Vintage Reeds

Hello guys,

Just a quick note to share the myspace page of the band that will be playing at our reception, featuring two whole songs for you to sample!!
find them here: http://www.myspace.com/vintagereeds
do feel free to let us know what you think in posts below, or send us an email.
All the best!
Tom and Naomi

P.s. Invitations are coming! Just dealing with a delay at the printers.

Food Glorious food!

Being the selfless, giving sort of people that we are, Naomi and I (Plus Naomi's Matron of Honour Naomi, and her husband Dan) have generously taken it upon ourselves to go to the Grange and make sure the food will be up to scratch for the reception.  While there, you'll be pleased to know that we've managed to make a decision on what the final menu will be for the day.



We've made our decisions based entirely on our own tastes, and on an honest belief that the dishes we have chosen are the best.  I'll put the details of all the three courses, plus photographs, below.  If there's something there that you would not be able to have, or dietary considerations we need to inform the chef at the grange about, get in touch on facebook, email at tommit4@hotmail.com, or call us on 07791482286.  Without any further ado, let's commence the looking at pictures of food.

Starter

Confit Duck Terrine

A duck leg terrine wrapped with Prosciutto and served with toasted brioche and a caramelised onion chutney.

On the day this will be served as a slice of terrine, rather than the semi circles seen in the image.  As this isn't currently on the granges menu, the chef prepared our portions using ramekins rather than a terrine dish, so it may look more presentable on the day.

One of the things we liked about this dish was the perfect consistency of the terrine, and the relatively lean and light, but still flavoursome taste of the duck.  The combination of this with the tang of the chutney pretty much made up our minds.  We may ask for the brioche to be switched to something else, as Naomi is not the biggest fan of it, but something similar will end up on the plate.

Obviously the other thing that attracted us were the orange sweep and green splats (they're very fashionable, don't you know)!

Main Course

Braised Lamb Shank

        

Just look at it!  Some of the most tender lamb we've ever tasted.  Husband of the Matron of honour, Dan, has claimed since childhood to not be a fan of lamb, and walked away from this meal a changed man!  We understand that lamb is not a common choice for reception food, but were utterly convinced by this dish that there could be no other choice.  The lamb shank is resting on a parmesan and garlic (we'll makes sure there's a bowl of mints somewhere) mashed potato, and comes with a side plate of seasonal vegetables.  All I can say is that this absolutely blew us away!

Desert

Chocolate and Pistachio Semi-freddo

As the final dish of the meal, this one was absolutely brilliant.  Rich chocolately, nutty semi-freddo beautifully presented with all sorts of tweels, mint and even a cheeky physalis!  The (oh so fashionable) sweeps are white chocolate and caramel, adding to an already delicious chocolatey treat.  It's a little rich, but then so is the rest of the meal.  I for one am greatly looking forward to it.

There'll be the usual accompaniments of teas coffees served after, with wine and other drinks available throughout too.  It's worth bearing in mind that if all our plans come together there will be significant amounts of cheese available after the meal too (more details on this later, promise).

So there it is, in all it's glory!  I hope you enjoyed reading about it as much as we enjoyed sampling it for you.  We can't wait to sit down with you all and enjoy it on the day!

Accomodation in Bury St Edmunds

Hi All,

Just wanted to put a quick post up with details of places to stay in Bury St Edmunds.  As the wedding is going to be held in a church near the town centre, and the reception venue is only 3 miles out of town, I will only be mentioning hotels in Bury St Edmunds.

First mention should go to the Grange, wich is the hotel where our reception will be held.  We have been warned that rooms are filling up, so if you decide you would like to stay there, get in touch asap!
http://securebooking.eviivo.com/MyWebsite/Details.aspx?ContentID=22406&IndustryType=1

The cannon brewery is a really nice independant free house on cannon street in Bury St Edmunds.  About 5 minutes walk from the town centre (and about 10 from the church) it's very nicely located.  The hotel's rooms are opposite (and far enough away to avoid disturbance) from the cannon brewery's bar, where you can try the beer brewed on the premises.
http://www.oldcannonbrewery.co.uk/stay.html

The Abbey hotel is close to the town centre and the church and is a very pleasant privately owned hotel.  Part of the hotel is comprised of a number of grade 2 listed building, carefully converted inside to suit modern needs.
http://www.abbeyhotel.co.uk/

