Enjoy!
Alex and James’s Harlaxton Manor wedding blog — part two
Our reception was at Harlaxton Manor, the UK campus for the University of Evansville, USA. The staff at Harlaxton were fabulous and made sure that our day ran very smoothly!
We were greeted at Harlaxton by a four piece band called Happy Jazz. They helped to create a great atmosphere and let the champagne flow! Whilst having photos our guests made the most of the croquet on the lawn and the stunning grounds.
My mom made the slide that I wore in my hair from old buckles that she found at home. Our cake and the bridesmaid’s bouquets also had similar buckles which we threaded onto ribbon. They tied in very well to the belt which came with my dress.
Having both lived abroad in different countries, we chose to name our tables after countries that are significant to us. I found an old map in a charity shop and wrote the names of our guests on luggage tags before pinning them to the map.
Rather than fill the tables with favours we donated money to two charities and left small bunches of dried lavender at each place setting.
We continued the “theme” when we printed the names of the tables on airmail envelopes. A few weeks before the wedding we found my parents old stamp collections! To our surprise they had stamps for all of our countries so we had to put them to good use!
James’ mom made the cake and his aunt iced it. The flowers on the cake were all edible along with the tea cup which sat on the top tier. It was very creative, especially as we both love a good cup of tea!
In the evening we had a nine piece swing band, the Good Guys Orchestra. They were fantastic and managed to get all of our guests dancing!
Once the music had finished, James and I made our way up the large sweeping staircase at Harlaxton. Some of our guests started to sing “So long, farewell,” from the Sound of Music. It was a wonderful end to a very special day!
Recommended wedding suppliers:
Wedding photographer: Beautiful Life www.beautifullifeuk.com
Dress: Ellie Sanderson bridal boutique, Buckinghamshire www.elliesanderson.co.uk
Bouquets and table flowers: The Grantham Florist www.jrtinternet.co.uk/florist
Car: Gladstone Carriages (based in Rutland) www.gladstonecarriages.co.uk
Band on arrival: Happy Jazz — from Melton Mowbray more information and reviews here: www.dgmusic.co.uk
Evening band: Guy Garrett — The Good Guys Orchestra www.facebook.com/pages/The-Good-Guys-Orchestra/220692591279186
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