As an estate, we’re built for curious foodies. And we don’t see why your wedding day should be any different. We’ve been speaking to exec chef and Masterchef: The Professionals winner, Stu Deeley, about the ethos being his cooking, and how his wedding menus consistently receive such praise in a day full of highlights.

Stu, do you think there’s a stigma attached to large scale wedding catering?

For sure I do. Among guests and chefs, there’s often this perception that wedding food is a numbers game. We’ve all been there, haven’t we? At what should be one of the most celebratory moments in a person’s life, the food is overcooked, cold or lacking in any excitement — but the guest will never be back, so what does it matter? That’s the old school mentality, and one we completely reject here at Hampton Manor. Yes, there are challenges with cooking for large numbers. But with imagination, planning and the best seasonal ingredients, quality restaurant food is what to expect from us on your wedding day.

You make it sound so simple! How does our team achieve such consistently excellent results?

If you think about top chefs with multiple restaurants, it’s the same approach. We perfect dishes at Smoke, the restaurant I launched on the estate. We ensure we know where to get the best ingredients for the dish and hone recipes to the gram. I then get together with Les and Alex, head chefs in the manor house, and we start mapping out wedding menus for each season. It’s a very collaborative process, from conception to final, board-level tastings, with a huge focus on seasonality to maximise flavours. And then we keep tasting and learning. It has to be a constantly evolving process, to ensure we continue to deliver those show-stopper meals to every table, every time.

And what style of food should our wedding couples and their loved ones expect from your food?

We very much reflect the ethos at Smoke in our wedding feasts — simple flavour combinations, delivered with creativity, keeping flavour at the centre of everything we do. Recognised by both Michelin, and AA with three rosettes, we ensure quality and consistency by making the most of the best seasonal produce we can source. With flare coming from those little unexpected twists and flourishes on the familiar — the approach I became known for during my successful run on Masterchef: The Professionals. Translating that into a wedding banquet is actually a lot of fun.

And what about the evening food? It can sometimes feel like an afterthought.

I think we’ve all been to enough weddings to know that later on, it’s all about comfort food! Think low and slow pulled pork, proper fish and chips, gourmet hot dogs or full on surf and turf. The Big Green Egg (think the best and cleverest barbecue you’ve ever come across) is our secret weapon here. Offering street food style service, the evening food compliments that party feel, without pulling people away from celebrations for any length of time. Because at the end of the day, your wedding should be all about you and what you want. To that end, one final thought. You’ll have so much to think about on the day itself, but when you get the invite, make sure you come very hungry to you wedding tasting. I think that would be my my favourite bit of planning a wedding at Hampton Manor, but probably best not mention that to my wife, who also works here!

Want to find out more about weddings at Hampton Manor? Follow this link or download our wedding brochure.