Victoria and Scott's Spring Wedding

How we met...

We first met online via a dating app in August 2016 – “plentyoffish.com”!

We’d both been out of not-so-nice breakups with other people, and initially I was sceptical of online dating because of previous horror stories! But after signing up, within a day I had a message from Scott saying hi. We messaged for a good month and found out that we had a lot in common & shared the same interests. We met up in September 2016 for our first date – lunch at a Wetherspoon’s pub (classy!) before a lovely walk around Stanwick Lakes. I knew Scott was tall according to his dating profile, but it wasn’t until he’d stepped out of his car that I realised he was seriously tall; he’s 6ft 5….and I’m 5ft 1!! But he swept me off my feet – literally and figuratively, and the rest is history!

The proposal...

So I proposed to Scott on 29th February 2024 – a leap year proposal! The location wasn’t very spectacular – just in our lounge at home, me in my pyjamas, Scott in his work kit. What should have been a planned speech from me, practically went out the window because Scott was late home and I was so nervous that I ended up rambling on & on about how much he meant to me, before I pulled out a paper ring (I took inspiration from Taylor Swift’s song “Paper Rings”!), and plucked up the courage asking him to marry me. The minute he said YES had me so shocked that I burst into tears! I was preparing myself for him to laugh and say no, so I was not expecting that! Thankfully they were happy tears because he accepted – it was incredibly special. We did eventually get a proper engagement ring for me, as we couldn’t wear our paper rings forever unfortunately, haha!

What made you choose Dodmoor...

Scott and I both agreed that we didn’t want a traditional church wedding as he’s not religious, which I respected, and to be honest I’d stopped going to church a long time ago, so it was mutual! A friend of mine had got married at Dodmoor and she recommended for us to have a look around. So, in June 2024, we booked a viewing and the moment we pulled into the car park, Scott immediately said “This looks beautiful, and we haven’t been inside yet!”.

The entire Dodmoor House team were amazing & made us feel so welcome. What impressed us the most about Dodmoor House is that it’s exclusively yours for the day. The house and barns are so beautiful & rustic, then you have the courtyard and amazing outside grounds, especially by the canal! Plus, you have the use of the Farmhouse Suite in the main cottage for the bridal party to get ready in, then spending the night in the Dodford Room’s Honeymoon Suite as husband & wife. We’d seen about 9 venues by this point (this was number 10), but we walked away thinking “this is the one”, and by the end of June we’d booked it! So glad we did.

Our vision for the day...

We chose green, blue & white as our colour scheme to keep things classic & fresh, but it also worked well with the rustic vibe within the barns. As Scott’s mum is originally from Inverness, we decided to pay tribute to her Scottish heritage by incorporating thistles into our invitations and floral arrangements, which were created by our wonderful florist, Julie Anna Flowers. Our wedding invitations and stationary were designed by Unique Dee-signs and included blue & green thistles & white roses.

The outfits...

My wedding dress was from Serendipity Brides, who are amazing by the way! I wore a beautiful blush-pink dress with sparkles, designed by Rebecca Ingram from their Loved Bridal boutique. It was the first one I tried on (out of 9 overall!) and instantly I knew it was the one straightaway – I’ve always wanted a blush wedding dress and felt like a princess the entire day! I also chose a long veil with pearls & sparkles running through it. My Mary-Jane heels were from John Lewis and reduced from £80 to under £60 in their sale – what a bargain!

In keeping tradition with his mum’s Scottish heritage, Scott and his grooms party all wore kilts – of course! They hired their outfits from Macgregor & MacDuff. Scott chose a beautiful navy blue & green kilt, to tie in with our colour scheme, white shirt and a dark green jacket. My amazing bridesmaids and brides-man (Charlotte, Collette and Khaliq) wore outfits in peacock green & dark green.

The food...

We chose Portfolio Events as our wedding caterer, because they had so much choice to choose from. For our house canapes during cocktail hour, we had pork bon-bons, mini chicken/tarragon/mustard terrines, beetroot & goats cheese tarts, sweet potato/leek/feta frittatas, and tattie scones with smoked salmon mousse. Our wedding breakfast menu consisted of leek & potato soup to start, pan-fried chicken supreme & roasted potatoes for the main course, plus a tomato & mushroom risotto as a vegetarian/vegan option, and Eton Mess for dessert. We also had a children’s menu, which consisted of a smaller version of our main course, and chocolate brownie with vanilla ice-cream & chocolate sauce for dessert. For the evening reception, we had a barbeque buffet which catered practically everything, and through the Hire @ Dodmoor, we also had a pick & mix sweet trolley.

