Back from holiday in Italy, I look out of my kitchen window in Northamptonshire to find the country view blocked by an enormous marquee with red pennants flying from the top. People are bustling about, carrying boxes of cutlery, glasses and china. I suddenly remember that there is to be a wedding reception here tomorrow. I let people hold such receptions to help pay for the maintenance of two crumbling Inigo Jones pavilions, the surviving appendages of a 17th-century country house that was destroyed by fire in the 1880s. I charge for these events, but this is but a tiny proportion of the cost of the receptions for the couples concerned. They typically have sit-down suppers for over 100 people, and many more guests afterwards to dance till midnight to deafening rock music. I can easily believe the estimates in the press that the average cost of a wedding in Britain is now somewhere over £20,000.
It’s no fun being here when these noisy parties are going on; nor next morning to find my house surrounded by cars that have been left behind by drivers who have drunk too much the night before. Occasionally, I even find condoms in the flowerbeds. But there are compensations: first, the money; and second, the happiness of the wedding guests, who often express their appreciation in the most generous terms. Sometimes the very couples that have spent a small fortune on getting married even write me thank-you letters for letting them use this place. This makes me feel rather guilty.
On the other hand, the weddings are an essential source of income; so we try hard to get more couples to hold their receptions here. This is not easy. Not only are fewer people bothering to get married nowadays, but also the ‘events’ business is intensely competitive.
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