Hopefully you’ve seen the pictures of the renovation of Pendrell Hall, a classic country house wedding venue in South Staffordshire, but I thought it would be nice to write about what it’s like working here during the restoration.
Firstly, for somebody that’s used to wearing high heels most of the time (I actually think I was born wearing 4 inch heels. The only time I don’t wear them is bed time and for running!) it’s been tricky negotiating the floor boards and stepping over the many tools, clay mounds and machinery.
During the week, Pendrell Hall is a hive of activity with numerous trades people all working on different areas of the country house wedding venue in readiness for our first weddings in July of this year. At the weekend we enjoy activity of a different sort, as we open our doors to excited couples that are considering Pendrell Hall Country House Wedding Venue as their perfect civil wedding venue and we share our vision for what a truly beautiful civil wedding venue this is …no I’ll go further than that…Pendrell Hall for me is breath-taking and every time I walk into the Drawing Room and see those magnificent views I think how grateful I am to be in such beautiful surroundings.
Those few minutes of peaceful joy are usually broken by me discovering something newly renovated; Dave, the fantastic Project Manager is just about getting to grips with my childlike excitement upon discovering we have painted a wall or hung a mirror in the Civil Ceremony Room…You can imagine how ecstatic I was when I discovered on Saturday that the wall had been taken down in the Ballroom to reveal the full dimensions of this gorgeous wedding reception room. I’d been waiting for that moment for what felt like forever so I pretty much squealed with excitement. Dave has also learnt that I can be a tad clumsy. I once banged a door behind me which has glass in it from the 1800’s and is irreplaceable and could fall out at any second……a short sharp telling off meant I won’t do that again in a hurry!
That’s how passionate everybody is about restoring this beautiful country house wedding venue. Wherever possible we will recycle original features and utilise them in other rooms. For those of you who come to visit you’ll see that is evident everywhere…from the beautiful stained glass door that was once on the Ballroom that’s now in the bar. The original benches from the Ballroom are being restored and will become part of the seating in the bar area.
We are all different people at Pendrell Hall Wedding Venue from different walks of life and yet all have one common goal to bring this beautiful building to life. Everybody working here respects the magnificent history of Pendrell Hall. For us, restoring the original character of the building is key and yes we will add in contemporary features where we are unable to restore but that’s what makes Pendrell Hall Country House Wedding Venue unique…it’s the loving restoration of old married with modern.
Ok I’m aware that I’m making this sound romantic and joyful…there are also some less romantic realities like…having no heating in the Ballroom and working in my coat and gloves in the office as the windows are old and there’s a draft…not being able to feel my toes and we’ve also struggled with Internet connections and I’ve had to rely on my phone providing a hot spot to allow me to connect which at times is hap hazard…and my clothes are dusty at the end of the day…
but seeing new life being born into a building that was derelict and unsure of its fate is joy. Every new wall that is painted, every new floor board laid, brings it a step closer to its new life as a truly fabulous Country House Wedding Venue…bringing joy to lots of couples.
You can only really truly see this if you come and visit us…one word though… it’s probably wise to leave those heels at home!