Marina & Jimmy 03/06/23

What made you choose Iscoyd Park for your wedding venue?

I must be the luckiest sister in the world as Iscoyd Park is owned by my incredibly talented brother Phil and my equally amazing sister-in-law Susie. I have dreamt of getting married there ever since it was transformed into the beautiful venue it is today. Jimmy and I got engaged at Christmas and in amongst the chaos of family festivities, Phil and I looked at the calendar and miraculously there had been a cancellation for 3rd June. Not only was this the summer wedding we had hoped for but it was also the second weekend of half term and, as a teacher, this filled me with joy. A relaxed week leading up to the best day of my life!

What was your favourite part of your wedding day?

It is so hard to choose one part of the day as we had so many highlights that made it the most perfect day/ weekend of celebrations. From the beautiful church service at St Mary’s, filled with amazing Selina Godsal flowers and the smiles of all our friends and family as we became Mr and Mrs Kipling to seeing the incredible Iscoyd garden full of chatter, laughter and the summer sound of steel drums. Entering the marquee for the first time and seeing all our ideas come to life, thanks the the unbelievable team at Iscoyd, was the happiest euphoric moment, followed by the delicious dinner, speeches, wine, limoncello shots and a jam-packed dance floor. What more could we ask for?! There are so many memories to cherish for the rest of our lives and we couldn’t be more grateful for all the effort that went into creating them. Thank you Team Iscoyd!

Tell us a little bit about your wedding theme.

When we got engaged I actually had Covid unfortunately (long story!) but this meant I had plenty of time to save some Instagram posts, read plenty of blogs and create a Pinterest board. I wasn’t a bride who wished for a dream day from the age of 5 and was pretty clueless to begin with. I decided (and Jimmy agreed!) that colour was going to be the way forward and lots of it! Each of my six adult bridesmaids wore a different colour dress, the flowers were a mix of wild and traditional and the tables were rustic with pops of colour from the candles. Nothing needed to match and it all just flowed really well.

The Outfits; Who did you wear? What did your bridal party wear?

I loved getting my bridesmaids, sister and mum involved in the dress search and with quite a limited time frame of five months, there weren’t many designers who would accept an order so I went to boutiques that sold a range of designers and this meant I tried a huge variety of styles. I loved the experience of trying dresses at Miss Bush Bridal in Surrey, a beautifully converted chapel on a lovely village high street. In the end I found my dream dress at Mews Bridal in Notting Hill by a French designer called Caroline Takvorian. I absolutely loved the lace detail and the silk crepe fabric which made it feel natural and so comfortable to wear. It was the perfect dress to match the summer garden theme of the day. Our photos and video have captured it amazingly well.

My little bridesmaid wore a vintage Anthea Moore Ede smocked dress in a blue floral pattern, which I had worn this to children’s parties when I was younger. The two pageboys wore duck egg cotton shorts from John Lewis, collarless white linen shirts from Trotters and navy blue Hamptons canvas shoes.

My adult bridesmaids wore a range of dresses, all different brands, colours and styles. I gave each bridesmaid two colours to choose from according to what I thought would suit them best and then the rest of the brief was ‘find a floral dress’! All the dresses were from high street brands after lots of searching online, much to Jimmy’s delight when I asked for his opinion on each and every option/ variation!

The Flowers; Tell us some more about your blooms.

When we had Iscoyd confirmed as the venue, my mum and I were in full agreement that we wanted Selina to do the flowers. Every time we have visited Iscoyd on family occasions we have loved the beautiful arrangements she creates with lots of greenery, wild flowers and bold colours. Selina was very patient when going through all the inspiration I had from Instagram! We loved the relaxed, rustic look of the tables using bud vases in amongst the colourful candles and the church flowers were so pretty. I have tried my best to dry out my bouquet so I can keep it forever.

The Photography; Who were your photographers and why did you choose them?

We chose the wonderful Tori Hancock Photography and this was an easy decision! We felt that so many wedding photos are filtered and don’t feel so natural anymore so when I got this recommendation from a friend of mine to use Tori, I couldn’t have been happier. We also used a second photographer who was Tori’s cousin, Harriet Croft Photography, who was equally amazing. Both photographers were so friendly, making everyone feel so at ease. The formal photos process was so easy thanks to Tori’s incredible organisation and some very helpful ushers! We would really recommend having two photographers if you can as we have received the most incredible variety of photos, which have captured many special moments that we didn’t see on the day.

 

 

For videography we chose Lukas and Laura Films who were absolutely fantastic and managed to film and edit the day to a tee. There are so many fun parts that we can now reminisce about and share with friends and family, which are all so special. We opted for the highlights film (4 mins), full movie (30 mins), full ceremony and full speeches all of which are amazing. Their style was really natural, not too cheesy and included a lot of the party vibes. It also flowed really well with the style of the photos. We’d definitely recommend to go for a videographer if you can.

The Evening; Give us the lowdown on entertainment.

We were lucky enough to have a three course dinner, made by the delightful kitchen team at Iscoyd. Many of our thank you letters have said that it’s the best wedding food they have ever had! Our speeches were split between the courses, which was a great idea and kept the evening flowing. After the pudding the cocktail team handed out limoncello bottles and shot glasses, much to everyone’s delight (especially Jimmy’s 99 year old granny!). Then we cut our cheese tower and got on the dance floor for the first dance – none other than Tina Turner ‘Simply the Best’!

We chose Jonny Ross Music and we were so happy with our decision! We opted for a DJ, saxophone and bongos which sounded awesome and the guys were so friendly throughout. They knew the venue inside out which made the whole set up process so easy. The music was just the best and kept everyone on the dance floor until 1am.

Outside we had a fire pit set up, next to the bacon butties served out of the Defender in the garden. The Iscoyd team had thought of everything to make each area so comfortable for all ages.

Words of Wedding Wisdom?

We would say make sure you take as many moments as possible together to either stand back and take it in or chat about the day itself. As everyone says, the day goes by in a flash so don’t rush anything, you’ll smile more than ever and things like hair and make-up just won’t matter! Enjoy every minute!

Find out more about Weddings at Iscoyd Park

Photography by Tori Hancock Photography