Gemma and Stuart's Elegant Sunny Wedding

A gorgeous sunny day, Saturday 1^st June 2012 was Gemma and Stuart’s wedding day.

Their reception was to be held at on Stuarts’ parent’s farm in Wimborne. The marquee from Pole to Pole Marquees was set up on their lawn the week before and was installed with cream carpet and stunning crystal chandeliers chosen by Gemma. The day before the wedding, we went to the marquee to dress it. With 120 guests, it took us all day to make sure everything looked perfect!

A special thank you should go to Damien Bailey who was the photographer for Gemma and Stuart’s special day and has allowed us to use his stunning images in this blog.

Although the rain threatened on the morning of the wedding, it soon cleared off to be a beautiful sunny day! We were back to the marquee bright and early the next morning to greet the arrival of the flowers, cake, bar, photo booth and technician for the band.

Gemma and her bridesmaids got ready for the day at her Mum’s house in Throop. Gemma looked breath taking in a custom made Suzanne Neville dress. The beautiful lace and low buttoned back were a perfect, romantic combination. Gemma’s bridesmaids wore pale rose pink floor length dresses by Two Birds which can be tied in up to 15 different ways. Their dresses matched perfectly but allowed them to each wear a style that suited each of them.

The ceremony took place at Throop Church and the girls were all driven to the church in a stunning black and cream classic car provided by Barnes Wedding Cars. Gemma’s Dad gave her away and the ceremony was an extremely moving one but luckily Melanie was on hand with tissues! 

After the ceremony Gemma and Stuart went back to her Mum’s house to have some photos taken in her stunning garden which backs straight onto the river.

Whilst Gemma and Stuart were having photos taken, all their guests made their way back to Stuart’s Parent’s house for the reception. A smaller drinks marquee was set up right next to the house where guests were greeted either with Champagne or Elderflower presse. Gemma didn’t want guests to go into the marquee straight away as she wanted it to be a surprise to them all when they first walked in to sit down for their meal so it was our job to make sure they stayed out! As it was such a beautiful day, all the guests were more than happy to stay outside and enjoy the sunshine! Guests were entertained by Keysworth String Quartet who played amazing versions of songs both new and old- a cover of Coldplay was a particular favourite of ours! They were also treated to delicious canapés of Mini bangers and mash on toast with red onion chutney, Smoked salmon & dill mousse on crostini with keta, Asparagus wrapped in Parma ham with truffle oil, Gazpacho soup shot with basil oil and Wild mushroom and herb tartlets

 

At 2.45pm Melanie called everyone in to the marquee to be seated for the wedding breakfast. By the front door of the marquee was the stunning seating plan in an ornate white antique style frame which was made by Emma Farwell Designs. Next to this was a vintage ivory bird cage for guests to put their cards in. The tables were laid with Ivory table cloths with gold table runners, silver cutlery, ivory napkins rolled and tied with gold ribbons, gold rimmed red wine glasses, gold rimmed white wine glasses, gold rimmed champagne glasses and water glasses. 

The place names also made by Emma Farwell Designs were luggage tag style which were tied around the stem of the wine glasses. Gemma and Stuart opted to give their guests charity pin badges as favours which we put into cute little gold envelopes and leant against the water glasses. In the centre of the tables were stunning floral arrangements by Arcade Flowers. Some arrangements were high whilst others were low and were made up of blush pink coloured roses, stunning peonies and cream roses which also matched Gemma’s bouquet and the bouquets carried by the bridesmaids. The flowers were placed on mirrors and had glass tea lights place around them.  The guests were bawled over by how stunning the marquee looked. Gemma and Stuart were equally as delighted with the end result. In the centre of each table was an envelope. Guests were asked to write their names on either a ten or a twenty pound note and put them in the envelopes. Melanie then went round each table and pulled a note out of the envelope and whoever the winning not belonged to won the beautiful table centre! All the money was donated to a childrens' charity.

Melanie announced Gemma and Stuart in and they were received by a huge cheer and round of applause. Once Gemma and Stuart had made their way to their seats Beales Gourmet started serving the food. The starter was Buffalo mozzarella, avocado and tomato timbale with pesto dressing, followed by roasted Sirloin of Beef with horseradish mashed potato and vegetable bundles served with red wine jus for the main course and a delicious quartet of desserts of fruit skewers with strawberry dressing, apple crumble with rhubarb sorbet, chocolate espresso mousse and passion fruit cheesecake. It was such a beautiful day that Jason from Pole to Pole marquees was able to take the sides off of the marquee.

