Wedding Venues in Marbella and Sotogrande

I love this time of year.

November is getting chilly outside and as we wind down from our flurry of weddings it is lovely to look through and study all the photos from 2011 as we create new portfolios and look books for our studio.

It does take time to process the year and reflect on our work in order to refresh ourselves for our new year.

We are now working on our 2012 weddings and have some very sparky, creative brides on board so looking forward to our winter workshops and brain storming with them!

Today I have been organising photos not only for our portfolios in the studio, but also we have been asked to submit some of our favourite weddings to many hi profile wedding portals which is very exciting.

We are currently organising photos and will be in contact with our clients should their wedding be successful in our submissions to gain approval.

Having been browsing today I had to share this fabulous venue with you, we planned and designed a wedding here in September and I am in love with these photos.

For me they epitomize a Mediterranean evening, the lighting is stunning and this wedding was certainly one big party! Set in a monastery in Sotogrande in fabulous grounds this was a truly stunning setting for our client´s wedding.

We have also been out and about as well recently looking at new venues for weddings and as well as this monastery, we now have a fabulous 23 bedroomed converted convent on our books with it´s own chapel which is licensed for weddings.

You can party all night without noise restrictions. It is beautifully presented and restored and has a whole host of interesting areas to move around in, from the chiringuito bar area for the cocktail or perhaps the inner courtyard, to a fantastic setting for the dinner and dancing, a real hideaway set in the heart of Andalucian natural parkland.

These images above were provided to us by Anna Gazda of our stunning wedding in Sotogrande and having been scouring through all our weddings I wanted to share these with you again as I love them!

I might finally add that our day of venue searching ended up with us driving around looking for a zoo, which we found but was shut, apparently this area has a fabulous lake that we seemed to have missed so we will have to head back, the town I found enchanting and has a large hotel there for guests, we ended up on this day literally driving over the polo fields in Sotogrande, so not entirely sure that Carla wants to come out with me again on a venue reccie! She seemed glad to get out the car at the end of our day! :)

Honeymoon Murders

I have never posted anything sad on my blog as for me weddings are a hugely exciting and beautiful time, but I have been shocked and hugely saddened at the latest news regarding these beautiful brides being murdered on their honeymoons in Africa and Mauritius.

I would like to mention at this point that my heart goes out to these families that are left reeling from these heinous crimes that have been committed.

It is always lovely to plan a wedding and then to elope off to some exotic country for your honeymoon but having travelled extensively when I was in my twenties, I think people do need to be aware of the dangers of travelling to these glamorous resorts that have sprung up in what are basically poverty stricken third world countries.

Whilst the five star hotels and resorts are fabulously luxurious and have everything you could possibly want at your beck and call, you only have to walk outside of these complexes and the difference in culture is shocking, they are literally surviving on nothing, starving, desperate people living by their wits. The close proximity to which these shanty towns are surrounding the resorts are really quite scary and it is obvious they are there for a reason to live off the money that the resorts are bringing in.

I have always found this shocking contrast in lifestyles difficult to digest and vividly recall one incident. I was working on the cruise ships many years ago in Mexico, a friend of mine had a classic accident of diving into a shallow pool and hitting her head, which resulted in a trip out from the comfort zone of the 5 star luxury hotel we were put up in to a godforsaken place without basic sanitation to have a head x-ray in some mudhut.

The images I saw that day have stayed with me, children literally sitting in ditches of raw sewage with wide eyes, no shoes and dressed in rags, wondering who on earth we were, they had nothing, and yet this was a 20 minute ride in a taxi from a glamorous resort and we were in some ramshackle hut set up in the middle of nowhere having a head xray which was also quite barbaric and I remember lots of screaming.

I was aware then of the threat we were under having left the resort and wondering why the taxi driver had taken us to this desolate place and when we thankfully finally made it back to the ship I was relieved to say the least.

My friend was unfortunately very ill and kept passing out so she was airlifted off the ship that night by an emergency helicopter and taken back to Miami with serious concussion. She stayed in hospital in Miami for 10 days and still had black eyes when I met up with her again.

I have been lucky, I have travelled around the world and come back in one piece, but if you do have to book these fabulously exotic honeymoons take your wits with you. In the case of the poor Irish girl murdered I don't think you can prevent this atrocity as she had not left the resort and was murdered apparently by staff there (which is even more frightening) but be aware you are visiting hugely deprived areas and don't leave the hotels or complexes just enjoy your time there and then take a taxi straight to the airport.

