How you met…
We met at work, we were on the same team, and we became partners in crime ever since. (literally)
The proposal…
Krissy popped the question first, she took me to a gorgeous log cabin for a night, it was so dreamy. I said to Krissy as we arrived "this is somewhere people go to propose!!", Krissy thought I’d ruined the surprise, but I thought nothing more of it! We then went for a wonderful dinner out and when we came back, she asked me!
Why we chose Dodmoor for our special day…
It was our first ever wedding venue viewing and we fell in love instantly. We loved the layout of the venue; it was intimate without being crowded. As we were getting married in November it just oozed cosiness, all the fairy lights and little touches that come with the barn just made it so magical. We also loved the versatility of how the day can run and we felt like the choice was 100% up to us.
The vision and theme for the day…
As the barn was just beautiful on its own, we didn’t want to take away from the authenticity, we kept with the rustic theme and added green foliage with white gypsophelia - it was simple but perfect for us. We wanted a relaxed atmosphere, everyone to just have a good time and have a boogie! A same sex wedding isn’t 'traditional,' so we got to script our day just how we wanted!
The outfits!
Krissy wore a gorgeous white suit and some personalised white converse. Gaby wore a simple white dress with a deep v neck and a low cowl back, paired with some white satin block heels for the day and then changed into matching white converse in the evening!
Food…
We used Lemon Zest as our caterers for the day. We had canapés during the reception and then a 3-course meal consisting of deep-fried Camembert, sausage and mash and a trio of desserts. It went down an absolute treat!!
Our favourite part of the day…
As cliche as it sounds but the whole day was our favourite. If we had to choose one part, it would be the wedding breakfast. We had a sweetheart table and loved looking around the room with our nearest and dearest enjoying themselves knowing they were there to celebrate us. Our singer knew how to get the crowd going during the breakfast, so watching our guests having a sing along and throwing some shapes over the mezzanine balcony was simply perfect!
How Dodmoor as a venue stood out to us…
Having the honeymoon suite to stay in at the end of the night and the transport included back to The Mercure for guests was a no brainer. This made our wedding planning so much easier and less hassle and stress, which is always a win!
What was the plan/idea that you felt really worked on the day?
Being both brides we both wanted our moment to walk down the aisle. We didn’t want any guests seeing us beforehand and we certainly didn’t want to see each other. The team managed to organise and plan the logistics of how Krissy and her bridal party would stay until the ceremony alongside me and my bridal party getting ready and organised, so the first-time guests got to see us both was walking down the aisle, and me and Krissy got to see each other in the gorgeous courtyard Barn!
The entertainment…
We used a harpist for our ceremony and then had a singer/guitarist for our drinks reception and wedding breakfast (she was AMAZING!!!)
In the evening we had a DJ who really got the crowd going!
Where we felt our budget was well spent…
We chose the unlimited drinks package provided by Dodmoor, we went for the Ruby option and are so pleased we did because our guests drank a couple hundred pounds over the guaranteed max price, so it was a no brainer. We knew this wouldn’t be a waste as our guests like a drink... or two! The variety of options were like no other venue and there was never an empty glass in sight. This is certainly one to think about and it goes down a treat with the guests when they don’t have to pay until after the wedding breakfast!!
Personal touches that reflected us as a couple…
We created some photo bunting of various pictures throughout the 5 years together which we hung up in the bar along the beams. We got lots of compliments on this and we felt it was a lovely idea for people to look at the stages of our relationship over the years and an insight into our life. Also, the fact Dodmoor is dog friendly was huge for us, it meant we got to have our Miniature Dachshund, Nelson part of our day.
Suppliers we used and would recommend!
We went for Lemon Zest for the catering, the choice and food were above and beyond and worked perfectly for our day. We also used the Dodmoor Burger Bar for our evening food. We are so glad we did as our guests are still talking about how delicious those burgers were to this day!
We also used Julie Anna for our flowers who made our vision into real life. The arrangement and flowers were better than we could have imagined, we got our bouquets preserved they were just so beautiful. She knew exactly the theme we wanted and certainly delivered on the day.
We used Wedding Videos Northamptonshire to capture our special day and would totally recommend a videographer, they capture all the parts of the day you don’t get to see and relive the whole day again.
Lastly, we used Melodycakes for our stunning 4-tiered semi naked cake with Julie Anna decorating with some gorgeous flowers. The staff cut up some slices of each tier for us and left it in our honeymoon suite at the end of the night, that certainly went down a treat!
Our tip to other couples…
Don’t feel pressured to plan your day to what you think your guests will want to see, it’s about the two of you and should reflect you both. Play the music you love because as soon as everyone sees you having a boogie on the dance floor, they will join in whether they are a fan or not!
We want to give a huge thank you to Gaby and Krissy for sharing with us their beautiful day, and a special thanks to Kie Fuller Photography for the amazing photos!
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