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7 Steps To Set Up a Wedding Business Side Hustle and Earn Extra Money in Your Spare Time

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Do you need to earn extra money in your spare time? Or would you love to start your own wedding business side hustle? Whether you just need to earn extra cash or have a passion you would love to pursue – a wedding business side hustle could be perfect for you. Whether you would love to start a business as a DJ, equipment hirer, a photographer, photobooth operator, wedding stationary designer or cake maker – the wedding industry offers a wealth of opportunities to earn extra money in your spare time. Stuck on the fence? Here are some reasons why a wedding business could be a great side hustle to earn extra money in your spare time: Sound good? If you are resourceful, organised and have the other skills that would help make a great wedding supplier – a wedding business could be a great way to earn extra money in your spare time. Here are the steps you need to get started: 1 – Ask yourself if there are any types of wedding business that already interest you Think about the last wedding you attended and all the small details that came together to create the day. Most weddings will include at a minimum: But that’s just the beginning, most weddings involve far more services. From fun food and drink services, to décor, entertainment, specialty services (such as fireworks or glamping), wedding planning services and equipment hire. Consider what interests or excites you and make a shortlist. 2 – Assess your skills, income and resources? Think about what skills you have, startup budget and resources such as a car or large vehicle and storage space. Some of the business ideas mentioned above will be highly skilled and require significant upfront investment. Whereas others are low skilled and can be started from as little as a few hundred pounds. Identify what resources and budget you have available and compare these to your shortlist to see what could be viable, or how you could put measures in place to overcome any challenges. 3 – Market research To get an idea of the local opportunities available to you, research local venues around you. How many are there within an hour? Attend local wedding fairs to see what’s popular and what you think you could do better or differently. Hone in on your idea and look at competitors websites to get an idea of packages, prices and how they present their services.https://theweddingman.co.uk/10-alternative-wedding-catering-ideas-for-the-big-day/ This will give you a good idea of local demand and opportunities to help you identify where you can fit in to the local market, and start earning extra money in your spare time. 4 – Identify what you need to get started To ensure you launch successfully, list the essential components needed for your business. This includes: Once you have a checklist of what you need to get started, research and identify equipment costs. Contact insurance companies and assemble the necessary paperwork. It’s important that you have all legal requirements ready so that you are fully compliant and professional when the bookings start coming in. 5 – Prepare your business offer From researching competitors and the local market, you should have an idea of what you want to offer. Consider your service offering – will you offer multiple packages for different price points or just one main package or service to start with? How much will your service cost? How many hours will this be for? What’s included in the package? Are there any variations according to times, guest numbers etc? What will your payment terms be? Once you have answers to all of these and a clear idea of what the service you will be offering in your wedding side hustle will be, you are almost ready to launch and start earning extra money in your spare time from your new wedding business side hustle. 6 – Set up your brand and marketing channels When you are ready to launch your new wedding business – you will need to let people know about what you have to offer. The first step is deciding your business name, you will then need to get a logo created. You can do this quickly and cheaply on outsourcing websites such as Fiverr. You can then setup the 5 marketing materials every wedding business needs. Once you have these in place, you can start promoting your services and booking into local wedding fairs or events to promote your offering. 7 – Grow and assess what works Once you have started taking bookings, your wedding side hustle will be well on the way to helping you earn extra money in your spare time. At this stage, you may wish to add extra packages to cater for different audiences or budgets, diversify your offering with other equipment, add bundle packages or upsells to help you earn more from your business. You can also apply the 80/20 principle (Pareto’s Law) to determine what works and generates the best returns (or what causes the most problems). Using this process, you can then get rid of any challenging areas and double down on the areas of the business that are most productive and work best. This is a sure fire way to build your brand successfully and earn extra money in your spare time or even grow your wedding business side hustle into a full time business. If you would like more information, I have created the Wedding Business Success Formula which goes into much more depth to help you start and launch your wedding business to earn lots of extra money in your spare time. Buy your copy to get started, or check out our other wedding supplier resources and free weekly newsletter here.

