August News from Butley Priory
Our monthly news blog posts are always a gentle reminder of how quickly each month comes around and I’m always amazed and aghast in equal measure at how time flies so quickly.
August conjures up the long summer break for schools and with it brings a busy influx of holiday guests to Butley Priory Cottage. We’ve had some lovely reviews from guests, and you can check these out on our Airbnb listing. Here’s just one from Tim who stayed with us recently…
Earlier in July, we welcomed a charming group from Earl Stonham WI who visited the Priory for a history talk from Edward Greenwell. It was a beautiful summer evening and they thoroughly enjoyed their visit which was organised through Historic Houses Invitation To View scheme. After their talk, they were given the opportunity to explore the Priory and then return to the Great Hall for tea and biscuits.
If you are part of a club, group or society which organises its own social calendar and your members might enjoy a fascinating talk on the history of Butley Priory, then please do get in touch with our Events team on 01394 450046.
As usual, we’ve been very busy with some amazing weddings here at the Priory. We’ve welcomed an array of different structures on the front lawn, from tipis from Events Under Canvas to clear-span marquees from Miller Marquees. We particularly loved Jenna & Sonny’s wedding, which took place on a beautifully hot day with some cool, stylish wedding planning – it looked amazing.
Then we celebrated with the adorable Dagnija & John, who welcomed some international visitors from Dagnija’s home country, Latvia. They chose to host their ceremony in the Great Hall with drinks in the South Garden before returning inside for a sumptuous wedding breakfast and evening dancing.
Photography: Beth Beresford Photography
Exciting news! We’ve now scheduled all our dates for next year’s Suffolk Sandlands metal detecting tours. We welcomed Kim from Bury & West Suffolk Magazine who wanted to try her hand at the full metal detecting experience. Our host Andy Sampson, was her guide for the afternoon and she thoroughly enjoyed it. As such, no hoards of jewels or coins on this occasion…though we look forward to seeing what our guests will uncover in September.
We have now sold out for spaces on our later tour, but still have some available spots for the tour starting on 5th September. To read more about it, take a look here.
Nigel delighted the events team with a ride in his open top dune buggy. Lovingly restored, coloured bright red and on a really warm day, we took a short drive at lunchtime to view what remains of ‘The Clumps’. For those who are familiar with our street address, the quincuncial 'Clumps' are a group of four beech trees surrounding a single pine tree, planted as an avenue near Butley Priory. It was a lot of fun and not too dissimilar from feeling like you’re inside a tumble drier!
Finally, our long-awaited Team ‘Pizza & Pimms’ night took place on the hottest day of the year so far. It was great to spend an evening relaxing with the team, such a jolly bunch – and the Pimm’s slipped down a treat.
The younger ones enjoyed playing hide & seek inside the Priory and splashing around in the water sprinklers, a dual-purpose effort of watering the garden and keeping them cool at the same time.
Looking ahead to August, we’ll be welcoming the residents of Grove Court in Woodbridge for a visit to the Priory, plenty more romantic weddings, holiday stays and a photo shoot for a childrenswear brand. It’s going to be a busy one!
June News
June news from Butley Priory
We’re heading into the Jubilee weekend with a bang – with a wedding for Lucy & Adam on Thursday which looks to be a corker, featuring plans for an outdoor ceremony in the South garden. We’re all keeping our fingers crossed for sunshine and there has been meticulous planning to ensure the music timings are correct for Lucy, as she arrives to meet her groom. Coming from a musical family, we’re expecting something orchestral for the bridal entrance – all very exciting!
Over the Jubilee weekend, we’ve noticed an abundance of garden fetes taking place in the local area – one of my absolute favourites has to be Bredfield Church Fete. It’s the epitome of this wholesome, much-loved British Summertime tradition. If you haven’t been, you must go. It’s held in the gardens of The Old Rectory on Saturday 4th June from 2pm.
Speaking of all things pretty, we recently hosted a styled wedding photo shoot at the Priory. This is where a team of wedding suppliers collaborate their efforts to produce a range of images for self-promotion.
