* Kathryn, Engineering Contract Administrator & Will, Sound Engineer * Photographer: Phil Sharp * Soundtrack for listening: “How Does It Feel” by Slade *
One sentence sum up of the wedding vibe: A fun day from start to finish. We wanted a simple warm feel, a short and heartfelt ceremony, mind-blowing food, and a spectacular dance party.
The Info—Photographer: Phil Sharp / Location: Surrey, England / Venue: Nonsuch Mansion / Kathryn’s Veil: Romancing the Veil via Etsy / Kathryn’s Headpiece: Fable Dreams via Etsy / Groom’s Cake: Little Gem’s Cakes
Other cool stuff we should know about: Initially we wanted to elope to New York alone, come back and throw a big party. But being an only child, this became an impossibility. I couldn’t bring myself to disappoint my parents, so it turned into quite a large occasion, which in the run-up had me at moments utterly terrified. It became a mission of compromise, both managing expectations and staying true to our tastes, but once we had found our beautiful venue all the other elements fell into place. I really enjoyed the details and found myself super organised for the first time in my life!
The assistance of friends really blew me away. Our invites were made by a talented friend as a gift, tote bag favours printed at cost, hair and make up volunteered, etc. These things, as well as being economically helpful, were genuinely, deeply special. That one of my best friends made up my bouquet and then handed it to me as I was getting ready was more lovely than she will ever know.
The stunning mansion house decorated perfectly meant I needed to do very little in decoration myself. I ordered wholesale blue hydrangeas and baby’s breath and arranged them on the morning of the wedding into short vases, which were off set by lots of tea lights. We drank buckets of champagne through the morning, dancing and singing a lot. The ceremony was more moving than I had expected. I struggled to say my vows without bursting into tears. We had a couple of readings. One being the lyrics to Jim Reeves “I Love You Because.” It’s a much-loved song for both of our families, and the words were perfectly apt.
The disco was hugely important to me, and I had meticulously planned the playlist so that as many genres and eras were covered as possible so there was something for everyone (and lots for Will and me). We had fake glittery mics for power ballad purposes and a photo booth, which went down a storm and served as a great guest book addition. By the end of the night I had to be dragged away by my new husband and his best man. The next morning for breakfast at the hotel I wore my headpiece and veil and had one hundred percent lost my voice. Total success.
Favorite thing about the wedding: During the speeches I looked out over all our friends and family and thought how incredible it was to have them all right there. A moment I will always savour.