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Could Starting Your Own Wedding Business Be The Perfect Side Hustle Job?

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Have you ever thought of starting your own wedding business? Or do you just need a side hustle job to make some extra cash to support your family or add an extra source of income to make life easier? We all know that times are tough at the moment. Many of us now have a side hustle job Recent statistics show that more than half of UK adults have side hustle jobs to generate extra income and manage the rising cost of living. Side hustle jobs range from freelancing and e-commerce to tutoring, investing, or working a second job. Finding the right side hustle job can be overwhelming – should you try and make money online, start a small business, or just take on an extra job? Why is a wedding business a great side hustle job? Over the years, I’ve tried countless side hustles—blogging, running websites, reselling goods, affiliate marketing, KDP publishing, opening an Etsy shop, and many other entrepreneurial ventures. Believe me, I’ve driven my wife crazy with all the ideas I’ve pursued! But do you know why my wedding business has been my most reliable source of income? Because it’s real and tangible. You provide a real product or service and get paid to provide it. Unlike get-rich-quick schemes, it doesn’t promise millions overnight or rely on some mysterious “automated” system sold by a self-proclaimed YouTube guru. And don’t get me wrong—I get the appeal of passive income. But I’ve explored enough of these so-called golden opportunities to know that most of them are a waste of time, effort, and money. The old saying rings true: If it sounds too good to be true, it probably is. A wedding side hustle business is different. As you gain experience, you build relationships with venues and suppliers, which leads to referrals and repeat business. Sound complicated? It’s actually much simpler than you might think. And when it comes to making real, dependable money, it’s far more practical than chasing the latest YouTube side hustle fad—trust me, I’ve been down that rabbit hole! Our brand new step-by-step guide The Wedding Business Success Formula tells you everything you need to launch your own wedding side hustle job. Yes, you’ll need to put in some effort. Yes, you’ll have to talk to people and handle basic admin, like responding to emails and sending quotes. But let’s be honest—that’s not rocket science. And the potential income? It’s a lot more than minimum wage and can be very lucrative if done properly. The wedding industry is the perfect solution to creating your own side hustle job. Due to the nature of weddings, many are on the weekend so you can also work your wedding business side hustle around an existing job or commitments. Check out the 5 things I wish I knew before starting a wedding business here. Which wedding business should I start as a side hustle? The great thing about weddings are the whole host of services that a wedding has. Think about the last wedding you attended and all the small details that came together to create the day. Most weddings will include at a minimum: But that’s just the beginning—most weddings involve far more suppliers! To give you an idea of the range of possibilities, here’s a list of potential business ideas and side hustle opportunities within the wedding industry: Just from the list above, you can see there’s a whole wealth of niches you could explore! These also range from ideas you could set up with a few hundred pounds in the next few weeks, to businesses that require big investments but could generate huge profits down the line! A wedding side hustle job also offers you a great opportunity to explore a passion. Whether its photography, food, creative design, DJ’ing, music or something else – see if you can make money from it, and maybe turn it into a full time source of income if it goes well! How much can you earn from a wedding side hustle business? Depending on the wedding side hustle you choose, you can earn anything from an extra few hundred pounds a day up to thousands of pounds extra per week. If you choose the right niche and provide a high-quality service or product, your wedding side hustle job could bring in far more than any part-time job ever would, and you can also work it alongside your main day job. When I first started my events business, I was working an office job earning about £100 per day. Meanwhile, my weekend wedding side hustle—serving fun foods at weddings—earned me £200–£250 for just 4–5 hours of work. The work was fun, unskilled, and easy to do. Anyone could do it. That extra cash completely changed my financial situation. It gave me the freedom to eat out, take holidays, and enjoy life without stressing about money. And the best part? I was my own boss. I used to dread working weekends and evenings for someone else, but when it’s your business and your schedule, it’s completely different. Suddenly, working weekends is worth it—especially when it brings in hundreds or even thousands of extra pounds or dollars per week. If you’re looking for a profitable, flexible, and enjoyable side hustle, that takes you to amazing places and lets you pursue a passion, the wedding industry could be exactly what you need. So, what’s stopping you? Check out The Wedding Business Success Formula to help you get started in this lucrative and exciting industry, and sign up for my free weekly newsletter to give you tips and ideas to build your business quickly and earn more.

