Water Water Everywhere & Not a Drop to Drink

What a day...I left home early this morning (9am) to drive to Stroud to visit Matara which is an east west fusion wedding venue...I had printed out some directions from Streetmap and managed to get myself a bit lost - or rather I wasnt lost at all just made a complete twit of myself :( My appointment was at 11am but I was 10 mins late - I had come off the M5 at Junction 13 and followed the instructions and ended up going up a very steep hill 2nd gear all the way and when I reached the top I was at a crossroads and went straight on then parked..I was confused as the road signs didnt seem to match the map so I rang Matara (this time it was 10.50) asking them where they were...no reply only an answering machine! I turned around then convinced that I had missed a turning and went back the way I had come and ended up back in the village of Forcester where I espied a man from the electricity board fiddling with some wires next to a pub carpark..so I pulled in. The chap was most helpful and he had never heard of the place either despite working in the area for the last 20 odd years. I managed to contact them at Matara and found that I had to drive up that horrid hill again (10%) and go the way that I had gone originally. First off I managed to nip into the pub to use their loo because I don't think I would have managed the drive back up the hill with the seatbelt pressing on my stomach.

Again the directions were none too hot and I had to stop again to ring because the directions given didnt match the layout of the road..eventually I got there. Now most people would offer, visitors a drink out of courtesy but not the woman at Matara..there were limpid pools, waterfalls and even drizzle but not once was I offered anything and I was too polite to ask.

Matara is a wonderful place although a bit tricky to find but the easiest way is to take the Tetbury road from Cirencester. I felt like a criminal walking across the raked gravel that had been raked in a circular fashion in a very zen like way. As an exclusive use venue it is great with 28 acres of parkland and a wishing tree. It costs £2500 plus VAT to hire it for 5 hours with additional hours charged extra which isnt too bad considering you could pay that for a hotel venue and end up sharing your day with others. I like the ethos behind Matara which was originally set up as a holistic retreat - it has a calming aura about it, they recycle 90% of their waste and their grey water is filtered using their own reed beds. Their food comes from surrounding farms and even from their own gardens which is a lovely idea and more venues should do the same. They have their own bar but also don't mind if you take your own bottles only they will charge corkage of £4 per person but that includes the price of the glasses, serving the wine and chilling it. You can have music but they kept saying that you could use an ipod but it is still fairly quiet as the built in speakers don't allow for louder music. Their rooms were lovely and airy and you can even marry in the cloister which is rather strange as in the UK you cannot marry outdoors but as the cloister is closed and has a roof although one side is open, you can actually marry there - all guests have to be seated, however, when it comes to the exchanging of rings, couples can stand on the little bridge which juts out from the cloister. There is a firebox outside that is lit every night and that is where the hog roast takes place if you have one - they also have a tipi outside which is more for kids to play in. I think its a lovely place but I cannot get past the lack of manners with regards to offering a drink. The space can also be hired out for coporate events - they have rooms on site and rooms are offered at the pub/hotel opposite where Matara guests also have use of the overflow carpark.

I drove home via Tetbury - maybe I should have stopped and had a look round but the weather was grizzly and thought that I might stop in Cirencester instead but in the end did neither as I drove straight through to the M40 - all I can say is thank you to the romans for building such nice straight roads LOL.

Tomorrow I am off to Studley Castle and to the new wedding venue Red House Barn at Stoke Prior - this venue is the one that the Worcestershire Registrars are fighting over as to which one of them will conduct ceremonies there.

I received a private message from someone on MSE asking me to send her photographs of my wedding dresses as she is getting married and looking for a dress. At the moment I don't really have time to start taking pictures of them as I have a lot to do this week and next week I am away. I won't be giving the dresses away for free - the Fabio Grizzi is for sale at £925 - I have knocked a thousand off it on the advice of the lady in the couture shop.

In fact talking of being away - the twit that I am staying with (ex boyfriend) - don't worry there are two bedrooms in the Spanish flat, has rung me to ask me to log into Easyjet and print off his boarding card as he has forgotten to print the boarding card for coming home on 17 October. Actually he has a later flight than me back to Luton (I am guessing). I am really looking forward to a break and am hoping that the weather is warm and that I can at least get a bit of colour on my pasty white legs.