Southdowns Vintage Hire Company

The very first wedding we did when we became all official! It was a proper DIY job, held in the bride's garden with a marquee, bales of hay for seats and the most incredible homegrown flowers for decor. We supplied vintage china, stepladders for displays and other bits and pieces for table centres and a quirky prosecco bar. It all looked so beautiful and the bride and groom were so thrilled with it all that it really gave us the confidence to launch ourselves into the wider wedding world.

Vintage, traditional, quirky, pretty, unique

Our personal service. It's the thing we are most complimented about and thanked for. We really get to know our couples and very often we also get to know their friends, their families and in some cases their dogs (really!). We are a very small business and we limit the number of weddings we do every year to ensure that we can give every couple all the attention (and tea) they need!

Always always read the smallprint.... !

It's a bit soppy, but one of our brides lost her beloved grandfather a month prior to her wedding. He had been a beekeeper and on the day tiny pots of honey, tied with ribbon, from her grandfathers bees were given as favors to all the guests. We loved that...

We pretty much let each couple lead the process according to what suits them. We are happy to chat on the phone, share ideas and pics by email or Pinterest boards but mostly we like to meet in the first instance and chat through initial thoughts/ideas. Following that we often let brides come with other props or items they have collected and get creative with our props and china to make sure they know how everything should look. We allow them to photograph the items so that they (or a nominated friend/relative) can recreated the look on the day. Everything is followed up by email. Once all agreed we create a detailed itinerary for the couple, agree how things are going to be collected and delivered and then we prepare all the hire items with great attention to detail and carefully package everything up ready for the big day!

We have done a number of Gatsby, 20s style weddings which have been so much fun and seem to get more glamorous, outrageous and just utterly fabulous each time.

Judging by current enquiries, vintage and traditional are still very much in favour.

That would be telling... we like to surprise and delight!

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