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The First 5 Marketing Materials Every Wedding Business Needs (And How to Create Them on a Budget)

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Starting a wedding business is an exciting journey, but one of the biggest challenges is standing out in a competitive industry.  Whether you’re a florist, photographer, wedding planner, you run a photobooth business or are a wedding stationer, having professional marketing materials in place for your wedding business is essential to attract clients and build credibility. The good news?  You don’t need a massive budget for marketing materials when starting a wedding business. In this post, we’ll walk you through five essential marketing materials every wedding supplier needs—and how to create them quickly and affordably. 1. A Professional Website Why it’s important: Your website is your digital shop window and it’s usually the first impression potential clients will have of your wedding business. A well-designed website builds trust and showcases your services perfectly. How to achieve this quickly and cheaply: 2. Business Cards or Flyers Why they are important: Networking is a major part of the wedding industry. Having attractive, professional business cards or flyers ensures that you have something tactile to give to potential clients and industry contacts to remember you by. This should briefly outline what you offer, your business name, website and contact details.  How to achieve this quickly and cheaply: 3. Social Media Profiles (Instagram & Pinterest Are a Must!) Why it’s important: When planning their wedding day, brides and grooms often research suppliers visually—and Instagram and Pinterest are the top platforms for wedding inspiration. A well-curated feed can turn casual visitors into paying clients. A free Facebook business page is also very useful to create a profile, add pictures of events, testimonials and package details to generate interest in your services. How to achieve this quickly and cheaply: 4. A Beautiful Digital Portfolio (Even If You’re Just Starting Out) Why it’s important: Couples want to see what you can create. A well-presented digital portfolio showcases your skills and builds confidence in your services. How to achieve this quickly and cheaply: 5. A Pricing Guide or Brochure Why it’s important: A pricing guide answers common questions upfront and saves you time on enquiries. It also helps set expectations for your services. How to achieve this quickly and cheaply: Final Thoughts: Start Small, Grow Big You don’t need a huge marketing budget to start your wedding business. By focusing on these five essentials, you’ll have a professional presence that attracts your first clients. Start with free tools, upgrade gradually, and remember—the wedding industry is all about creating memorable experiences. Your marketing should reflect that by outlining the benefits you provide and creating an emotional connection with your potential customers. Are you working on any of these marketing materials at the moment? Drop me a message in the comments section below and let me know. Whether you are just starting a wedding business side hustle or are an experienced wedding pro – sign up for our free weekly newsletter to get more tips to earn more and get more bookings, straight in your inbox every Friday. The brand new Wedding Business Success Formula also shows you everything you need to start your own wedding business. Grab your copy now!

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8 of the qualities it takes to make a great wedding supplier

