Ceremony in the dining room
The weather was glorious, very hot and with incredible blue skies as the team from Affordable Marquees - www.affordable-marquees.com - put up our second Petal Marquee of the year. They are more complicated that the usual pole marquees and take two days to complete. The roses were in full flower and the bed where our glorious chestnut had stood is beginning to look established.
Thursday brought the first of the working parties with the bride’s mother spending hours frothing up the pompoms that they had borrowed from our supplies. The bride and her friends lined up the paper lanterns ready for Sean from Affordable to hang from the roof of the marquee.
The bride had wanted a gentle lead up to the wedding so had engaged a wedding designer to pull everything together on the Saturday so Friday was not as hectic as usual. The bride and groom arranged a table for good luck cards and a ladder shelf in the entrance of the tent with information about seating etc.
Our photo-booth frame went in one corner along with a wonderful selection of props and hats for their guests to pose with.
Dinah from Blooming Hill Plants arrived with the most amazing collection of cut flowers - blooming_plants@talktalk.net/01935-321571. She took incredible care arranging these in the bottles that the bride and groom had collected and did not leave until late. She returned the next day with the buttonholes for the groom etc.
Saturday brought a “Mr and Mrs” in huge lit up letters, which were arranged along one side of the marquee – www.boxphotobooths.co.uk – who also produce photobooths of every shape and description.
Southern Bars arrived and set up a very impressive wooden bar - www.southernmobilebars.co.uk and the DJ arranged his equipment in the corner by the dancefloor.
Rachel from Love by Design laid the tables, brought the flowers from their cool in the porch of the house and put up the pompoms in clusters round the marquee. Her company can arrange all design aspects of your wedding if you wish. https://www.lovebydesignweddings.co.uk
The wedding cake took the form of cupcakes and chocolate brownies, with a small cake for cutting. They were made by a family friend. Rachel and her helper laid these out in vintage crates provided by the couple and they looked wonderful.
Dorset Porkers set up their gazebo outside the marquee ready for their free-range Hog Roast. They also provided the loos! - www.dorsetporkers.co.uk
The groom and groomsmen checked that all was in place, looking incredible smart in full kilt dress, complete with sgian dubhs in their socks. None of them had ever worn a kilt before but said they were really comfortable – if hot! The groom's father had brought over his Morgan for the his son to arrive in.
The wedding, which was an intimate gathering, was to take place in the dining room and the bride wanted to enter through the dining room doors so we had put daisy trees in place by the steps.
The bride arrived in a very smart Rolls Royce, courtesy of the firm, as she works for them - proceeded by two totally non wedding vehicles which had to be hastily parked out of the way! She looked so beautiful, in the simplest but superbly cut dress with a long train. Her three bridesmaids were in matching blue dresses.
Photographs taken by Paul and Mike from www.tokyomagicweddingphotograpy.uk - they took all the fantastic photographs not marked with a spot which are in house.
The sun shone as the couple left the dining room by the steps onto the lawn.
Further guests arrived after the ceremony and were greeted with music from Little Thoughts an acoustic duo who played until everyone entered the marquee for the wedding breakfast. (www.bandsforhire.net/acoustic-music/item/262-littlethoughts)
Hog roast consumed and speeches finished the guests wandered on the lawns and more photographs were taken. It was another baking day and groups of guests settled in the shade of the house or used the new outside furniture provided by Affordable Marquees.
Later, as darkness fell, the DJ tuned up and dancing began with the party continuing until midnight. Several of the guests continued to wear the props from the photobooth!
The couple had not taken the glamping area so left to spend the night at the Crown in Marnhull but before they left Paul and Mike took this amazing photograph of them under the great oak in the field using large flash lights.
The bridegroom’s mother very kindly wrote and thanked us afterwards
“I just wanted to thank you and Michael so very much for the weekend. Adam and Sophie absolutely loved you both and said you couldn't have been more helpful. Nothing was too much trouble. Your experience, advice and guidance was VERY welcome. You made them feel special throughout the planning and on the day itself.”