How we met...
We met in our second year of University - one of Dan’s friends was trying to chat up one of mine and he asked Dan to be his wingman. We hit it off straight away and have never looked back!
The proposal...
Dan proposed to me on Christmas Eve, he hid the ring in a bauble on our Christmas tree! I can’t believe he managed to put a new bauble on the tree without me noticing!
What made us choose Dodmoor for our special day...
After going to one of the open days, we knew instantly that Dodmoor was just what we were looking for. We loved the feel of it and just knew it suited us as a couple. It has an intimate feel, and the staff couldn’t have been more welcoming.
Our vision for the day...
CHRISTMAS! We absolutely love Christmas, and always knew it was going to be our theme.
The outfits...
I’d seen a dark green velvet jacket in Moss Bros, and thought that Dan would look great in it. It took some persuading but after trying it on Dan loved it, and admitted I was right all along! He wore the jacket as part of a dinner suit and had a black bow tie. The Best Men wore full dinner suits, but to match with Dan they had dark green bow ties.
My dress was the Avery by Justin Alexander , I got it from Courtyard Bridal in Lubenham. It was the first one I tried, and I knew straight away it was the one! I wore personalised converse with it as I never wear heels and wouldn’t have made it down the aisle in one piece if I had done!
The food...
We used Lemon Zest for our catering, and had a menu of arancini to start, followed by beef fillet or vegetable wellington which the chef made as a request, then rounded off with banoffee pots. In the evening, Lemon Zest did pizzas which were really well received. We also chose the pick and mix station to let people snack all evening.
Our favourite part of the day...
Abbey: Having everyone together to celebrate, including our puppy Ralphie!
Dan: When I first saw Abbey walking down the aisle.
What made Dodmoor stand out as a venue to us...
The staff were amazing and so attentive, nothing was too much trouble. Kathryn was our organiser and made everything so effortless! We are so grateful to her and all the Dodmoor staff.
The idea we felt worked well on the day...
We really enjoyed the sparklers outside and got some really great photos from it - this was Kathryn’s idea, and was really well executed! It was great to have both day and evening guests involved in something together as one.
Entertainment...
We had a DJ for the evening reception, booked through Strike Entertainment, and we also booked Mick Wright Caricatures which everyone loved!
Where we feel our budget was well spent...
We were really glad we went with the drinks package at Dodmoor, it really took the stress out of figuring out how much to get/how much people would drink etc.
Personal touches that reflected us as a couple...
The way the venue was decorated, including our own 7ft Christmas tree in the ceremony room, really made it special to us. I don’t know if we’ve mentioned, but we love Christmas! We also had personalised Christmas tree decorations made as favours for our guests.
Suppliers we used and loved...
Catering - Lemon Zest
Photographer - Ania Ames
Entertainment - Mick Wright Caricatures / Strike Entertainment
Flowers - Julie Anna Flowers
Dress - Courtyard Bridal
Table Plan - Ami Webster Designs (Etsy)
Favours - Amber Henry Co (Etsy)
And finally, if we could give a tip to other couples...
Enjoy every second as it will be over in a flash! And try not to stress too much!
Special thanks to Abbey and Dan for sharing their story, and to Ania Ames Photography for the photos x
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