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Have you ever thought about starting your own wedding business?  Would you love to be a wedding supplier or start a lucrative side hustle in the wedding or events industry?  Or are you a future bride or groom wondering what qualities to look for in potential suppliers? Having been a wedding supplier for over 10 years, I’ve noticed beneficial traits in myself and many other great suppliers and wedding industry professionals that I’ve met along the way. I’m not going to stand here and say working at weddings is rocket science. Or it’s life and death.  It’s much harder and more serious than that!  But seriously, there can obviously be a lot of pressure and expectation on a wedding suppliers shoulders. And rightly so. If you are being paid to do a job or deliver a service; you are being paid to take it seriously and take pride in doing it well. You may be providing critical aspects which define the smooth running of someone’s wedding day.  Deviating from this tightrope of a role can potentially cause significant impact to the enjoyment of someone’s wedding if these aren’t delivered smoothly and professionally.  Take heed.  Whether it’s the wedding planner, caterer, photographer, florist, DJ/band, celebrant or photobooth operator. These are the traits that you should look for as a future bride and groom to minimise fuss and ensure you receive a top notch, timely and well delivered service on your wedding day. Thinking of starting your own wedding business or already up and running? Sign-up now to download the ‘5 Things I wish I knew before starting a wedding supplier business’ * indicates required Email Address * First Name /* real people should not fill this in and expect good things – do not remove this or risk form bot signups */ Are you a current or future wedding supplier? Then you may recognise some or all of these in yourself. If not, cultivating these traits will hopefully help you in the future.  If you are thinking of starting your own wedding business, here are a list of the traits that help make a great wedding supplier: Conscientious The wedding is yours – or someone else’s – big day. Your moment in the lime light.  For many, one of the biggest and most memorable days of their lives. So you want it to run as smoothly as possible. Timely, issue free and with no unexpected dramas.  Of course issues happen sometimes.  But conscientiousness on the part of suppliers will help ensure that they prepare properly, turn up on time and are well presented. Most of all, being conscientious means they will take pride in delivering their service, and ensure you have a good time and positive experience in the process. Reliable Following closely on from being conscientious, being reliable is a key trait. Weddings aren’t your average 9-5 profession where you can phone in sick at the slightest sign of a headache.  Being reliable means you turn up when you say will and deliver what you have been booked to. No ifs, no buts. Come hell or high water, a reliable supplier will only let you down in the most extreme of circumstances or where it truly can’t be helped. They are being paid to take the stresses and strains off the couples shoulders. Occasionally equipment or vehicle failures do occur through no fault of a suppliers.  However the rest of the time, a reliable supplier will ensure the service is delivered and completed when it should be. Or if the worst happens, they will arrange for someone else to cover for them.  The same of course goes for staff. When looking for casual staff or summer helpers, one of the key traits I look for is reliability. There’s no room for shirkers and skivers on the wedding train! Be friendly and approachable You know what I think? Weddings are happy places. Magical days that people will look back on for years to come with fond memories, wry smiles and wistful stories. As a supplier, every interaction you have with couples, the venue or other suppliers should be a positive one that adds to this wherever possible. Okay, there may be challenges along the way and inevitably there are bumps here and there. However if you generally have a friendly and approachable manner, you will be remembered as being pleasurable and easy to deal with.  This will grease the wheels for future bookings and referrals – from the couple, guests, the venue and other suppliers – more than fancy marketing materials ever will. Try and make a couples’ wedding journey as smooth as possible.  Build rapport. Answer any queries you receive as quickly and positively as possible.  If you have any issues or challenges, try to ensure a mutually beneficial outcome for all parties whenever you can. People buy from people after all.  This will also go a long way to generating positive feedback, referrals and testimonials from a happy couple in the future after a positive experience working with you. Good admin and organisational skills Inevitably a well organised and professional wedding supplier is going to have to schedule their time effectively and be on top of any admin tasks.  This includes planning ahead, having effective time management practises in place, managing any staff and basic admin tasks such as emails, quotes, invoicing, supplier orders and payments etc. Not the most sexy or fun part of the job but hey, it’s got to be done. Unless of course you are super organised and have outsourced these unsavoury tasks! Having processes and systems help. Using templates and apps help. But however they manage it, having these underlying tasks in place lets them focus on the most important task of delivering fantastic events for their paying customers. Self motivated Working for yourself or running your own business can be a big shift from working for someone else. Ultimately if you don’t do things (or delegate or outsource them), then they don’t get done.  If you can’t drag yourself out of bed to attack your to do list, then no-one else will.  You need to be self motivated enough to be on top of things and make a success of your business.  Of course,

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The Wedding Industry – here’s why I love it!

