How you met...
At St Albans park run. We both enjoyed our running and mutual friends invited us for post run coffees where we got to know each other.
The proposal...
I’d already had an engagement ring made by a friend who is a jeweller. Kate and I then went on holiday to Dorset and on one day, went rock climbing on the Isle of Portland. We spend the morning climbing before finding a large boulder that sloped down into the sea, I carefully put the ring into my pocket so I didn’t drop it as we ate our lunch. After lunch with our feet dangling into the sea I asked the question, which fortunately Kate said yes to. We carried on that afternoon with a climb on Diamond slab.
Why we chose Dodmoor for our special day…
We were keen on a barn wedding venue and after attending a open evening we fell in love with the venue. The combination of the beautiful venue and grounds, combined with the space, meant that we could have a really good understanding of how the day would go. Having a November wedding meant that our Plan A was for bad weather, which we knew Dodmoor could handle, though in the end we had a lovely day, with our drinks reception outside.
The vision and theme for the day…
Our hope was for people to be able to relax, catch up and have fun. Whilst we didn’t have a main theme, we went with autumnal colours that went really well with all the fairy lights in the venue.
The outfits!...
Kate’s dress wasn’t what she was expecting… having tried Willen Hospice bridal shop, then booking an appointment at the bridal section of Julia’s House charity shop whilst in the area for work, Kate tried on a very wide variety of dresses, and ended up going with a bespoke dress that had only returned from being cleaned that morning. It could have been made bespoke for me – it didn’t need a single alteration! It was great to know that the money spent was going to a children’s hospice too.
Richard wore a blue three piece suit.
Food…
Graham from GJ Catering did a lovely three course meal which reflected the time of year we were getting married, and also pizza for the evening.
Our favourite part of the day…
Being able to enter the wedding breakfast from the balcony as husband and wife, and see all of our friends and family in the room.
How Dodmoor as a venue stood out to us…
The organisation and care put in by the whole team at Dodmoor was fantastic. Lots of information was already available, but any extra queries we had were answered so quickly. Emma, our photographer was able to get lots of beautiful photographs both in the grounds and down by the canal too.
The plan/idea you felt really worked on the day?
As bride and groom we loved being sat on the same trestle tables as our guests for the wedding breakfast rather than a separate top table, meaning that we were able to spend more time socialising with our guests.
The entertainment…
In the evening, Terry from Smooth Moves did a great DJ set based on our music preferences for those who wanted to dance and we also had some of Dodmoor’s garden games in the Courtyard Barn for those who wanted to chill out a bit more.
Where we felt our budget was well spent…
As Dodmoor House is such a pretty venue, we didn’t have to dress the whole venue, instead we were just adding finishing touches to it. We spent most of our budget on the larger items, like food, drink and photographer, then saved money where we could, like drying petals from our garden over the summer for confetti, and Kate’s mum decorating the cake, which gave the day a really personal feel.
Personal touches that reflected us as a couple…
We are both keen cyclists and we were able to display some of our flowers on bicycle wheels in the ceremony room and on the mezzanine. Adding personal photos in the bar was lovely and allowed people to look back on happy memories with us.
Suppliers we used and would recommend!
We used the Dodmoor House recommended suppliers list for all of our main suppliers and they were all lovely. It meant they all knew each other as well, so could seamlessly work together. We’d also suggest trying the bridal sections of charity shops, they may just have the perfect dress for you!
Our tip to other couples…
Don’t worry about keeping up with all of the latest trends and thinking you have to have all of the ‘things’. Dodmoor is a beautiful venue and the team will make sure you have all of the essentials covered during the day in detail meeting, leaving you to simply relax and enjoy your special day with your family and friends.
A huge thank you to Kate and Richard for sharing their special story with us. Also, thank you to Emma Brooks Photography for the lovely photographs!
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