Extreme poverty and luxurious settings together are always going to be dangerous places to go.

On this note I have had brides even here in Spain that leave their sensible notions and ways behind and have been robbed here, so please do be aware where there are tourists there is always someone that wants your money, phones and jewellery so please do just be careful and sensible.

Am I subconciously starting a restaurant blog?!

We meet so many charming clients and customers visiting our shop who are immediately transported into a world of flowers, creative ideas and everything that eminates style, so it no wonder really, we are then often asked where we eat out and what restaurants we would recommend they can try out whilst they are in Marbella.

Loraine is far more elegant than me and is the real connoisseur of dining, I cannot compete with Loraine's dining experiences as she is out every night, in fact I bought Loraine a sign earlier this year which says 'I only have a kitchen because it came with the house'!

Since Loraine and I met we do constantly compare notes and often go out now together to try out new venues and of course visit our favourites. 

Everyone keeps saying we should start a restaurant blog and perhaps one day we might but at the moment I am too busy in wedding world, but a plan in thought is always exciting!  

I am happy for now to incorporate this into our wedding blog as I know we get a huge amount of visitors each day, now over 850, and this is also about my life, my thoughts and my inspirations as well as creating and designing weddings, parties and interiors.

Both Loraine and I have high standards regarding foods and wines.

Having said this I spend my summer, when I get my precious free time, at my local beach bar which is hardly restaurant critic standard but never the less fab, if you are not looking for anything remotely posh or amazing, fresh fish and salad with Vinasol! 

Our family have always been lucky in the fact that my parents often took us out for meals from a very young age, not to the local Wimpey, but to fabulous restaurants in London such as the Knightbridge Sporting Club, The Spaghetti House in Knightsbridge, here in Marbella at the Marbella Club, many restaurants around Orange Square and Puerto Banus in the seventies and some famous restaurants where we lived in South England, looking back we were probably quite spoilt!

Although my career never took the direction of food, my sister's did and she is a highly experienced food, cookery and style editor, her knowledge and skills about food and presentation are second to none and she has produced literally hundreds of fabulous food, wine and styling books in her career.  I concentrated on making everything look pretty!

My only claim to stamping any mark on my culinary skills was to take a Cordon Bleu course whilst I was at a finishing school.

Waitrose recipe cards were a godsend when I was trying to be the perfect wife, mother and goddess in the early days and I have been quite good in the kitchen eversince but much prefer going out to try proper masterchef style food :)

We are thoroughly spoilt here in Marbella, there are so many creative restaurants, amazing chefs and a real dedication to providing probably one of the best culinery areas in Europe outside the big cities.

We recently recommend the Cervantes restaurant in the Orange Square in Marbella, who I now see have a facebook page and a website, they did tell us this was imminent, so here is the website link, I am already planning what to eat next time I go!

http://www.restaurantecervantes.com/

Another restaurant I was taken to this summer, by my delightful friend Andrew, again a foodie and connoiseur of the finer things in life, that has stuck in my mind and I cannot wait to get back there was La Moraga in Puerto Banus. 

Again delicious small portions of food, the blackened cod and asparagus I still dream about, delightful.  I think the only downside of this restaurant is the location, would be fabulous on the beach or in Marbella old town, and the fact you have to now queue to get in as it is so popular, something really I am not prepared to do, so this puts me off.  You cannot book here and you are in and out which a dining experience is not really about for me. 

My lovely friend Heather from Fiestasol said she went there today, she was there at 1.30pm ready for when it opened and there was already a queue.  However rave food review from Heather who runs her own catering company, perhaps I should make the effort to queue again for another blackened cod!

Heather is now off to try Cervantes, I don't think she will be disappointed :)

Restaurant Cervantes Orange Square Marbella

It is not often I go to other restaurants outside of my favourites, but I was persuaded to try this restaurant by my sister, a food and cookery editor, who visited this restaurant this summer and has raved about it eversince and has nagged me to try it when I was not so busy working here in the summer.

My sister was so enthusiastic about the food and assured me it was perfect for me as it was delightfully prepared food in smaller portions as I hate being presented with huge platefuls of food. 

