Beautiful postponed wedding
This was a wedding which had been postponed twice due to Covid but it was hugely worth waiting for – a truely golden celebration.
In House
Thursday brought brilliant blue skies and All Seasons Marquees to set up their frame marquee in the field. They also put one Chinese Hat at the rear for the caterers and another on the big lawn ready for the singer.
+44 7580 121046 / sam@allseasonsmarquees.com / allseasonsmarquees.com
The Bride and Groom started to bring decorations etc ready to put into the marquee when it was finished. The bride was hugely organised, especially amazing as she had a small baby to look after, and produced a floor plan of where everything and everybody needed to go which was very useful.
Taken at a pre-wedding shoot in the gardens by
Darren Lovell Photography https://www.darrenlovellphotography.co.uk
Friday brought friends and relations to help set up. The weather forecast was good enough to risk putting the chairs ready for the ceremony. The groom’s mother brought silk white wisteria which the bride’s sister wound round a garden arch at the end of the aisle and on the front of the gazebo. She also arranged all the flowers in the marquee. It was the first time the bride had seen her for 3 years as she lives in Australia. Large white hydrangeas, bought in Poole Market that morning were placed at the foot of the arch.
Golden sunflowers were arranged in glass vases ready to go down the aisle the next morning, and more filled two big churns, lent by a friend of the bride and yet more in white enamel buckets, lent by us, at the bottom of the Ha Ha steps.
To continue the golden theme, Whitestem arrived with little lemon trees to place in the centre of each table. The end of the marquee was one huge clear span and in front of this they arranged an enormous arch of sweet-smelling jasmine. The lemon trees spent the night in the cool of the great oak next to the marquee. Whitestem - https://www.whitestem.co.uk / +44 7985 613572 / debbie@whitestem.co.uk
Tables were laid, with a slice of wood in the centre ready for a lemon tree the next morning. Real lemons circled these and little bottles of limoncello were put by each adult place. The bride and groom fell in love with the lemon trees on holiday on the Amalfi coast where they also discovered limoncello! Glasses were filled by folded navy napkins. The whole effect was so simple and so effective.
Two green gazebos were put up at one end of the lawn for shade and lawn games - borrowed from a friend who was a great support on the day - Another white gazebo was put out for the welcome drinks.
Everything was ready for the following day.
10am and the caterers, Dorset BBQ drove into the field before taking up position behind the marquee. hello@dorsetbbq.co.uk / dorsetbbq.co.uk
The groom and his ushers turned up at about 11.30 to check last minute arrangements. They positioned the sunflowers down the aisle , they looked particularly good against the drying grasses, and set out everything was ready for the welcome drinks.
Magic mirror booth set up their flower wall in the marquee, https://www.magicmirrorbooth.co.uk/ 07929 050487
Soon it was time for the groom to meet the registrars and for the first guests to arrive. Some went straight up to the camping area to put up their tents but others mingled on the lawn.
2.00 and the horse box bar arrived to set up in front of the Marquee – Paddock Bar –https://www.thepaddockbar.com / 07557 809 856 | 07427 600 396 – They quickly laid prosecco on the lawn ready for the after ceremony drinks.
All was now ready for the arrival of the bride and the ushers began shepherding the guests down to the lower lawn.
The bride arrived with 2 adult bridesmaids both dressed in navy blue. She looked absolutely stunning in a heavy lace dress with a fitted heart-shaped boddice. Her hair was loose and she and her bridesmaids carried bunches of sunflowers. The one exception to this was the littlest bridesmaid, their 5 month old daughter who was a ball of frills!
Paperwork over, they lined up by the Catalpa tree – The bride was being given away by her mother and father. Signal given, the guests rose to greet her and the procession moved off towards the gazebo and the waiting groom.
Ceremony over, the bride and groom went straight into the house where they waited in the dining room for their guests to be organised into two straight lines leading away from the dining room windows. The bridesmaids gave out packets and cones of confetti and when everything was ready the bride, groom and daughter made their way down the steps and set off through a storm of confetti.
This finished, the ushers moved the chairs from the ceremony lawn back to the marquee and guests began to take their welcome drinks of prosecco and tuck into the canapes which had been made that morning by the bride and her bridesmaids!
Lee Rasdall Dove started to play his guitar and sing to the guests - https://www.leerasdalldove.com/ - which gave a lovely background to the reception.
While the guests mingled, Darren Lovell – who took all the wonderful photographs not marked “in House” – gathered guests into groups for formal / and not so formal photographs – not easy as the sun was very bright - Darren Lovell Photography https://www.darrenlovellphotography.co.uk
Then into the marquee for the Wedding Breakfast which Dorset BBQ served to guests at their tables. The meal finished with speeches greeted with much laughter and cheering.
Leaving their guests to explore the grounds or try their hands at the lawn games, the Bride and Groom went with Daren to have more photographs taken in the gardens. With no rain for months, the grass was beginning to lose its greenness but Daren used this to full advantage, taking some amazing pictures in the long grass of the camping lawn.
7pm and time to cut the cake before taking to the dance floor for the first dance – the couple had made a playlist and it was one of these tunes that they chose.
For music later in the evening, they had engaged the Mother Ukers – a Band, who play songs from all decades on their Ukuleles (which seemed take many shapes and forms). They arrived to set up by the dance floor and started to play around 8pm and continued until 10.00 when the playlist was used again. The dance floor was packed - +44 7936 376457 / contact@motherukers.com /motherukers.com
More food was produced at 10.00 by Pizza Dragon who had managed to manoeuvre themselves into position opposite the paddock bar. As darkness fell, with lighting shining through their red gazebo they looked very festive - http://www.pizzadragon.co.uk/ /+44 7895 597724 / ThePizzaDragon@hotmail.com
The party continued until midnight but with the bridal couple retiring a little earlier with their sleepy daughter who seemed to have enjoyed every moment of the celebration.
It had been an amazing day – beautifully planned but very relaxed.
