How you met…
We met at a house party back in 2018, but didn’t go on our first date until February 2020.
The proposal…
We booked a winter city break to Paris in 2022, Liam let me (Gina) plan the whole thing and book it. When we got there we headed out for some food near the Eiffel Tower, Liam then asked me to go for a walk around the bottom of the Eiffel Tower. When we were on our own taking a selfie, Liam got down on one knee and proposed.
After this we went to a little bar to have a drink and celebrate and as I walked into the bar I was greeted by Liam’s parents sat in there! After some tears and hugs I sat down and was surprised again as my parents walked through some doors towards me! It was a triple surprise! And the best weekend celebrating our engagement with both our parents. I still can’t believe he managed to plan this behind my back!
Why we chose Dodmoor for our special day…
We loved the courtyard, and that you have exclusive access to the venue. We also found that it was brilliant value for money, compared to other venues, what Dodmoor offer and the amount we paid felt too good to be true!
The vision and theme for the day…
Our vision was everyone having a good time and we had that!! We really wanted to have the best courtyard party in our reception drinks and early evening, and we had exactly that.
Food…
We used an external catering company, as a couple we aren’t really foodies. We went to a wedding previously who used Saffron Catering BBQ menu and we loved it. They just keep the food coming and everyone said how satisfied they were with the food. In the evening we went for pizza (but some of our guests didn’t even realise we had food … too busy dancing!)
Our favourite part of the day…
Reception drinks, we had sun, drinks, a singer, and lots of dancing! Everywhere we looked everyone had a smile on their face!
How Dodmoor as a venue stood out to us…
We loved that even though we were only using two rooms, they were seamlessly transformed throughout the day by the staff. It felt like we were using a bigger venue, but everyone was in the same space.
The plan/idea you felt really worked on the day?
We booked the singer, Annie Mai, for an extra hour after we finished the wedding breakfast, this meant when the room was changing over to the DJ/Evening we had entertainment outside before the evening guests turned up. And when the evening guests turned up they were greeted by the dancing and singing!
The entertainment…
Annie Mai was the singer for the day and early evening. Rob Lawes Entertainments was the DJ in the evening because I loved their rustic DJ option, I think it really transformed the barn into a whole new experience from where we had the wedding breakfast.
Where we felt our budget was well spent…
Decorations and flowers, we re-used a lot of our flowers for table decorations. We also used our florist to supply our table decorations so that we were only hiring one person to do the set up. By using her stock we didn’t end up with loads of left over candles!
Personal touches that reflected us as a couple…
We had couples’ cocktails on our menu – his and her cocktails
We took a moment after the ceremony to have a drink together in the honeymoon suite, it had been a long morning apart and the rest of the day we were going to be around everyone.
Suppliers we used and would recommend!
Annie Mai – she was AMAZING! Brought the vibes and good energy and has an amazing voice.
Sophie Ann photography – Sophie and Kyle are regulars at Dodmoor which meant we just felt at ease with them and the shots they were going to get of our wedding. They are so chilled out and just moved behind the scenes capturing some amazing moments.
Our tip to other couples…
Remember the day is about the two of you, the day should be a reflection of you as couple!!
Watch their AMAZING wedding video here:
The biggest thank you to Gina and Liam for sharing with us their fabulous and fun day. Also a massive thank you the very talented Sophie Ann Photography for the beautiful photos and video.
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