I was recommended Gardners Bakery through a work colleague, and the entire team were brilliant. Scott & I chose their beautifully simple but elegant 3-tiered “Dior” wedding cake – our flavours were red velvet, lemon and strawberry & vanilla.

Our personal touches...

Oh my goodness, we had so many!! We had a large picture frame of Scott & I together over the years. We also have a mutual love for Lego, so we had a Lego bride & groom to go on top of our wedding cake, and he even had his own blue & green kilt, so adorable! Scott’s dad made us a post-box for our cards & gifts, as well as a personalised wooden cake stand. We also had on a separate table, photographs of our loved ones who are no longer with us & I had an “in loving memory” sign printed from Etsy. I love musical theatre & studied it at university, so instead of table numbers for the wedding breakfast, we named them after shows Scott & I had seen together & that I’ve performed in!

My mum is quite the craft queen, and she made a beautiful cork heart to hang in the ceremony barn, plus a hanging heart wreath with lots of little hearts in blue, green & white to match our colour scheme. She also made confetti by air-drying rose petals from her garden. For our wedding favours, we decided on wildflower/sunflower seeds for our guests to take home, and my mum & stepmum made envelopes for the seeds out of pages of garden magazines!

The Music & Entertainment...

I walked down the aisle with my dad to “All I ask of You” from The Phantom of the Opera – one of my favourite musicals - then for the signing of the register, we had “So This is Love” from Disney’s Cinderella, “As Love Is my Witness” by Westlife (always a Westlife girl!) and “We’ve Only Just Begun” by The Carpenters. Walking back up the aisle, we played “Do I Love You (indeed I do)” by Frank Wilson, as my mum is a huge Motown & Northern Soul fan.

We then had Dodmoor’s wedding playlist during cocktail hour and throughout the sit-down meal. However, as we were announced into the wedding breakfast, our entrance song was – of course, “Paper Rings” by Taylor Swift, to tie in with our proposal story!

For our evening reception, we had the brilliant Rob Lawes Entertainment as our DJ for the evening, and our first dance was to “Marry Me” by Train.

One idea that worked really well...

Dodmoor’s unlimited drinks packages. Such a brilliant idea - it kept the drinks flowing throughout the day without any restrictions which made for a relaxed, enjoyable atmosphere for all our guests. It was also great knowing the cost was capped, helping us to manage our budget while still offering a variety of drinks options. Oh, and the Hire @ Dodmoor selection was fantastic too – we picked their sweet trolley through this!

Our favourite part of the day……

Scott: There’s too many to pick from, but mine was the ceremony when I turned around and saw Victoria walk down the aisle for the first time. She didn’t stop smiling! She looked so beautiful.

Victoria: It’s between two for me! The first was of course, seeing Scott’s incredible smile as he turned round when I walked down the aisle with my dad. The other was mine & Scott’s first dance – it didn’t matter that we were essentially doing “the roundabout shimmy”! It felt like we were the only ones in the room and it was just magical.

Where our budget was well-spent...

Venue without a doubt, then the food, and the photography! That’s the top 3 things to keep in mind when planning your wedding – for the venue, we were so impressed with the discounted price that came back for the date we wanted, it felt too good to be true! Beautiful venue, fab food (which our guests are still talking about now), and the most stunning photos from our photographer Lewis Bishop Photography, who is an absolute star!

Suppliers we used and would recommend...

Caterers - Portfolio Events

Photographer - Lewis Bishop Photography

DJ – Rob Lawes Entertainment

Stationary & Invitations – Unique Dee-signs

Dress – Serendipity Brides

Grooms-wear – Macgregor & Macduff

Flowers – Julie Anna Flowers (we love her!)

Cake – Gardners Bakery

Alterations – James Campbell at Avery James Design Studio

Rings – Jodie Gearing Bespoke Jewellery

Glam Squad – Kerry Claire MUA for make-up, and Paula Wooding for hair.

If you could give one tip to other couples, what would it be...

First and foremost, it is YOUR wedding day, not anyone else’s! Don’t be afraid to put your foot down with people who try to interfere or dictate what you should & shouldn’t have. It’s not a public forum and it’s honestly not worth the stress & tears! At the end of it all, it’s about the two of you & your love for each other, that’s what counts. Finally, the day will go by so quickly but honestly enjoy every single second – take it all in, soak up the atmosphere and don’t forget to check in on each other, just the two of you, even if you just sneak away somewhere quiet for 10 minutes! It’s the best day of your lives and it’ll be overwhelming but in the best way.

Thank you so much to Victoria and Scott for sharing their special day with us! Also, to Lewis Bishop Photography for sharing such lovely photos