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Tired. Burnt out. Desperate for a rest. Have you ever felt this way? I tend to feel this way near the end of every September after a long wedding season.  But luckily it doesn’t last long! Now it’s January and I’m desperate to get going again. Let me tell you why. Firstly well it’s the money, cash flow is tougher at this time of year. But money comes and goes, that’s just life. There’s more to it, much more. I’ve run my own wedding business now for 12 years and quite simply I love it. Since I started a business as a wedding supplier, I was drawn to it like a moth to the flame and I can’t help but keep coming back for more. Starting as a side hustle, the wedding business quickly grew into a full time income that has given me freedom, flexibility and the ability to manage my own time.  Like all jobs and businesses, you have your ups and downs.  Busy spells, quiet spells, long days, equipment failures, unexpected issues. But there’s something special about working at events, and in particular weddings.  I started to consider this a few years ago. What is it that keeps me coming back for more!? Well there’s the obvious stuff.  You’re dealing with happy and excited people Yes they can have a few challenges along the way, plenty of questions and the odd bout of the wedding jitters, but you’re helping them create the biggest day of their lives. It’s a special privilege.  You get paid well for what you do.  Working in event, the hours can be unusual and sometimes require weekend and unsociable hours. But you set your own rates and people choose if they pay it.  The price of working weekends and late, unsociable hours is that normally you have decent recompense for it.  You go to beautiful places  Can you imagine exploring the countryside and rolling down long, grand and winding driveways before glorious old venues open up before you? There’s not many other jobs that take you to stately homes, spectacular hotels, Manor House’s, beautiful converted barns, golf clubs and many more fabulous places across the country as a matter of course.  These are places that I may never had a reason to go to otherwise.  To explore and see some of these places always continues to be enjoyable. Whether it’s the gorgeous Brympton House, Limpley Stoke Hotel, Orchardleigh or some my other favourite venues across the south west and UK.  Working at beautiful venues rarely gets boring. And there’s something special about stumbling on a hidden gem of a venue that you’ve never been to before, and marking it as one you can’t wait to come back to some day.  But most of all, and this crystallised in my mind a few years ago. Here’s the best bit to me. You get to be part of people’s lives for a short time You get to see a snapshot into other people’s lives; their social circles and groups that you would never be a part of otherwise. You bear witness to tender moments, feasts, celebrations, individual quirks and raucous speeches alike. I love this most of all. And it really is special. So is working in the wedding industry.  Is this the type of work that you would also find appealing? Have you ever thought of starting your own wedding business?  I’ll be talking about this much more in future posts and will soon be releasing a helpful guide to help any other prospective wedding entrepreneurs who are considering setting up a wedding business or side hustle. Because weddings are special places. Places that are all about celebration, and the people involved. People that come together for a special day and may never be in the same room together again.  Weddings are a fleeting but crystallised moment that last in people’s minds forever. And it’s great to be a part of their memories and story.  That’s why starting a wedding business can be one of the most rewarding businesses that I could recommend to others. Would you like to join it too? Find out how to start your own lucrative wedding business in The Wedding Business Success Formula to launch your business and start earning money quickly. You can also follow me at The Wedding Man to find out more about how to start your own wedding business, and download the 5 Things I wish I knew before starting a wedding supplier business. You won’t regret it!

