This weekend it’ll be a year since Fiona & Jay’s wedding at Dodmoor House. It was my first wedding of the year. It was also my penultimate full wedding of the year… I just didn’t know it at the time! Fiona & Jay were kind enough to complete my questionnaire to give a little bit of insight into their wedding day…
What made you choose Dodmoor House as your wedding venue?
After looking at ‘barn-style’ weddings on Pinterest, I came across Dodmoor House and instantly fell in love with its look, layout and options! We knew we wanted quiet spaces for elderly relatives to escape to as well as a good selection of drink options to choose from! What really won us over with Dodmoor House was our wedding coordinator Sophie… She made everything feel so calm and we felt so supported throughout the whole planning process.
What made you choose your outfits? What did you love about them?
We started our planning with a clear budget for everything and I honestly didn’t see the point spending an extraordinary amount of money on a dress I would only wear once! After looking online at styles and trying some on in Wed2B, I fell in love with the perfect dress! I looked online at pre-loved wedding dresses to find a similar dress and ended up finding the exact dress in the right size and never worn on Ebay! It’s not a traditional way to shop for a wedding dress but I think I love my dress more because of it! My accessories were simple but were all significant to me… I wore my grandmother’s sapphire engagement ring (something old/blue), my bridesmaid gave me her pearl Tiffany’s bracelet (borrowed) and my earrings were a wedding present from Jay (new).
Jay always knew he wanted a navy three-piece tweed suit… After extensive searching online and a trip to Cheshire Oaks, we found the perfect style and fit online from a brand called House of Cavani. All his groomsmen loved the suit and they all looked very handsome on the day. On the day, Jay wore an engraved pocket watch from his grandfather; it was a sentimental touch that he loved having with him. Jay also gifted each of his groomsmen and my brother a pocket watch as a thank you to wear with their suits. All the boys loved whipping out their pocket watches when asked for the time!
What made you choose your flowers/florist and the general decorative arrangements?
To make sure we stuck to our budget, we chose to have artificial flowers for the bouquet. I actually bought my bride’s bouquet, four bridesmaid bouquets and a flower girl posy on Facebook Marketplace for only £50! The colours of the flowers ended up matching the bridesmaid dresses perfectly and I’m so glad I can keep my bouquet looking as fresh as it did on the day! I ended up pulling apart the flower girl posy to create the buttonholes for Jay, the groomsmen, our parents and my brother. I tied the artificial gypsophila with some twine and each had a simple pin to attach to their outfit! Because we weren’t having formal flower arrangements on the registrar table/top table, my dad built us an arch to present all the bouquets as if it were a full arrangement. The wooden structure was painted to appear as it were stone and decorated with a white rose garland so it still appeared visually appealing without the bouquets in it! So many people commented on the ingenuity of the arch and we’re so happy with how it turned out! For general decorations on the tables, we chose to scatter dried petals with tea lights on a hessian runner for a simple but effective look. I also made our guest’s place names from air dry clay, which I rolled out and stamped their names into. We were so pleased with how the tables were presented alongside the dainty afternoon tea sets from our caterers.
Tell me about your ceremony including any readings, any special moments?
The ceremony as a whole was so special to us for so many reasons. It was lovely having a close connection to our registrar as I have known her since I was a little girl. She was also the mother of our bridesmaid as well as the grandmother to our flower girl! The people we chose to do our readings were so important to us and it really made our day to have them speak during our ceremony. Our first reading was a quote from Winnie the Pooh which has always been one of my favourites about love and time. Our dog Milo couldn’t be with us on the day so our second reading was an extract from the poem ‘Love is Like a Dog’. It was a light-hearted poem that made us both feel like a little piece of him was with us on the day! My brother played guitar during the aisle walk and whilst we were signing the registrar. Having him play was such a special touch for us both.
Tell us about your photos, what was it like working with me, and why did you book me?
Whilst searching for photographers, our venue recommended Aaron. We were also recommended him by 3 different couples who had either had him photograph their wedding or had been to a wedding where he had photographed. We loved his candid style of photography and decided to book him! Even though I wasn’t very good at responding to emails during busy times at work, Aaron was patient and informative! Working with Aaron on the day was lovely, he slotted right into our day and made us feel so at ease. We are so pleased with how our photographs have come out and cannot recommend Aaron enough!
What was your first dance song and why?
Wanted by Hunter Hayes. Originally our first dance would have been ‘I Want Crazy’ by Hunter Hayes but it felt a bit to quick to dance to, instead my brother played the acoustic version of that song whilst we did the aisle walk. We chose ‘Wanted’ as a song instead because it’s a song we often dance to at home when it comes on shuffle!
If you could impart any words of wisdom to a couple planning their marriage and wedding day, what would they be?
Things may not go to plan but always remember that no-one knows what is supposed to happen, other than you. All your guests will enjoy the day no matter what so make sure you do too!
If you’re planning your own wedding at Dodmoor House and would like to chat more about wedding photography then get in touch here!