Our thanks go to the team, and you can discover more of their work on Instagram here…
Photography: @maephotography_uk
Florist: @valefloraldesign_uk
Hair: @heavenlyhair_amayaspa
Make-up: @clarabo_uk
Dress: @lilychristina_bridalcollection
Suit: @coes_stores
Stylist: @pammystyles
Models: @crootrebecca, @jacoblevismith93
As part of our own self-promotion, we’re excited to announce that we’re now a featured venue on Coco Wedding Venues – the UK’s original style-focused wedding venue directory, showcasing a carefully curated selection of the very best wedding venues in the UK and beyond – and we’re proud to be selected.
This Friday 3rd June sees the start of the 73rd Aldeburgh Festival. This year they are back with an especially extended, 24-day celebration of music and the arts. Programming strands include Britten and Women and a celebration of the Britten Pears Young Artist Programme at 50, and there are also events marking the Platinum Jubilee.
Browse all the Festival events here
I must show you the glorious display of Lupins in the Butley Abbey Farmhouse garden, I happened to walk through just yesterday and was greeted by this striking rainbow of colour. I just love them! What a fabulous flower they are. Huge thanks to Baz for his tireless work in this spectacular garden – our guests next weekend are very fortunate to have timed it just right!
Lastly, we offer our heartfelt congratulations to Melissa and Mike, who held their wedding with us last month. They enjoyed beautiful sunshine on their day, where guests were greeted with a deliciously cool Fisher’s gin & tonic on the terrace before being ushered into the Great Hall for their ceremony. Drinks & croquet on the lawn, followed by a hearty wedding breakfast from Peter Harrison and then dancing into the wee hours with cool tunes from The Rustiques.
Have a happy & glorious Jubilee weekend and we’ll see you next month!
May News
May news from Butley Priory
Spring has definitely sprung here at Butley and we’ve enjoyed seeing the daffodils, tulips and now a glorious sea of Bluebells in the surrounding woodland.
As ever, we’ve been welcoming many lovely couples to Butley, showing them around the Priory, Cottage and Farmhouse, with viewings booked midweek, evenings and weekends – keeping us very busy indeed.
April saw our first wedding of the year for Emily & Marie who enjoyed fantastic weather throughout their wedding weekend, albeit a little blustery.
Their ceremony took place inside the Great Hall, followed by a confetti line outside the Church gate where Emily’s father rang the church bell with gusto! Many of Marie’s family had travelled over from France to join in with the celebrations.
After canapes in the South garden, our guests were welcomed back into the Great Hall for a delicious four course dinner, complete with cheese course – interestingly served before dessert in traditional French style. After dinner, guests adjourned to a tipi on the front lawn for music and dancing until the wee hours – we wish them our hearty congratulations!
Butley Priory Cottage enjoyed its first influx of guests over the Easter holidays for midweek and weekend breaks. We’ve had wonderful feedback and many 5 star reviews. Guests particularly enjoyed its great location for visiting the Suffolk Coast and tourist hotspots, plus that it’s dog friendly, with plenty of safe outdoor space.
“Beautiful cottage in an amazing location. We had a great time as did our dog!” - Darren
“Great house and grounds. Great for dogs to run around safely in the grounds” – John
Meanwhile, Brian has been beavering away at repairing our stone wall just outside Butley Abbey Farmhouse. It’s taken a while, but he’s so nearly there and it’s looking fantastic, we particularly love the gargoyles he’s installed and don’t the red and yellow tulips look striking against it?
Our new venture ‘Suffolk Sandlands’ is gathering some attention with a brilliant feature in the East Anglian Daily Times. We’ve had a good response from the metal dectorists favourite magazine, the May edition of Treasure Hunting.
Suffolk Sandlands provides metal detecting enthusiasts with an incredible opportunity to enjoy a three-day detecting holiday on prime farmland with unrivalled archaeological interest, with evening talks from our local expert historians. You can read more about our tour dates for September HERE
Lastly, a couple of birthdays have been celebrated in the Events office for both Kimmy & Donna, where ample supplies of delicious cake were provided by Libby – too tasty for words, thank you Libby.
MARCH NEWS
March news from Butley Priory
In February we saw a visit from our retail friends at Snape Maltings. If you haven’t been, it’s well worth a visit for a spot of retail therapy. Their home store is divine and very difficult to walk away without a purchase or two! Conversations revolved around our ongoing partnership with the ‘wedding gift list’ leading to potentially curating a range exclusively to Butley Priory, most of which you’ll see within The Farmhouse and Butley Priory Cottage. We’ll keep you posted as to how this exciting prospect develops.
