Delightfully elegant Dorchester Marquee Wedding

Well yes its been a few months since this wedding took place and we have been so keen to blog about it but where has the time gone!  So better late than never but here it is.  This was the beautifully elegant wedding of Sarah and Phil with buckets of fun - this was one of our favourite weddings of 2011 and the lead up and the day itself was filled with some of the most lovely people we have ever had the pleasure of dealing with.  A wonderful family on both sides, truly wonderful bridal party and the best guests - a real joy to be part of this day.  The wedding took place in September on a stunning Dorchester estate surrounded by rolling hills of green.  And green was very much the theme of the day.  We went for a very natural and rustic but elegant feel for the day with different greens being used throughout from the bridesmaids dresses to the ribbons on the napkins for the wedding breakfast.  Here is how the day unfolded.  We are delighted to bring you these images courtesy of Angela Ward Brown Photography 

The bride with some pre-wedding mail - taking some time out 

The bow issue - the signal on the Estate was very poor and this was the point when the bridesmaids were trying the locate Melanie to help with a bow dilemma with Sarah's dress - see the mobile phone in the hand - I did eventually get the message that the bow tying was proving a problem and dashed over to finish that off! 

 Pre- wedding time with Mum 

Guests were treated to a little light refreshment on their way through the barn to the Chapel for the wedding ceremony - perfect idea

Now it would not be unkind to say that the boys were not the best at being where they needed to be and on time so this is the Best Man dashing off realising that despite reminders yes he had in fact left the rings in the house - bit of a quick run back to the house to get them! 

Cool and calm - the groom makes his way 

  

Here come the girls - in stunning contrasting sage green and pale gold dresses in a beautiful floating fabric they all looked beautiful and relaxed and ready for a wonderful day.  Now one of the challenges we faced with this wedding was the high number of guests in comparison to the tiny and beautiful old Chapel.  

This Chapel is so beautiful yet without power and no seating we had to come up with some ideas on how to seat nearly 200 people in a Chapel which really is meant for less than 100!  It was a challenge but it was achieved!  Some narrow folding chairs, some benches and standing room only at the back for the young ones.     The brass band were positioned on a specially made platform at the back of the Chapel. The bride chose a beautiful peace of music for her entrance to the Chapel which was played beautifully by the Sherborne Town Brass Band - a solo trumpter played The Prince of Denmarks March which gave the entrance a real regal feel to it - just one of the magic moments from this day.  

The guests and the groom eagerly awaiting the arrival of the bride 

Such a fun service - the bride and groom joke with the Best Man during the service 

This is one of my favourite images of the day - the bride and groom emerging from the Chapel after the service.  The florist  had created a stunning display of hops around the entrance to the Church to create this stunning vision 

 The confetti shot with the bride and groom on their way for their drinks reception 

 We had some really fabulous elements to this day - the bride and groom re-signed the Register after the service inside the House with guests watching on - so the contract was then sealed!

The marquee was a delight.  We had worked hard over the months before the wedding to create a natural colour palette of different shades of green incorporating green glass and shades of pale gold to complement the bridesmaids dresses.  The table linens were alternating between a pale green and a gold colour and the family had contributed home made favours - the groom's father with his own jars of Estate honey for the chaps and the bride's mother with Welsh cakes in gorgeous little bags for the ladies.  We were thrilled with the skills of florist Helen Ffoulkes - Jones and her team who created stunning displays throughout the marquee and in the Chapel and the bouquets for the bride and the bridesmaids.  The table centres had tall or low arrangements with all shades of green and the taller arrangements had crisp green apples and grapes decorating the base. 

Whilst the final preparations took place in the marquee the guests enjoyed delicious canapes served by the fabulous team at Creative Catering and ice cold champagne and plenty of it!  The countryside was a delight to  surround this outdoor drinks reception and the guests were treated to the sounds of the Sherborne Town Band who played a selection of brass band music chosen by the bride. 

The bride and groom make their entrance into the marquee for the first time as their guests await them.  Guests were served a sumptuous menu in elegant surroundings. 

Another magic moment - the bride's mother had prepared Grace in Welsh as a surprise for her daughter and you could say that it was a bit of an emotional and beautiful moment 

The bride and groom chose a savoury wedding cake of local cheeses - fabulous idea and very tasty - the Chef later broke this down and served on a colourful table with breads and chutneys and fruits and the guests all tucked in 

The groom's speech really was one of the best we had ever heard - delivered perfectly with elements of fun and emotion - the bride clearly enjoyed this and the groom did extremely well 

And so the evening began - the bride and groom took to the floor for a brilliant first dance to the joined by their guests who were enjoying an evening of freshly mixed cocktails all night (with lots of lychee martinis being served!) and they snacked on bacon rolls later on in the evening.  The band were amazing keeping guests entertained until the early hours with the DJ taking over too to keep the party going on well into the next day - the guests (and the bride and groom!) really did not want to leave the floor!  

The bride and a friend enjoy a cocktail from their bar!

 The marquee by night - the guests dancing away 

This wedding truly was a pleasure to work on and we thoroughly enjoyed it and the day itself.  The families were wonderful and opted for our full wedding planning service so we worked closely with the family for around 9 months to put this wedding together.  For more information on our full wedding planning packages please see our website on our wedding planning services.

Thank you to Angela Ward Brown for allowing us to feature these images in our blog and a pleasure to work with you again Angela. 

Congratulations to Sarah and Phil and thank you for asking us to help you plan your special day - the pleasure was all ours 

xx