Gemma & Ben 31/08/23
What made you choose Iscoyd Park for your wedding venue?
We’d seen pictures of Iscoyd and put it on our shortlist of venues to view. It ended up being the first and only venue we viewed because we knew it was the one as soon as we got there. The whole vibe of the place and how lovely the staff were sold it to us immediately. And we loved that we got the cottage for the bridal party the night before. Ben was a bit jealous of that bit!
What was your favourite part of your wedding day?
We both said our favourite part was the ceremony and actually getting married but we loved every single bit of it. We wouldn’t have changed anything. I also really enjoyed eating pizza in the bath with my new husband at the end of the night.
Tell us a little bit about your wedding theme.
The theme of our wedding was chic and elegant. We had lots of green foliage and candles and the only flowers were the bouquets and button holes. All our stationery and place settings were black and white. We used the phenomenal Maddison Creations to help us style and dress the venue.
The Outfits; Who did you wear? What did your bridal party wear?
Ben and his groomsmen wore tuxes and my dress was from Made With Love. It was sleek and simple with a long train and a lace edged veil from Grace Loves Lace. But in the evening we wanted to be able to dance and relax a bit more so I changed into a one shoulder sequin and feather mini dress. Basically the exact opposite of what I wore in the day which I loved! It felt fun to mix it up a bit. The bridesmaids wore olive green multi-way maxi dresses from Monsoon that they could each wear in a style that suited them.
The Flowers; Tell us some more about your blooms.
Our florist was Jemma from Forage Floristry. I had beautiful white long stemmed roses and the bridesmaids carried smaller versions of my bouquet. My 10 year old daughter had a flower crown with a mix of foliage and white roses. The men had simple matching buttonholes.
The Photography; Who were your photographers and why did you choose them?
We knew our photographer Rebecca Kerr was good from her Instagram but I’m absolutely blown away by what she captured. It’s exactly what I was hoping for but even better! We’d had an engagement shoot with her while I was pregnant to get some nice pictures of my bump and also so she wasn’t a stranger on our wedding day so we felt comfortable with her straight away. There was a part of the morning that got a little stressful for time just before the ceremony and she cut through all the noise and made sure I got the shots she knew were important to me. Like breastfeeding my baby in the bridal suite just before I put my dress on. That picture will always be so special to me.
Our second shooter (chosen by Rebecca) was Faye Wilde and she was brilliant. She went round asking guests if they’d like her to take pictures of them and everyone loved it. She and Rebecca also ended up helping me choose jewellery and accessories for my nighttime look as they happened to be in the room while I was getting into my evening look. By that point they felt like friends so I was super comfortable getting changed with them there to capture all the small moments.
The Evening; Give us the lowdown on entertainment.
We had a DJ – Nick the Lunatic – for our evening entertainment with no real musical direction other than stuff people want to dance to. We also had a 360 selfie video platform with props which everyone loved, especially as they sent the videos to everyone’s phones immediately. We decided not to have a cake but instead had doughnuts for all of our guests at the end of the night to tuck into.
Words of Wedding Wisdom?
Be ready WAY in advance. And also find out what’s the latest time the ceremony can happen. I ended up in a panic when the registrar came to speak to me and told me I had 15 minutes maximum to get downstairs. I didn’t have my dress or my veil on and hadn’t chosen my jewellery. That’s the only part of the day I didn’t enjoy. But to end on a positive note just enjoy it and don’t worry about everyone else and trying to speak to everyone. They’ll all have a great time being at your wedding so just take it all in and have fun!
Find out more about Weddings at Iscoyd Park
Photography by Rebecca Kerr Photography