On a more solemn note, we helped a local family say goodbye to their loved one by hosting a wake in the Great Hall. A warming log fire and a glass of Prosecco greeted our guests, with delicious finger food from Jake’s Kitchen.
Over at the Farmhouse we welcomed our first guests of the year for their half term family holiday, swiftly followed by a big birthday celebration for another charming family. It really is a warm and welcoming family home for large group stays in Suffolk.
Another two wedding viewing days saw many newly-engaged couples immediately falling in love with Butley Priory. Cupid clearly very busy working his February magic!
This time of year, although relatively quiet for events, is extremely busy with the general maintenance required in keeping our beautiful venue ship-shape. Nigel and Baz have been busy re-laying the terrace in the South Garden and we can’t wait to see our guests enjoying this area in the Summer with a glass of champagne in hand.
Electricians, plumbers, chimney sweeps, alarm guys and carpenters – we’re struggling to think of a service that hasn’t walked through our doors this month!
And for all their hard work, #TeamButley were treated to a delicious lunch at The Butley Oysterage. Homemade fish pie, moules mariniere, whitebait – it all looked so good and hard to choose what to feast upon! – Thank you, Edward and Clare.
We had perfect weather conditions for our Home-Start charity event, grey drizzle. What better way to spend a dank afternoon, than a game of bridge with friends, followed by a delicious a tea in beautiful Butley Priory in front of roaring log fires in the Great Hall and Drawing room.
Everyone deemed it a great success; we raised £3000 for the charity. The event was organised by Clare Greenwell, ambassador for Home-Start. Anthony Horowitz patron of the charity spoke to us about Suffolk Home-Start and drew raffle prizes included lunch for two at The Crown & Castle in Orford, a £100 voucher for brunch, lunch or dinner on the Lady Florence from Orford Quay, two overflowing hampers with smoked fish from Pinney’s, treats from Orford General Store, Fishers Gin , chocolate from the Pump Street Bakery, a handmade bridge cloth and cards from Catherine Pickthorne, a signed copy of Anthony’s book Moonflower Murders, while Hilton Macarons provided the prettiest and tastiest macarons for the event in various scrumptious flavours and a box for a raffle prize. Thank you everyone for your support and generosity for a fantastic cause.
Tree planting is going well, willow, copper & green beech and silver birches. Alas we lost a few in the storm, yet the Priory gardens are looking lovely with crocus, snowdrops and the wild daffodils are turning the woods yellow.
We look forward to welcoming Libby Pearson next week as our new assistant manager. Libby ran her own florist business Myrtle & Mint in Ipswich. She has been operational manager at the stunning florist Scarlet & Violet in London for the last four years. Libby is a keen gardener so we are excited that under her influence our gardens at Butley will blossom.
FEBRUARY NEWS
February news from Butley Priory
January often gets labelled as a fairly miserable month, but I have to say it’s been anything but dull here at Butley. Plenty of blue skies and sunshine for starters, viewings with newly engaged couples and a surge of planning meetings for weddings happening this year.
Hello, I’m Donna, your new General Manager and guest author of this month’s blog post. Now four weeks into the role and I’m nicely settling into life at Butley and absolutely loving my new surroundings.
A little bit about me…
Having worked in weddings & events for just over 11 years, I’ve been lucky to have overseen many ceremonies and receptions, with elopements and intimate weddings being my absolute favourite!
I have a son aged 12 & a daughter aged 16, so I’m fully experiencing the teenage years right now! They’re both obsessed with football, so you’ll usually find me cheering them on pitch-side on a Saturday morning. Sadly, there isn’t much time for hobbies, but last year my son and I discovered a love for fly-fishing, so occasionally we’ll head off for a weekend on the riverside which although a little exhausting, it’s so relaxing for the mind.
And for a couple of little random facts… I have an unstoppable love for Mr Kipling’s French Fancies and I once did a tandem skydive. But never will again.
It’s been a whirlwind of a month so far, meeting lots of new faces, still getting lost in the Farmhouse (the rooms are never-ending) and I quietly squeal to myself every time I see some deer. I’ve been lucky to see so many, particularly at dusk and even managed to see a baby muntjac with its mother. There’s a resident owl too.
Butley Priory Cottage has now had the final touches of décor with some beautiful prints for the sitting room and bedrooms. So, with the sunshine on our side, it was time to call in Sadie from Big Fish Photography to capture some charming photos of the cottage.
