever we have a wedding or special occasion booked at Antrobus House, whether it’s with our ice cream bikes, chocolate fountains, selfie mirrors or any other hire items; we are always in very safe hands and the event will be managed brilliantly. Saturday’s event was no different and we arrived just early enough to be situated indoors before the first dance started. I have to admit that we always prefer to go inside for an evening service to be in the heart of the action, as that is where guests are most inclined to be. We are also sheltered from any inclement weather temperature when the sun goes down, and lack of visibility when it gets dark. However, on this particular occasion, we had gorgeous blue skies throughout the whole day and a warm and balmy breeze, so we were happy to go wherever we were able to! The evening entertainment got underway with the first dance and the ice cream bicycle service from our traditional ice cream bicycle started at the same time as the DJ at 8:30 pm. Notably, the wedding was characterised by a brilliant DJ, fun and engaging guests and the secret sauce – an Indian drumming band who appeared through the evening and drummed alongside the DJ’s skilfully chosen tunes. The evening entertainment was electric and let’s make no mistake, this party went off!!! With a mix of bhangra music and the usual wedding party bangers – this was one of the most raucous and dance floor filled parties I’ve been to this year. And that’s no easy feat when you attend at least two or more weddings every week! Just when you thought it couldn’t get any better, the drummers came on, got everybody on the dancefloor ‘twisting the lightbulb’ and ‘doing the motorcycle’ dance moves and brought the party to Antrobus House as you can see in the video below. If I was tired or sluggish before heading to the wedding after an afternoon out in the sunshine, this jolted me wide awake into head nodding, finger tapping ice cream serving party mode! Needless to say, our ice cream bicycle and delicious Marshfield Farm dairy ice cream were extremely popular amongst guests as the party stepped up a notch and guests momentarily escaped the dancefloor looking for some cool refreshment! Thank you for a great evening at Antrobus House As always, we had a fabulous time attending a wedding at Antrobus House, and

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Holbrook Manor in May with our ice cream bicycle and selfie mirror

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On Saturday 13 May 2023 we had the pleasure of attending Emma and Ben‘s wedding at the lovely Holbrook Manor in Wincanton, Somerset with our wedding and event business, Garbanzo’s Event Hire. Just a stones throw from the town of Wincanton, Holbrook Manor is a gorgeous old manor house that makes a fabulous venue for weddings and special occasions. A historic country house with origins dating back to the 13th century, Holbrook Manor has undergone several renovations and expansions over the years to become the grand estate it is today. With its beautiful gardens, intricate woodwork and elegant interiors, Holbrook Manor’s historic charm makes it the perfect Somerset country getaway. Emma and Ben hired our Pics ‘n’ Licks package – including our premium ice cream bicycle and selfie mirror packages – plus, the addition of our giant rustic love letters. Our Pics ‘n’ Licks package has proved extremely popular since we introduced it back in 2021 by combining a couple of our most popular hire items. Our vintage, traditional ice cream bikes serving delicious Marshfield Farm dairy ice cream are where it all started for us, way back in 2012. The ice cream is made a short distance away from us just outside of Bath, and our state of the art selfie mirror photobooth has been a more recent addition to the business which compliments our offering of fun foods and entertainment perfectly. The ice cream bicycle and selfie mirror work brilliantly alongside each other by providing refreshing sweet treats during the day, followed by evening entertainment for the guests. This helps to capture special memories of the occasion and encourages guests to let their hair down and have fun! Find out more about the Pics ‘n’ Licks package on the Garbanzos Event Hire website on our special offers page. If you would like to find out more, just contact us to check availability for your wedding, corporate event or special occasion. We arrived on site first thing in the morning to be greeted by the very helpful Kate from the venue to setup our giant rustic love letters in the foyer of Holbrook Manor. These looked amazing situated next to the piano in the entry hall, and made the perfect greeting and backdrop as friends and family arrived to celebrate Emma and Ben‘s big day. We returned a short while later to set up and serve with one of our traditional ice cream bicycles which fitted in perfectly overlooking the lawn at Holbrook Manor. It was our first time with an ice cream bicycle at Holbrook Manor, which we served from as the guests emerged from Holbrook Manor after the couples ceremony. Emma and Ben chose to go for our favourite serving slot in the mid afternoon after their ceremony, filling the couple of hours perfectly while they had their photographs and guests relaxed with canapés and a drink before they went in to be seated for their wedding breakfast. It was one of the first days this year, in which summer finally felt like it had arrived! Emma and Ben had done a great job of making the day their own, and we noticed lots of amazing, little touches, including personalised drinks cups, personalised signage for the ice cream, bicycles and a wedding logo, which gave everything a consistency for their wedding day. We’ve noticed this is a growing trend at weddings and have had personalised wafers alongside our ice creams a number of times, giving a lovely personalised touch. If you’re thinking of having your own wedding logo or design, you can get these made quickly and cheaply on Fiverr. Following a relaxed couple of hours serving ice cream, we had a short break to unload and collect equipment and returned to Holbrook Manor later in the day with our selfie mirror photo booth. Again using Emma and Bens wedding logo as part of the selfie mirror template reset we set the selfie mirror up in a side room opposite the main hall. This allowed guests to come and have photos taken using a range of fantastic props printing photos that they could keep themselves as well as putting copies in a guest book which we encourage guests sign which would be Emma and Ben is to keep after the day. The guests were in very good form for the evening and the selfie mirror made a brilliant addition to the day. What worked really well at Holbrook Manor for both the ice cream bicycle and selfie mirror is the layout of the manor house. This existed of the main hall where the ceremony and wedding breakfast took place, the entry hall where the bar was situated as well as a couple of side rooms where we were able to set up a selfie mirror magic mirror booth. This also left plenty of room for guests to be able to break out and have a relaxed area to drink and chat, with ample sleeping quarters upstairs to host the guests in Holbrook Manor. After many photos, prints, action shots and packing away, we then returned at the end of the evening to collect the giant rustic love letters. These were moved to the main room to be enjoyed alongside the evening band and made the perfect backdrop for the special couples evening entertainment. We would like to send a special congratulations to Emma and Ben and a thank you for hiring us to be part of their special day. We look forward to attending Holbrook Manor again with the ice cream bicycle, selfie mirror and giant rustic love letters again in the future. Thanks to Kate from Holbrook Manor for your help setting up, and for more tips on organising your own special day please explore the other blog pages on the website.

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