Katie & Dan

August Wedding
Dramatic Sunset
Garden Games
Herefordshire Wedding
Marathon Theme
Traditional Herefordshire Church

It was a delight for us at Burton Court to be the venue to host Katie and Dan’s wedding reception after having their service at Pencombe church, Herefordshire. They had wonderful touches at their wedding with great attention to detail. We loved to help in their preparations to make it extra special and bespoke.

The wedding had added significance for us to host as Katie’s Grandmother, Pat Roche, worked at Burton Court for my parents, and for Lady Clowes (who lived at Burton Court before my father bought the house). Katie was delighted when we shared with her pictures of her late Grandmother working in the tea rooms here during the 1980s.

Their wedding day was wonderfully captured by Russell Lewis‘s photographs for future prosperity.

Edward Simpson

Venue

Having chosen St Johns Church in Pencombe to hold our ceremony we wanted somewhere to invite all our guests back to enjoy the wedding reception. As soon as we saw Burton Court and met with Edward & Helen we knew this was where we wanted to hold our reception. Edward & Helen were a fantastic support throughout the whole organising and made sure the day run smoothly. There was also some family history linked to Burton Court which made it that extra special.

Church

As soon as we got engaged we knew we wanted to get married at St Johns Church in Pencombe as it is our local village church. We decorated with the help of family and friends who did an excellent job. To decorate we used lavender and gypsophilia on the end of the Pews. The service was taken by Reverend Elizabeth Sidwell who made it very personal, and readings were read by Katie's Auntie Karen, and one of the Best Men, Paul.

Getting Ready

My bridesmaids, Mum and I decided to get ready in the Bridal Suite at Burton Court. We had our make up done by Sam Higgins and Hair by Amy Bemand. Both ladies are so talented and made sure we were all kept calm, and most importantly got us ready on time!

Dress

I visited a couple of local bridal boutiques with my Mum, Auntie and best friend to get an idea of what I wanted. Being petite I was wary about what styles would suit me. Once I knew what style I wanted Mum and I sneaked off one Sunday to Wed2B in Birmingham, they had so much choice there but as soon as I tried this dress on I knew it was the 'the one'.

Bridesmaids

My two bridesmaids were my Best Friend Beth, and Dan's sister Abi. The only preference I had on the bridesmaids dresses was the colour and that I wanted them to both feel comfortable. We got the dresses from Satin & Silk in Hereford, they were a floor length fit with a deep V neckline which matched my dress.

Flowers

We got the bouquets and button holes from Hillmans Florists in Hereford which were absoloutely stunning.

Groomsmen

Dan decided on two Best Men, he had his brother George and best friend Paul, the Ushers were his other best friend Rich and Katie's cousin Scott.

Arrival Vehicle

We used Katie's Dad vintage Morris Minor to drive Katie & her Dad to the ceremony and then as the newly weds back to Burton Court. The Morris Minor looked right at home outside Burton Court.

Drinks Reception

Since the start of the planning we were keen to keep the whole day as relaxed as possible. We were lucky to have great weather on the day, so everyone was able to enjoy arrival drinks and canapes outside. We decided on Pimms and bottles of Corona for the arrival drinks which went down very well.

Garden Games

At first we were just going to have croquet on the lawn. However, at some point during the planning a volleyball net was mentioned. Due to the good weather guests were able to enjoy croquet and volleyball on the lawn. At one point we all enjoyed a mass volleyball game which got very competitive!

Great Hall set up

Instead of the usual long Top Table we decided we wanted a round table so everyone could chat and have a good time. We choose to name the tables after marathons/half marathons that we had both completed, and use decorated jars with gypsophilia for the centrepieces. To tie in with the running theme on the tables we used chocolate medals for our place names for our place names which also doubled up as our flavours. We decided to keep the decoration in the Great Hall fairly subtle as the room itself is so grand we didn't want to take too much attention away from that.

Cake

Our cake was made by a close friend. We decided we wanted a Victoria sponge decorated in a fruit mixture and, considering it was her first attempt at a wedding cake, it was amazing! She even made a fondant icing model of our labrador - Jet!

Photography

We knew the photos would be very important to us as it is the lasting memory. Russell Lewis came very well recommended to us by Edward & Helen, as well as a couple of close friends. We asked Russell for a mixture of different photos. He managed to put us at ease for the portrait photos and was able to get everyone together for the family and friends photos which is not an easy task! We were extremely pleased with the photos. Russell captured the day so perfectly and we struggled to pick our favourites. We also had no idea that he was even there for most of the day, at one point he was hid in the hedge, the next he was lay down in a field trying to get the perfect shot!

Catering

We chose Taste as our caterers, David was really helpful from the beginning with helping us choose our menu,. We had canapes during the drinks reception, then for the wedding breakfast we chose to have a 'Host a Roast' style main, this was really good fun and helped get the conversation flowing. For the evening food we chose a Hog Roast from Haven Hog Roast which was really tasty.

Band

We chose to have a local band called 'The Hey Yahs' to entertain us during the evening reception as we wanted the evening to be lively and get everyone up dancing. They didn't disappoint playing a mixture of pop, blues, rock and soul, as well as also performing our first dance song live. Dan's Dad is also the trumpeter in the band which made it extra special.

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