This adorable two bedroom cottage, (sleeps 4 + 2 with sofabed) sits right next door to the Priory, making it the perfect addition for wedding guest accommodation. With the forest on our doorstep, it’s an ideal location for a weekend break in Suffolk with plenty of enjoyable walks to be had and local pubs for lunch. You don’t need to be a wedding guest to come and stay and it’s a dog-friendly cottage too.
Nigel has been busy with sanding and re-painting the floorboards at the Priory. Arguably one of the mightiest annual tasks on the calendar, it’s a messy job and we’re very grateful to him and his right-hand man, Richard. We’re all excited to see it looking refreshed for our next wedding viewing day on 5th February.
The Farmhouse has received a thorough Spring clean which, with all its vast, endless rooms, has kept Kimmy occupied. We’ve also been planting trees, Winter flowering cherry and for Autumn colour, Liquid Amber, Maple, Cotoneaster and Forest Pansy.
Last week, I met up with Emily Chantal MUA, Kerry-Ann’s Cake Boutique and Gemma Giorgio Photography – three wedding supplier friends who I’ve known for some years now. They wanted to come and say hello to me in my new home and have a peek around the Priory and Farmhouse. I hope we’ll see more of them here this Summer.
L-R Kerry-Ann, Donna, Emily & Gemma
And so, we move into February, heralded as the month of love for Valentines. We’ll be greeting our first guests of the year to the Farmhouse and welcoming more couples to the Priory on our wedding viewing days.
For all you lovers out there, why not escape to a romantic cottage break for Valentines to Butley Priory Cottage? Available from Fri 11th-Sun 13th February, coupled with long forest walks, a visit to nearby Orford or Aldeburgh before returning to the quiet charm of the cottage with a roaring log fire, it’s an enchanting bolthole for a weekend with your love. To enquire, simply drop us a line here.
Photo: Big Fish Photography
Lastly, our congratulations to The Unruly Pig for winning the Number 1 spot in the UK Top 50 Gastropubs. Just 5 miles down the road from us, it’s a delightful place for a spot of lunch after your viewing or during your stay.
JANUARY NEWS
January news from Butley Priory
Happy New Year!
We have an exciting and packed year ahead, starting with the arrival of our new General Manager Donna Stockley. Our trusty Emma Thomas-Abbott is handing over the reins after four impressive years, and is setting up her own business. We wish her every success.
Emma has taken Butley Priory to dizzy new heights. It’s all thanks to her (24 hour) hard work, style and charm that we have weddings booked from April to December for 2022. Donna has many years of experience with weddings and events, we are eager to see her ideas and plans blossom, and take us to new level.
We wait with bated breath for our planning decision developing the Monks’ Barn to create a larger venue, which can be used instead of a marquee for larger weddings and functions.
December closed with a full Christmas programme. Our party was a rip-roaring success, mulled wine, sausages and mince pies – with children scampering about. Kimmy and Nigel, our head housekeeper and handyman/Mr Fix-it shared a few funny highlights/lowlights about working in the Priory over the years, from rock stars to blocked drains, and maybe the odd ghostly tale.
Butley Priory Staff Christmas Party
Sophie and Henry’s magnificent wedding on the 18th December was a blast with Christmas carols and dancing until the small hours. We had a series of family Christmas gatherings in Butley Abbey Farmhouse and Butley Priory Cottage. Intrepid guests made it all the way from Mougins in southern France, with Moose their Bernese Mountain dog to stay in the Priory. Some of our guests enjoyed the Christmas quiz at the Oyster Inn in Butley. In total 46 guests over the festive season. Thank you Kimmy for changing all those sheets, mopping floors and Nigel for keeping it ticking over and making everywhere snug for our guests.
Alas we have had to cancel our charity Home-Start bridge afternoon on 5th January due to covid, but we are rescheduled for Wednesday 2nd March. Currently we are fully booked (grand total of 92 participants) but do get in touch to see if we have any cancellations. We have some excellent raffle prizes including lunch for two at The Crown & Castle in Orford, a £100 voucher for brunch, lunch or dinner on the Lady Florence from Orford Quay, a hamper filled with goodies with Fishers Gin, chocolate from the Pump Street Bakery, smoked fish from Pinney’s and treats from Orford General Store. Special thanks also go to Hilton Macarons who are donating some delicious and pretty macarons for the event. Thank you all for your generosity.
