Scarlett & James 31/05/24
What made you choose Iscoyd Park for your wedding venue?
We got engaged in September 2023 in Bali and didn’t arrive back to the UK until October. Knowing I wanted to get married in May and not wanting to wait until 2025 to marry my best friend, we planned to set the date in May 2024 (with thinking 8 months to plan a wedding maybe a little ambitious due to time not being in our favour; In hindsight we shouldn’t have been worried at all with all the help and organisation from Kate and all of the Iscoyd team they made it a dream to plan!!)
Luckily I knew what I wanted and what I didn’t want. However the venue was the one thing I had no idea on. I had a certain style of venue I had in mind but after we had looked at a few venues, we never felt “that click”. I was a bit deflated and thought we would never find our perfect venue… Until my sister just mentioned ‘Iscoyd Park’ one day in conversation. I thought what’s the harm in looking? I’ll get in touch.
From the very first email, Ffion was so lovely and personal, not your standard email response back. I felt like she truly cared and had a passion to showcase iscoyd in all its beauty.
We arranged with the lovely Ffion to meet her and have a look around at one of their open days. Myself and James didn’t have any expectations from being a little disheartened from prior venues however as soon as we came down the driveway looking at this Bridgerton inspired country house I felt excited and a little overwhelmed thinking this could be ‘the one’. All of these feelings were confirmed when we were greeted and showed around by Ffion. I honestly can’t remember half of what Ffion said for being so in awe of this gorgeous venue both inside and out, with decorative surprises put carefully with thought and love around each corner.
I then felt this was all too good to be true and there would never be availability in eight months time. As it happened a cancellation came through as we were looking around for 31st May 2024, almost as if it were meant to be! I felt I wanted to jump at the chance to book it but at the same time I wanted to make sure our families could make it. Thats when we were told that we could hold the date to make sure it suited us. There was never a feeling of being rushed to get a date booked.
Aside from not being able to fault the venue itself at all, I can’t speak highly enough of all of Iscoyd Park staff!!
Kate, our wedding co-ordinator, deserves a medal and more for everything she did for us! There was never a feeling of being pushed in a certain direction or judged at some of our ideas. Nothing was ever too much trouble and she could never do enough for us! She even sneakily hid all the gift bags I made up for the bridal party when we were unloading the cars so that everyone was surprised with them when they arrived in their rooms! We always felt as if we were treated personally and never just another couple getting married. Everything was personal, thought out and made magical!!
Myself, James and my family also stayed at the beautiful Iscoyd cottage the night before (I highly recommend). That alone is a night I will never forget, ordering a Chinese takeaway with James in the hot tub practising his speech.
One other main thing to mention was the food. From the canapés to the wedding breakfast to the Iscoyd pizza van in the evening. It was fantastic!!
What was your favourite part of your wedding day?
Well this is definitely the hardest question without a doubt as there wasn’t a single moment I wasn’t smiling, laughing or crying of laughter!!
We did things slightly differently, as we got married a week prior to our event at Iscoyd at a very small church close to home. For me, family is the most important thing and the top priority in my life. My dad passed away four years ago so not being able to have him by my side was a tough one! I wanted to feel that he would still be close by when saying ‘I do’ so we chose to have a very small intimate ceremony at the church where my dad is buried and then have another ‘wedding day’ at Iscoyd Park. We had our event at Iscoyd as a ‘normal wedding day’ apart from the ceremony. This meant less stress for myself and James and where we could celebrate for the whole time together with our friends and family without any nerves about stumbling over down the aisle.
I would have to say my favourite part was feeling like we were at home, seeing everyone we love in the same space, being happy and having a good time!
Tell us a little bit about your wedding theme.
Our theme was to keep things simple with a romantic touch. With the colour scheme being green and white.
Georgia at Feather and Fox did a spectacular silver back drop with balloons following the colour scheme, Heather at TSP Cakes also followed the colour scheme very cleverly by adding vanilla and pistachio macarons to a gorgeous ridged white chocolate and raspberry cake with flowers and foliage added by our florist to bring everything together beautifully.
The Outfits; Who did you wear? What did your bridal party wear?
The groomsmen wore Marc Darcy suits with brown ties whilst James wore a slightly different style Marc Darcy suit, complimenting the suit with a black bow tie to stand out from the groomsmen.
I wore ‘Austin’ from the Australian brand Made With Love which I got from White Studios Bridal in Shrewsbury.
I also wore a headpiece from Halo & Co which was my something borrowed from my sister who wore it on her wedding day 10years ago.
For my maid of honour (my sister) I wanted her to feel comfortable so gave her free rein on what she wore. She looked gorgeous in an emerald dress from SilkFred.
The Flowers; Tell us some more about your blooms.
We knew straight away we had to make use of Iscoyd’s most amazing staircase. When I say Katie from Unique Your Wedding nailed the brief of simple elegance….She absolutely nailed the brief! As I walked through the front door I gasped at the image of roses, peonies, eucalyptus and foliage intertwining the staircase with candles surrounding the bottom of the instalment with the smell of Neom candles filling the room. From the staircase instalment to the table arrangements, to adding the perfect touch of flowers and foliage onto our cake. She dressed everything to give it a beautiful romantic feel.
The Photography; Who were your photographers and why did you choose them?
We were lucky to work with the amazingly talented Tobiah Tayo. We chose him as we knew he had worked at Iscoyd before so he would know all the best places for photos (although you would struggle to find a place at Iscoyd Park which isn’t stunning!)
However we mainly chose Tobiah as when we looked through his photos you could clearly see he captured the emotions as well as “just a picture” And wow, he did just that!! Every time we look at the pictures it brings back all the feels and we feel as if we are re living our dream day over and over again!
On the day itself Tobiah made us both feel so at ease and relaxed where we could enjoy every moment of the day. From start to finish, Tobiah was nothing but amazing!!
The Evening; Give us the lowdown on entertainment.
My one non-negotiable to the day was to have a saxophonist. As soon as we saw Jonny Ross at Iscoyd open day I made it my mission to get in touch with them straight away! We felt so lucky to get the wonderful DJ Danny and Saxophonist Tom who seriously brought the energy. Even now our guests mention how amazing Danny and Tom were! We put inflatable props and LED glow sticks near the Feather and Fox backdrop which all made an appearance on the dance floor.
We also made use of Iscoyd’s fire pit for our guests to toast marshmallows later on in the evening along with Iscoyd’s pizza van serving up some top notch pizzas.
Words of Wedding Wisdom?
Even if everything goes wrong, from the uncontrollables like the weather or the controllables like finding the perfect wedding dress… remember you are there to marry your best friend, the person you fell in love with, and the person you get to spend the rest of your life with.
Everything that goes right is a bonus to that. Don’t let the little things that might go wrong determine the attitude of the day!
Find out more about Weddings at Iscoyd Park
Photography by Tobiah Tayo Photography