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A perfect day for ice cream at beautiful Brympton House

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Impact-Site-Verification: 3f396d57-5e96-4294-8e36-e4cec1515f3a On Sunday 28 May, we had the pleasure of attending Sam and his partners wedding with our traditional ice cream bicycle at the stunning country venue, Brympton House near Yeovil in Somerset. If you could picture the quintessential English country house, I don’t think Brympton House would be too far off! Weddings, sun and ice cream were the order of the day and Brympton House was the perfect host. The most beautiful house in England  As a mark of how glorious it is, the house has been called the most beautiful in England. In 1927, Country Life dedicated three articles to Brympton House in which Christopher Hussey, an architectural authority of the time, termed it “the one which created the greatest impression and summarises so exquisitely English country life qualities.” Located just off of a quiet road and down a long drive, the house all of a sudden opens up to the left-hand side of you. The drive leading to the buildings frames the beautiful house just beyond perfectly, with gorgeous old stone houses and buildings, lining the driveway to the main house to the left and right hand side. It was our first visit with our ice cream bicycle to Brympton House in Somerset. With gorgeous blue skies, there couldn’t have been a better day to celebrate a wedding on a sunny day in May. It’s fair to say there’s also not many other venues we would have preferred to be at! Wedding venues  As I was chatting to the catering team who were busy preparing canopies and refreshments for the drinks reception, I commented when looking at the name of the venue that I couldn’t remember if I had attended a wedding here before. However, upon arrival as the gorgeous manor house opened out before me, I realised it was my first time and you certainly couldn’t have had a better day or a nicer couple for it. As I mentioned to the caterers, having run the Garbanzo’s Event Hire wedding and event hire business for over 10 years, in the early stages I used to remember every venue that I had attended!   This usually included the practical stuff of where I’d parked, the access routes to set up areas, best serving spots and other handy and not very interesting stuff for the usual visitors to the venues! However over ten years down the line and hundreds if not thousands of venues later, plus a little middle aged memory fog and somehow they’ve all merged into each other. Brympton House however, I didn’t think I’ll be forgetting in a hurry! Brympton House key features  As we overlooked the generous lawn and lake from our ice cream bicycle serving position it was abundantly clear that Brympton House has a lot to offer across its beautiful grounds. The key features of Brympton House for those looking to hire it for weddings, special occasions or corporate events are many! These include exclusive use for hirees and a civil license so ceremonies can be performed on the grounds in its own private church. The house comfortably sleeps 72 guests and can host 228 guests seated for meals. It also has its own ‘party barn’ – (I didn’t see this personally, but just the name has got me interested!) and is a beautiful space for any occasion with the honeymoon suite being a particular jewel in Brympton Houses’ crown. With everything that it offers on its generous grounds, Brympton House is the perfect venue for a stress free wedding day. Venue history  Brympton House, otherwise known as Brympton d’Evercy is a grade 1 listed Manor House.  Building was begun by the D’Evercy family around 1220 and proceeded to expand slowly up until the 18th century. It was little known for 750 years, and after spending a short time as a boys school after the Second World War, was reclaimed as a private home. It remains a private house to this day, but is occasionally hired out as a filming location or for weddings and hospitality events as I had attended today. The complex of buildings on site consists of the mansion, its stables and other outbuildings, the parish church and a puzzling building known as the Priest House. The Garbanzo’s ice cream bicycle at Brympton House The reason why I love the job of running Garbanzo’s Event Hire is how it takes me to such beautiful places and having the honour of being a a small part of peoples weddings and celebrations. Sometimes I have to remind myself how special this really is. Attending events with our ice cream bicycles and other event hire items gives myself and the team privileged access to many magical venues and occasions, peeking into other social groups, friends and family groups that we otherwise wouldn’t get to see. Attending Brympton House with our ice cream bike was this exact privilege and we enjoyed playing our small part in helping the happy couple, their friends and family celebrate on their big day! Thanks for having us along to an amazing afternoon and we look forward to attending Brympton House again with our ice cream bicycle or other hire items again soon. Have you taken the first steps on your wedding journey yet? If you’re contemplating making the first move towards getting hitched, read our guide to taking the plunge and proposing.

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Sweets and selfie mirror fun at Limpley Stoke Hotel

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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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Antrobus House ice cream bicycle

Evening antics with our ice cream bicycle at Antrobus House

Leave a Comment / The Big Day /

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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