I was working as Toastmaster for Clare and Miles at their wedding at the weekend at Shuttleworth House. It was the first time I had worked at the grade 1 listed venue and it was a very pleasurable experience for me.

The staff were efficient and the quality of the food good.  Miles and Clare both sabraged some champagne before cutting of the wedding cake and drank from the loving cup - a ceremony I’ve recently introduced to my weddings.

It was a day of firsts for me - the first time I had worked at Shuttlewrht House, and the first time I had worked with a fabulous photographer called Nick Grove.

Nick didn’t take all day over his shots and this meant that the bride and groom had time to be with their guests before the wedding breakfast was served. I highly recommend Nick’s style of working - a pleasure for me making my life a bit easier on the day.

Yesterday I went to see a couple whose wedding I will the Toastmaster/ MC at in a few weeks time at Shuttleworth House in Bedfordshire. After our meeting the bridegroom was particularly keen to be shown how to sabrage a bottle of Champagne at the wedding breakfast.  I explained that the best time to sabrage the change is just prior the cutting of the wedding cake by the bride and groom. I went on to explain the history behind sabrage and the reason it goes so well at the wedding breakfast, and particular prior to the wedding cake cutting. After showing him the fundamentals he had no trouble in carry out the simple operation himself. He will now be able to sabrage the Champagne at the wedding without any hesitation. He will be a winner on his wedding day in more ways than one!