The Couple’s Story

The Proposal

Amelia is the world’s social organiser so trying to find any possible time to spring a romantic proposal on her was a challenge for Giles. Amelia was convinced that she would never be surprised, so when Giles got down on one knee in their very own bedroom, with flowers and Champagne on Amelia’s birthday morning, he had managed to find the perfect moment. (It was just a shame she was wearing a Shrek T-shirt in bed!!)

When Giles asked Amelia’s father for her hand in marriage, his one piece of advice was “Don’t wait for the perfect moment, create it”. He did!

The Outfits

The Bride – It was quite honestly my dream dress! It was the third one I tried on (I went shopping for it with my mum, Giles’ mum, my sister and my best friend) and when I came out of the changing room, everyone cried – including me!
It is dark ivory duchess satin. The bodice has embroidered swirly patterns, with small iridescent beads and pearls that catch the light. The skirt is full, softened with organza, and the pattern on the bodice is repeated on the bottom of the front of the skirt. The pattern is also repeated on the train, which is long and sweeping.
The dress is made by Ashley Love and the style is “Georgia”.

The Bridesmaids – my bridesmaid wore a bottle green duchess satin full length skirt and bodice and my flower girl wore an ivory party dress, on which my mother sewed small silk ivy leaves.

The Groom and Groomsmen – They wore morning suits with ivory waistcoats and bottle green silk ties that were specially made for them.

The Ceremony and Reception Venue

Ceremony – St Giles’ Church – enough said! Originally, we had chosen it due to it being Giles’ local church but then when we met Rev Frances, that confirmed it!

Reception – We knew which church we wanted to get married in, so starting looking for venues not too far away. As Amelia works in a hotel and didn’t want a busman’s holiday, we ruled all hotels out of the equation – this cut it down rather a lot! When searching the internet, we found Gaynes Park on Country House Wedding Venues, which was only an ‘artists impression’ at the time.

We arranged to visit the venue and were warned that it would not be like the picture as the building work had only just started. They were right! However, the moment we drove up the drive, we knew that we had found our wedding venue. The owner, Guy, thought we were crazy and tried to talk us out of booking it due to the state it was in at the time, but we had every confdence it would be ready for December – and how right we were! The whole team at Gaynes Park were a dream to work with, and Guy is right to be so proud of such a stunning venue.

The Decorative Touches

Thousands of fairy lights! As Christmas was the theme, we wanted to continue this through the decorations, but to avoid ANY tacky touches!
The Orangery was the venue for the reception drinks – this was the home of the gorgeous indoor Christmas tree. All the ledges and windows were adorned with ivy, with cards of famous love quotes dotted within. However, the “piece de resistance” was definitely the life-size sleigh and reindeer!!! Giles’ family historically owned a toy shop and every year the shop window would play home to Rudolph, the lifesize reindeer. Having been housed in the attic in recent years, Nanny suggested he showed his face again. Amelia’s father saw an opportunity for Rudolph and seized it immediately – he went straight home, spent a month in the garage and emerged with a lovingly handmade 5 ft sleigh! With lights, cushioned interior, and of course reins.

To enter the main Mill Barn, where dinner and dancing were taking place, all the guests had to walk through the open-sided Dutch Barn. In this barn stood a 30-ft Christmas tree and the guests were treated to a snow fall! The snow machine attached to the rafters of the barn surprised all guests, but ensured a White Christmas for all! (And the snow continued through the night!)

The main Mill Barn had 10 tables on the ground level and 2 tables in the gallery above, each table was named one of the Twelve Days of Christmas, so had a handmade picture depicting this in the centre. . There are four tree trunks in the centre of the barn, and around each of these was a beautiful ivory wreath. The barn was full of fairy lights that twinkled throughout the night, giving the room a magical atmosphere.

The table plans were each listed on a beautifully wrapped Christmas present, which was to be found in the infamous sleigh. Guests found their appropriate present and sat at the matching table. The presents were then presented to one guest on each table and they were invited to open them. Inside were the favours and gift tags, on which the guests wrote a message to the bride and groom as a tip for married life!

The Cake

The design was two Christmas presents, with a bottle green ribbon tying at the top with a tag saying Giles & Amelia. The icing was ivory with small green icing ivy leaves dotted around.

The Transport

We travelled in a beautiful silver Bentley. The guests, meanwhile, were transported to and from all locations in two large coaches. To ensure their coach journeys were not dull, two of the ushers conducted a quiz on both of the coaches, in which the guests had to answer questions about the bride and groom past and present. Once the quiz was completed, the coaches entered into a karaoke competition with the on board microphones!

Advice to other couples

JUST ENJOY EVERY MOMENT OF THE PLANNING! However stressful it may seem at times, it is just vital that the two of you always keep in mind what it is you are doing – planning for the best and most important day of your lives. Always keep what YOU want in mind!

Suppliers

Wedding Reception Venue – Gaynes Park Barns

Venue found through Country House Wedding Venues

Bride’s dress – Love Me Do Brides

Bride’s accessories – As above

Groom’s suit – Anthony’s Formalwear

Bridesmaid’s dresses – Jane Jordan

Other outfits (ushers, maid of honour, pageboys etc) – Anthony’s Formalwear

Wedding rings – Rennie & Co

Wedding cake – Karen’s Cakes

Flowers – Karen Wall at Feast of Flowers

Invitations – Homemade by the bride and groom, and bride’s mother!

Wedding list – Smart Wedding Lists
We booked every hotel, activity, meal etc for our honeymoon in New Zealand and put details of each item on this website. The guests then logged on and decided which item they would like to buy for us. We then toasted the ‘donor’ of each item when we did it!

Disco/DJ -Richard Palmer at Classic Nomad Discos

Wedding favours – Bought at The Spirit of Christmas show in Olympia then customised by the Bride’s mother!

Photographer – Andy Giddings at Baccarat Photography

Gospel Choir – John Fisher at IDMC Gospel

Hair Stylist – Sian at Inspirations

Make-Up Artist – Jen at JK Beauty