Emma and Jim
Updated: Oct 8
How we met...
We met at work. Emma was interviewing for her first job out of university and locked eyes with a handsome guy across the office. But on her first day on the job, he wasn’t there - he’d gone travelling around Asia and Australia.
Fast forward a year, and this fun Jim guy everyone had been chatting about was home from travelling. The friends Emma had made at work just so happened to be the same group of friends Jim had made when he was working there. They were all due to meet Jim for drinks one evening, and Emma got strong-armed into tagging along because our mutual friends thought we’d get along great. And they were right! The rest was history.
The proposal...
We were road-tripping around Western Norway and had just driven to Steinsdalsfossen waterfall. There’s a path that runs behind the waterfall, with a little viewing platform halfway up. It was June, but Western Norway is typically very rainy, and this day in particular was quite gloomy, so there weren’t many people around.
Emma was snapping lots of pictures and videos of the waterfall. The noise was amazing, and it was so peaceful. She turned around, and Jim was down on one knee!
The timing was perfect. We were the only people there, and it was a huge surprise for Emma. The moment was made even more special when Emma realised that the ring Jim was proposing with was her late Nan’s engagement ring.
The whole trip was magical, and our favourite one yet.
Why we chose Dodmoor...
We live really locally and spend a lot of time walking around the Northamptonshire countryside and canals. The canal that runs past Dodmoor is the same canal that we walk down with our dog, Fudge. We wanted a venue that felt like us, and when we came to view Dodmoor, it just felt right. We knew it was the one!
We were really hoping to be able to spend a lot of the day outdoors if the weather was kind to us, and Dodmoor has so many lovely outdoor spaces to make the most of.
We’re also huge foodies! So having the option to pick our own catering throughout the day was another big sell for us.
The outfits...
Jim wore a chocolate brown double-breasted suit from Moss Bros, and Emma wore a white linen dress from Kindred of Ireland.
The food...
During our reception guests were offered a mix of canapés:
- Chilli & garlic king prawn skewers with lime mayonnaise
- Goats cheese, sun blush tomato, olive crostini
- Honey mustard cocktail sausages
- Cheesy toast fingers, Chocolate chip cookie, and strawberry milkshake (for the kids!)
It was very warm, so we also offered our guests ice lollies which went down a storm!
For our wedding breakfast, we went for a mix of big sharing plates rather than a formal three-course meal:
- Turkish flatbreads, olive and rosemary focaccia with hummus and tzatziki dips
- Garlic and herb roasted chicken breast served with chorizo and lentils
- Butternut squash and chickpea tagine
- Roasted Mediterranean vegetables with freshly torn basil
- Tomato and basil penne pasta
And for dessert we went for a trio of mini’s (why choose one when you can have three!):
- Crème Brulee
- Mini vanilla cheesecake with tipsy champagne strawberries
- Triple chocolate brownie
For our evening food, we had a pizza truck! They made loads of pizzas fresh and supplied some tasty pasta salads too.
Finally, a close family friend baked 100 (!) cupcakes because we didn’t want a wedding cake. The wonderful Dodmoor team walked around the venue offering these to guests towards the end of the night.
Our favourite part of the day...
The reception. It was so nice to chat to all of our guests straight after the ceremony. We also hired a pet chaperone (Wedding Tails), so we could have our dog there with us for a small part of the day.
She was there meeting all of her adoring fans throughout the reception, and having her there was super special. Chloe and Chrissie from Wedding Tails did an amazing job - we knew Fudge was in safe hands!
The unexpected moments we loved...
We asked Jim’s nanna (Mu) to introduce us before we walked into our wedding breakfast. It was very sweet standing outside in the courtyard, just the two of us, listening to Mu speaking to our guests and introducing us as the new Mr and Mrs Dillon.
It was a really unexpected private moment between us that felt special. We then walked in to Madonna’s “Like a Prayer”, and it was a great vibe - all of our guests were up on their feet singing along!
Our aisle walk song...
Just the two of us, by Bill Withers and Grover Washington, Jr. played on sax. The live sax sounded INCREDIBLE on the lawn. It was magic.
Where the budget was well spent...
All of the food we provided was incredible. Both Passion Foods, for our canapés and wedding breakfast, and Pizza Gorillas, for our evening food, did an incredible job.
We really didn’t want our guests to ever feel hungry, and we think we smashed it! We’ve had so many lovely comments about how great the food was.
It’s such a key part of the day, and we think it’s worth the investment to get it right.
Our personal touches...
So many things! Both of our mums grew lots of flowers from seeds, which were used to line our aisle with flowers. Jim’s best friend Ben wrote and led our ceremony — it was so special.
The wine and beer we offered at our wedding breakfast were all of our favourites.
The main chicken dish that Passion Foods cooked for our guests was based on a recipe that we love and cook a lot for ourselves at home.
Emma designed all of the food and drinks menus and created the little holders using air-dry clay. Very DIY!
The suppliers we used and loved...
Passion Foods - Incredible food and an incredible team. They immediately understood the vibe we were going for and fully customised the meal for us.
Laura DeBourde Photography - Laura is truly the best! She documented our day through both photos and video, and even surprised us with a few Polaroids to take home at the end of the night. She seemed to be everywhere at once, capturing all of the big moments and little details, yet somehow we hardly noticed she was there. The photos are beautiful, candid, and full of so much feeling, and the highlight video she created is absolutely amazing — I think we’ve already watched it hundreds of times!
With Love and Roses - Hannah created beautiful bouquets, bud vases and displays for the end of the aisle. Emma’s absolute favourite, though, was the pocket square of flowers she created for Jim. It was something different, it looked great and it got tonnes of compliments!
Wedding Tails - Chloe and Chrissie made having Fudge at our wedding completely stress-free. They brought her to and from the wedding and even stayed with her all night in our home.
Our advice to future couples...
Don’t feel like you have to do anything you don’t want to.
We stayed together at home the night before (Jim even dropped Emma and her bridesmaids off at Dodmoor first thing in the morning!).
We didn’t do a first dance. We didn’t have a cake to cut. We didn’t have a celebrant. We took a load of our bridal party photos before the ceremony.
None of our day was traditional, but all of it was completely us, and it was perfect.
With thanks to Laura DeBourde Photography for the photos.
