How you met…
We met at university
The proposal…
This would be our 25th year together. Early on Christmas morning before everyone else was awake, he presented me with a Christmas card. Inside was a proposal.
Why we chose Dodmoor for our special day…
We spotted Dodmoor’s advertisement for a deal on midweek “micro weddings” on the Hitched website, which seemed affordable and excellent value for money compared to other venues. It looked beautiful and the author seemed to really understand the ethos behind our desire for a smaller wedding.
When we went for a viewing, we had not long been engaged and knew very little about how it all worked. The team at Dodmoor really took us by the hand, making helpful suggestions for timelines and their website had a list of recommended suppliers that helped us to envision what our wedding could look like in terms of entertainment, accommodation etc.
They seemed to instantly understand the kind of feel we were looking for. It has to be said that our visit to Dodmoor was much more useful than visiting the national wedding show, which had been a bit overwhelming. We loved the rustic, yet elegant charm of the barns and their pretty countryside setting.
The vision and theme for the day…
We went for a woodland theme for our wedding, which matched our love of nature. We went for white flowers with a calming sage green pallet. We wanted to make sure our it was as sustainable as possible, opting for forget-me-knot seed cards as wedding favours and mix and match mini cut glass vases of flowers on log slices cut from a local wood by a forestry friend for centre pieces. We wanted a relaxed and less formal feel, where our guests could drink in the natural beauty of their surroundings. We also wanted to include nods to family fun and our family, opting for scrabble tile place names and jigsaw puzzle guestbook, where each guest would sign a piece so show how they were an important part of our special day.
The outfits!
My husband and our two boys went for slim line 3-piece suits in charcoal grey, with matching sage green ties and pocket squares and a simple white rose buttonhole. I went for a fitted ivory lace dress, with a little train and a vintage feel.
Our little family of four all wore high top sneakers. The boys went for classic black and white converse, while I went for an ivory lace pair that matched the dress.
Food…
We wanted to avoid having a separate menu for children and we had the added complication that roughly a quarter of our guests (including myself) were diabetic. I really wanted a menu, where they didn’t feel singled out as having special requirements and give them a day where they could just eat the meal presented, without having to ask for amendments, without needing to take extra insulin and without a background of pinging glucose monitors. In the end we went for a choice of retro prawn cocktail or Thai crab cakes with a spicy Asian slaw for starters and a classic English roast for the main.
A choice of chicken or lamb meant we’d accounted for our guests’ religious preferences and swapping the traditional roast potatoes for a medley of low carb root vegetables meant people didn’t even miss the carbs. For dessert, we went for Eton mess with fresh strawberries and mini sugar free meringues. For the evening, we opted for cheese and charcuterie grazing boards with crudités, which was complimented by our wedding cake. We went for a naked style sponge with vanilla buttercream, with a sugar free top tier.
Our favourite part of the day…
Definitely the ceremony. The registrar set a really great tone, which was warm, and heart felt but still had gravitas, honouring traditions while still making it our own.
How Dodmoor as a venue stood out to us…
It’s such a beautiful setting, but what really makes Dodmoor stand out, is its team. Their attention to detail never failed to amaze and they really cared about bringing your individual vision to life.
On the day, all our guests commented on how attentive they were, without it ever feeling intrusive.
What was the plan/idea you felt really worked on the day?
Our personalised snack pallet went down well and again we were able to stock it with plenty of low carb options. It meant we had no hangry children waiting for the main meal.
I also really liked the banquet table arrangement with all our guests on the same table. It really added to the relaxed cosy vibe.
The entertainment…
We didn’t want to risk the anxiety of an empty dance floor or make people feel pressured to dance, so when we saw a fun casino listed on the Dodmoor recommended suppliers we thought it was a great idea and something that would be a little quirky and different. We liked that it was an interactive form of entertainment, but the tables and grazing boards kept it casual. In the end our guests loved it and as the name implied it was really good fun.
Where we felt our budget was well spent…
I think our venue dressing hire company was a good decision. Because the barns were already very pretty, it was definitely a case of less is more when it came to dressing to them, so we opted for a couple of statement pieces including a crescent floral hoop and some large lanterns.
We also hired a statement cake stand from Dodmoor that made our store-bought cake look stunning, and their leafy canopy that hung over our banquet table was beautiful. The Dodmoor drinks packages are also great value for money. The pricing is really transparent so you have the peace of mind that there will be no nasty shocks the next day.
Our photographer was also a great choice, because we opted for a digital package, meaning that we saved quite a lot by having the digital files only instead of the more expensive pre-curated wedding albums. In fact, sorting the photos into personalised photo albums ourselves has been a lovely way to look back on the day.
Personal touches that reflected us as a couple…
I think that we were able to reflect our love of nature and our quality family time through our choices of venue dressing such as the table place names. My husband had also curated the play list for our ceremony and in the evening, he had put together a 3-hour playlist with no repeats, that really represented the musical soundtrack to some of the most significant moments of our life together.
Suppliers we used and would recommend!
Most of our guests stayed at the Mercure Daventry Court Hotel. I really liked that the deal not only included discounted rates for our guests, but also transport back to the hotel for everyone at the end of the night, which meant everyone could enjoy a few drinks and we didn’t have to worry about people getting back safely. The hotel also upgraded us to a prestige suite which meant we had plenty of room to accommodate our hair and makeup team the morning of the wedding. Our boys also enjoyed the pool, which allowed them to use up some energy before the main event and they also appreciated the hearty buffet breakfast.
Our tip to other couples…
I’d say a shoebox of essentials, safety pins, plasters,
spot stain removers etc appeals to the more control freak types and remember to bring some flat comfy shoes to change into! But at the end of the day I’d say enjoy it and be in the moment. It goes by so fast!
We want to say huge thank you to Nicky and Tim for sharing with us an insight into their beautiful wedding day! Also a huge thank you to Alex form AB Studio Creative for the fantastic photos!