After the food it was time for the speeches, all of which were very moving but amusing!

By the time this was all done, it was time for the evening guests to start arriving  which meant it was time for cutting the cake followed by the first dance!  But before this it was time for Gemma to change into her Jimmy Choo’s for the evening and add a stunning crystal belt to her dress to add a bit of sparkle for dancing! The cake was a three tier white sugar paste cake which was delicately decorated with lace which was copied exactly from the lace on Gemma’s dress- stunning! The cake was made by Lisa Notely Wedding Cakes and was made up of a chocolate layer, a sponge layer and a fruit cake layer. For their first dance Gemma and Stuart danced to 'Long to be close to you' by The Carpenters and treated their guests to a choreographed dance at a pre-wedding dance lesson. 

Then it was time to get into the real party mood! The cocktail bar provided by the Great Mobile Bar Company was now in full swing and going down very well with guests! The photo booth from Smiley Booth was also set up and getting busy with some fun and fab photos which were to be put into a guestbook for Gemma and Stuart.  Gemma and Stuart also declared their sweetie bar officially open and guests loved  filling up their white and pink stripy paper bags with pick and mix sweets and taking them back to the dancefloor! It was an indulgence that took may right back to their childhood with marshmallows, bonbons, love hearts and sherbet lollies. Gemma and her Bridesmaids had worked really hard creating this sweetie bar and they did an amazing job - it looked fantastic. 

The band, Fat Chance and the Disco provided by MaxDiscos kept the guests entertained and got everyone up on the dance floor! After dancing away, guests were beginning to get hungry again so went outside to indulge in fish and chips from a traditional fish and chip van! Not surprisingly this was a big hit with the guests. And for pudding, a slice of wedding cake which was a choice of traditional moist fruit, chocolate and lemon cake. 

The party continued long into the night, with all the guests enjoying the music and cocktails! 

When Gemma and Stuart returned from their honeymoon they sent us a lovely thankyou card which was so appreciated:

'To Melanie, We miss you! The wedding already seems like a lifetime ago, I wish we could do it all again! Thank you so much for making our day perfect, we have had so many compliments from people and so many guests commented on how fantastic you were. You truly are every girls dream to a perfect wedding! Lots of love Gem and Stu xx'

We loved working on this wedding. Visually it was stunning and we hope we achieved the look exactly how Gemma and Stuart had imagined it but also we loved working with Gemma, Stuart and Gemma's wonderful Mum in the 18 months prior to their wedding day to ensure everything ran perfectly on the day. Gemma and Stuart made their own decisions but valued out ideas and suggestions which made them the perfect couple to work with. We wish Gemma and Stuart lots of love and happiness for their future together.

x 

Suppliers for Gemma and Stuart's Wedding:

Wedding planning- Bellissimo Weddings- www.bellissimo-weddings.co.uk

Wedding styling- Melanie and Nicolle, Bellissimo Weddings- www.bellissimo-weddings.co.uk

Marquee- Pole to Pole Marquees- www.poletopolemarquees.co.uk/

Photographer- Damien Bailey Photography- www.damianbailey.com

Catering- Beales Gourmet- www.bealesgourmet.com

Wedding Car- Barnes Wedding Cars- www.barnesweddings.co.uk

Flowers- Arcade Flowers- www.arcadeflowers.co.uk

Wedding stationary- Emma Farwell Designs- www.emmafarwelldesigns.co.uk

Cake- Lisa Notley Wedding Cakes- www.cakesbylisanotley.co.uk

String Quartet- Keysworth String Quartet- www.keysworth.co.uk

Bar- The Great Mobile Bar Company- www.thegreatmobilebarcompany.com

Photo Booth- Smiley Booth- www.smileybooth.co.uk

Band- Fat Chance- www.fatchanceband.co.uk

DJ- MaxDiscos- www.maxdiscos.co.uk

Traditional Fish and Chip van- Wedding Fish and Chip Catering- www.fishandchipcatering.co.uk