Spring certainly recommends itself as the perfect wedding season – just look at this beautiful real wedding at the Dodmoor House in Northamptonshire! A splendidly sunny day, a beautiful cherry blossom theme with white, pink and green colours, and a delicious BBQ – Vicky & Stuart’s glorious March day to be remembered forever.
Bride & Groom: Vicky, product manager, and Stuart, senior account manager
Length of engagement: 15 months (got engaged 12th December 2011, the day before moving into our first home we had bought together)
Wedding date: 24th March 2012
Wedding ceremony: Civil ceremony in the Courtyard Barn at Dodmoor House Northamptonshire
Wedding reception: At Dodmoor House in the Catesby Barn. We had a sit down meal which was an informal BBQ with lots of food and drink, followed by an evening do with a band and we had a pasty van come as evening food serving pasties, sausage rolls and baguettes.
Wedding photographer: Source Images (Jordan and Ines Banks)
Wedding theme/colours: Springtime theme – cherry blossom as decorations, white, pink and green colour scheme.
Wedding dress by: Maggie Sottero
First dance song: Rule The World by Take That
Your favourite wedding story: I think the surprise “summer” day in the middle of March was my favourite wedding event! Our families had warned us of the wet-weather risk associated with getting married in March, but we love spring time – the blossom, the lighter evenings, the cool days, everything (our wedding night was the night the clocks went forward, marking the start of British summer time!) and had been to plenty of soggy August weddings so we know there’s no guarantees whatever season you choose! We decided to just expect wet weather and make what we wanted work around it! So, we went ahead with the venue which was beautiful and had lots of seating both inside and out. We went ahead with organising our favourite type of food as the wedding breakfast (a huge BBQ with pastas, salads and lots of variety, which could all be cooked under a canopy if needed) and a pasty van in the evening. All our wonderful suppliers worked with Dodmoor to identify how everything would work in torrential rain, and we didn’t give the weather another thought until the wedding morning when we woke up and realised it was a glorious day, and set to get even warmer! The whole wedding had an unexpected “garden party” feel, with guests sitting outside all evening enjoying the mild night, the drinks reception seeing people basking in the sun wearing shades (I even got a bit of unexpected colour on my shoulders) and the BBQ ending up being exactly what people wanted on a day like that. As the year went on an actual-summer was a bit of a wash out, our friends always joke that the summer of 2012 literally occurred on 24th March!
One of the most beloved and highly recommended venues in Northamptonshire, Dodmoor House is all about weddings and giving the bride and groom the most special day with a personal touch! Recently recognised as Best Venue and Best Website at the 2013 Wedding Industry Awards, they offer everything from great service to excusive hire and impressive recommendations of the best suppliers in the area. Fully licenced for civil ceremonies and partnerships, they can accommodate up to 90 guests for a ceremony and wedding breakfast and 180 for an evening reception.