It doesn't really get much closer to the church than this.  Greene kings flagship pub, the dog and partridge, is located in the town centre, and is just off the road that the church can be found on.  Admittedly a little lively on a weekend, the accomodation has been built to avoid guest being disturbed by those in the pub.  When not teaming the dog and partridge is a very nice place for a relaxed drink and a meal.
http://gkpubs.co.uk/pubs-in-bury-st-edmunds/dog-and-partridge-pub/

For those seeking a little luxury over the weekend, the Angel hotel offers 4 stars of it.  Located in the heart of Bury, just opposite the old Abbey gate, the angel is perfectly situated for exploring the town and reaching the church.  I may need to check my facts on this, but I believe Tim and Judith stayed in the Angel hotel after their marriage.
http://www.theangel.co.uk/

For those of you planning on staying up all night celebrating with us, and who just need a place to crash when we're done, the Ramada hotel is really well situated on the outskirts of Bury, and offer very good rates on their rooms too.
http://www.ramada.co.uk/hotels/united-kingdom/bury-st.-edmunds/ramada-bury-st-edmunds/hotel-overview

Bear in mind that all the websites I've posted here are for the official websites of the hotels, and I'm sure if you look through booking agents you'll be able to find cheaper room rates too.  Please get in touch with me if there's somewhere you can reccomend and I'll add it to this list.  I hope this helps those of you coming down to help plan your stay.  We can't wait to see you soon.

Tom and Naomi

Welcome!

Hi All,

Thanks for coming to our website.  We're planning on using it as a place where we can announce plans, post interesting ideas, leave useful links about Bury St Edmunds and hear from any of you who want to give us some ideas or feedback.  At the moment we're still planning things, so will announce stuff as it's finalised and are very happy to hear your suggestions!

We'll put up information and details on our venues and some of the people you'll meet at the wedding, and hopefully provide everyone with a good idea of our plans and help you make plans of your own for the big day.

We have put up details of St Edmunds Church, http://www.stedmundkm.org.uk/ where our ceremony will take place, and the Grange Hotel, http://burystedmundshotel.com/ where our reception will be held.  All of these events will happen on the 24th May 2013.  We'll be sending round save the date cards soon (honest)!

We both can't wait to see you all soon, and hopefully we'll catch up with a good few of you between now and the wedding.  As always feel free to send me an email at tommit4@hotmail.com and we'll get back in touch with you as soon as we can.

Lots of Love,
Tom and Naomi

p.s. apologies for the obnoxious picture...

The Grange Hotel

The Grange Hotel can be found a few miles outside of Bury St Edmunds in the quiet village of Thurston.  With its beautiful Tudor style exterior, and secluded gardens, we're hoping the Grange will provide a really lovely backdrop for our wedding reception.  

We will endeavour to ensure this keeps flowing!

Guests will be greeted with canapes and drinks on arrival after the service, and will be able to explore the surrounding of the hotel.  A three course Dinner will be served shortly after, with all the usual speeches, toasting and revelry.  The hotel will remain at our service until midnight, although if it is deemed necessary we can book in advance for it to stay open later (Let me know if you think this is necessary, I imagine I'll be pooped).

The Grange is a 3 star hotel with 18 rooms (including 2 detached challets).  Accomodation is available at the grange, with rooms ranging from £80 for a single to £160 for a family room (although prices may rise soon).  Rooms can be booked online at: http://burystedmundshotel.com/ 

We will list details of other accommodation as soon as I have details to put online.  For now I hope this helps.

Thanks,

Tom and Naomi

About St Edmunds King and Martyr Church

St Edmund, King and Martyr church is the main catholic church in Bury St Edmunds and is where we are planning on having our wedding ceremony!  It's easily recognisable by it's classic roman style frontage and is located on Westgate street, at the end of a row that includes Greene King's brewery and the rest of the famous brewer's offices.

The Westgate Street face of St Edmunds, King and Martyr church

The Priest who will be doin' the stuff for us is Monsignor Phillip Shryane, who Naomi has known since moving to Bury St Edmunds in 2004.  He has kindly agreed to even tolerate my heathen ways (in no small part to Naomi's charm).

The Entrance for the Brewery tour of Greene King, at the far end of Westgate Street

"Fr Philip Shryane has been parish priest at St Edmund's for more than 10 years. The Council is very much part of our parish life and is a great source of advice and a lively area for consultation, those elected can make a valuable contribution to the life of the parish. The advice of the Council has been particularly important in the planning of our building projects over the last two years." -St Edmunds Website

The view down the isle from the altar

There's loads more information, and more photographs of the church on their official website: http://www.stedmundkm.org.uk/

As a final note, I would just like to say the front of the church does not at all make me think of this classic lunn poly advert