It also brings back memories of when we were children and our parents often took us into Marbella to eat out in the townhouse style restaurants of Marbella, including the Meson Pasaje, the Old Creperia, which is now Cervantes, and another wonderful restaurant that sadly is no longer there but it was like sitting in someone's dining room, in fact we probably were and being served the most delicious spinach a la creme by a Harry Worth lookalike !

So busy summer over and time to try these fabulous restaurants out, I booked a table and went with Loraine, a huge food and wine connoiseur, and the owner of the Arte Cafe and Earthscent.  We booked a table on the terrace and luckily on this November evening it was beautifully warm and mild and the view over Orange Square was just how I remembered it and magical.

 The menu choice was wonderful and it all sounded delicious, Loraine was stumped for choice which apparently is rare!  Loraine eats out most nights and is a real foodie, she had also been recommended this restaurant as well from another one of our clients,  so she was very excited and is still talking about the marvellous meal we had even now, so that says something!

What can I say, the food was to die for, it was beautifully presented, fabulous flavour combinations and just perfect.  The chef, who apparently is only 25 years old, is a genius.  I was in heaven at this restaurant.  I had a quail and chestnut salad to start, Loraine and I both had the lamb followed by some amazing bread puddings with passion fruit icecream for me and a parmesan icecream for Loraine.

This restaurant has only been open 5 months and is so worth a visit if you are a foodie, masterchef style diner.  For me it is already now on my list of special restaurants to visit and my sister and I are planning to go at Christmas.  It has an open fire as well so perfect for winter dining, with a lovely shabby chic feel to it, just hoping they have lots of candles there throughout the winter and the fire raging!

I get asked all the time for restaurants I recommend and this is certainly one of them, the owner, Phillipe, is charming and dropped off some leaflets to our shop the next day offering our clients a free glass of french champagne to anyone that wishes to visit this fabulous restaurant, so if you are looking for a real food heaven restaurant to visit this is definitely on our list, the quality of food and the service was outstanding.

Next time you are in Orange Square in Marbella, dont' fall into one of the tourist restaurants that charge you the earth for nothing spectacular, take the time to book a table at Cervantes and have a fabulous meal at the same prices prepared by the most extraordinary chef.

Their telephone number for bookings is 952 776 759

Christmas Weddings

It is difficult at the moment with all this rain in Spain to be creative, I feel like (and have been) flopping out on the sofa with my little Twinkle toes (3 year old!), painting, glittering, reading my magazines and making teddy bear beds!

However, having decided to try to gain some creativity tonight, I came across these lovely images from Misty Dawn Photo, evoking a huge sense of fun and festivity for a Christmas themed wedding. Absolutely adore the gingerbread bride and groom and all the lovely details from the candy canes used as table seating indicators to the seasonal table names. I can only imagine what the table names were, Santa, Rudolph, etc. A hugely fun time to have a wedding with all the wonderful themes you could conjour up for a Christmas wedding or party.

I might get round to the Rocky Road cakes tomorrow courtesy of my Nigella cookbook!

New Baby

One of our brides, from earlier this year, cancelled her wedding due to falling pregnant for a long awaited baby.

Our huge congratulations to Caroline and her family, as we have just heard from Talia at Thoroughly Gorgeous that Caroline's baby safely arrived into this world this week!

We can feel a baby shower coming on!

Autumn Inspiration

Feeling very guilty about my blogging absence, but now the autumn has arrived and life becomes quieter I am so excited about being able to spend more time browsing and finding these fabulous inspirations online.

It is difficult to get into the autumnal mode here when southern Spain is still basking in fabulous weather and we are still enjoying temperatures of 80 degrees! I am sure it won't last forever so making the most of it and certainly the nights are arriving earlier now.

I found this fabulous inspiration board on Snippet and Ink, I love the flower girl wreaths, such a lovely idea and definitely one for Christmas weddings.

The Rain in Spain

After a few weeks of rain and storms, I was beginning to get rather fed up with it, tornados in Malaga and Estepona and being stuck indoors for what seems like an eternity listening to the rain hammering down and the constant lightening.

That lovely elocution lesson in My Fair Lady "the rain in spain stays mainly on the plain" has certainly not been true this week as the rain has lashed the Costa Del Sol! This image I found this morning on Oh Hello Friend blog cheered me up, it makes rain look romantic!