A Timeless English Wedding at Wotton House in Surrey — Claire and Damon

Enjoy, every­one! Claire xxx

The bride and groom:

Claire and Damon Carter.

Wed­ding venue:

Wot­ton House, Dork­ing.

Wed­ding photographer:

Lorna-Elizabeth Pho­tog­ra­phy. Lorna is absolutely amaz­ing, right from our ini­tial meet­ing, to the engage­ment shoot and mak­ing us feel so relaxed on our wed­ding day.

How long did you spend plan­ning your wedding?

2 and ½ years!

Best bit of bud­get advice?

Keep track of every­thing you spend. Damon cre­ated a spread sheet to enable us (me!) to keep track of our bud­get and what we were spending.

Invi­ta­tions and stationery:

All sta­tionery and invi­ta­tions were hand­made by Claire’s Aun­tie — Jacque­line Con­roy. She spent hours prepar­ing all the details – every­body loved them as they were so per­sonal to us and fit­ted with our purple/butterfly theme.

Did you fall in love with your wed­ding dress?

Yes – although it was my sec­ond attempt as I changed my mind from my orig­i­nal choice! My dress was ‘Swe­den’ by Amanda Wyatt from Per­fec­tion Bridal, Brom­ley and I fell in love with it the moment I tried it on. It’s clas­sic, ele­gant style with the bead detail really set it off.

Glitz and sparkle: the bride’s accessories:

White Gold and Dia­mond Jubilee hall­marked ear­rings and neck­lace which were a gift from Pat and Andrew (Claire’s mom and dad). Cream and dia­mante peep toe shoes from Dune and a Karen Millen but­ter­fly bag which was a birth­day gift from Claire’s mom and dad as we got mar­ried on Claire’s birthday.

The groom wore: All grooms­men wore morn­ing suits from Dap­per, Dork­ing. Ush­ers and Best Man wore Her­ring­bone tails, cream waist­coats with match­ing pur­ple cra­vats to match the brides­maids, except Damon who wore a cream cra­vat to match the bride Claire.

Beau­ti­ful brides­maids: what did your best girls wear?

Beau­ti­ful pur­ple twist and wrap dresses from Bhs Online. All brides­maids wore pearl bracelets which were their thank you gift and wore sil­ver shoes.

Hair and make-up – did you DIY or hire a professional?

Kate Good­man Hair and Make-up. Kate was an absolute find and she helped keep us all relaxed right from the hair and make-up trial two months before to the last minute preparations.

Wed­ding flowers:

Flow­ers By Elaine, Dork­ing. They pro­vided Claire’s and the 5 brides­maid bou­quets, but­ton holes for the bridal party, posies for the mums, table cen­tre pieces in mar­tini glasses and the top table arrangement.

The cer­e­mony:

Old Library, Wot­ton House. Although called the Old Library, it really does look like a chapel. The room was just per­fect espe­cially with the pur­ple hues and white car­pet which was adorned with rose petals dropped by our flow­ers girls just before Claire walked down the aisle to meet her groom, Damon.

Wed­ding readings?

Claire’s mom Pat wrote and read a beau­ti­ful, per­son­alised poem for us to cel­e­brate our Spe­cial Day.

Gen­eral styling – did your venue need much decoration?

No as the cer­e­mony room and the grounds were so beau­ti­ful. How­ever we used Wed­ding by Design to pro­vide pur­ple up light­ing which accen­tu­ated the wed­ding break­fast room and evening cel­e­bra­tions. They also pro­vided our chair cov­ers, ceil­ing drapes for our wed­ding break­fast room and candelabras.

The wed­ding cake: tra­di­tional or quirky?

Tra­di­tional 3 tiered cake pro­vided by Sim­ply Styl­ish Cakes. Claire’s Mum also asked them to make cup­cakes as a sur­prise for Claire’s birth­day which was really great as they dou­bled up as hors d’oeuvres at our drinks recep­tion while pho­tos were tak­ing place.

Enter­tain­ment:

Luisa-Maria Cordell a harpist played dur­ing our cer­e­mony and drinks recep­tion. KT Enter­tain­ment Ltd pro­vided the evening’s music entertainment.

On the day tips and advice:

Try and take at least 10 min­utes away from every­one to reflect on the day as it all goes so fast.

Quick rec­om­mended sup­plier list for other brides and grooms:

• Lorna-Elizabeth Pho­tog­ra­phy
• Per­fec­tion Bridal
• Bhs Wed­ding Online – brides­maid and flower girl dresses
• Dap­per – Suit hire
• Flow­ers By Elaine
• Kate Good­man Hair and Make-up
• Sim­ply Styl­ish Cakes
• Wed­ding By Design
• Luisa-Maria Cordell – Harpist.
• KT Enter­tain­ment — DJ