It’s a little damp today as I leave home for the drive up the M1. I will be assisting Miss Carlysle & Co, a venue stylist.

Arriving at the home of J&P, I discover a large marquee in the garden with 6ft round tables and Chiavari chairs which are nearly completed.  The marquee is lined with fairy lights and the arbour decorated with flowers.  Beth directs me to the poolside which will be decorated with various sized cylinder candle stick holders, filled with LED candles. 

There are four flower displays equally spaced along the side of the pool.  I’m to decoratively place the candles of varying sizes between them. It’s a little too early for a swim and I haven’t got a spare set of clothes, so I nervously, and tentatively climb over the flowers to put the candles in place. 

The chairs are dressed and in place for the ceremony, waiting for the florist to place a sprig of flowers attractively on the side of the aisle chairs. A flower arch will be put in place at the entrance to the garden.  It’s a bigger job than I imagined; after a bit of a struggle, the arch is created and we need to get it up in place, securely, in front of the gate.  Hiding in her bag of tricks, Beth finds some fishing wire to invisibly hold the arch in place. 

The arbour will be tastefully decorated with white chiffon drapes, where the bride and groom’s celebrant-led ceremony will take place.  Having not done this before, Beth expertly puts the chiffon elegantly on the wooden frame.  LED tealights are floated in the pond and pool, which will look ethereal in the evening light.

We return the next day to turn the marquee into a dining area and dance floor, where 80 of the couple’s friends and family will dance the night away.  The tables are re-dressed with new tablecloths, black chiffon drapes with candles and eucalyptus leaves.  Chairs are placed around the tables, flower displays floated in the pool, and the tealights rescued from the filter.  We clean up the petal confetti which showered the couple the day before, and the marquee is looking at its finest again.

As I start my journey home, the sun in comparison to the day before is breaking through the clouds; it’s going to be a fabulous evening!