Elegant Marquee Reception in Suffolk

In April, I was contacted by the lovely Elena who desperately needed my help for her wedding to Robert that September.  Apart from the church, nothing had been organized. From the moment I met Elena and Robert I felt an instant connection, in short I just knew what they wanted and what suppliers best suited them.

The Brief
My brief was for an elegant but fun marquee reception for 200 guests at their home in Suffolk. The gardens are utterly stunning with grass that would put many golf clubs to shame. For this reason, it was imperative that we showcased as much of the gardens as we could for the reception.

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The Wedding Ceremony
The ceremony had been booked for their local church a short distance from the reception. Our numbers were actually higher than the church capacity, by about 50%. But by hiring some banquet chairs, and moving pews and asking small children to go on laps, we amazingly managed to get everyone in!

The Processional
Black Beauty (Galloping Home) – as a horse love this was inevitable!

The Recessional 
Grand March from Aida
Music Performed by Church Organist, Jonathan Rutherford
READINGS, recited by the groom’s daughters

Readings
Recited by the groom’s daughters
Falling in Love is like owning a dog + Sonnet 116 by William Shakespeare + 1 Corinthians

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Drink Reception
Guests were asked to park in the paddock and walk along the pretty woodland path leading into my clients more formal garden. It was here they were greeted with delicious canapés served by Caper & Berry. Once guests made their way to the lower garden drinks were served by Cellar27, what I especially loved about Cellar27 was the effort they made into creating delicious and beautifully presented nonalcoholic drinks for my clients alongside the more traditional champagne and Bellini’s.

Teriyaki King Prawn Wontons
Tuna Roll
Asian Chicken, Coriander, Satay
The Edible garden
Wild Mushroom, Truffle, Chive

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The Weather
The weather– oh sigh if only I could guarantee sun I’d be a happy lady. Although it didn’t rain it sadly wasn’t sunny and it was a tad chilly. Thankfully we had ordered a chill out reception marquee for the drink reception but also the evening, with a heater positioned in here, once we closed the sides it was toasty in here at night!

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Sibton-Park-Wedding019 Sibton-Park-Wedding020 Sibton-Park-Wedding021The Dress
The dress was a stunning Jenny Packham creation with immense beading and lace overlay. What was especially incredible was that it survived numerous toddlers asking Elena for cuddles and various dogs jumping up at her!

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The Marquee
I knew we needed a pretty big marquee and ideally, should be a local company because the site was the easiest in terms of logistics. We were unable to get any lorries on site thus smaller vehicles were used to transport items as near to the marquee as possibly. But I didn’t want to compromise on quality so I hired the amazingly organized and efficient Highfield Marquees. Everyone from the sales team to the fitters on the day were incredibly helpful.

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The Design
One of the main reasons Elena and Robert booked me was that they fell in love with my style of elegant, English weddings. The florist used for the majority of my weddings is Jades Flowers thus she was instantly booked for my clients. After just one meeting the design concept was left up to Beverly and I to create.

I recommended Emily & Jo invitations as I felt the blend of traditional with modern would suit perfectly, huge thanks to them for creating all the stationery under tight time constraints with table plans only finalized a few days before.

The cake dessert table was a delight to create, Amelie’s Kitchen and I had a lovely meeting over lunch one day where I explained the concept. Helen was a star interpreting my ideas to create a masterpiece on the day! When in Elena’s house one day I saw an unused desk and decided it would be perfect in the marquee for the cake.

Amelia’s Kitchen – oh my god, My cake!!!! My desert station!! OH MY GOD!!! The sugar roses are a work of art, the tastes divine…. and Bernadette came up with perfection as promised! “ Elena & Robert

James from Wedding Creative was hired to handle all electrics, all lighting inside and out as well as many design items hired from him. As always his team are fabulous at knowing what I need. I especially loved the lampshade feature they created in the chill out tent, in fact, Elena knew nothing about it until she saw James put it together.

Caper & Berry - Dream Occasions

The Food
Starter:
Crab, Avocado, and Tomato
or
Roasted Red Pepper and Tomato Tart Tatin

Main Course:
Our Beef Wellington
or
Roasted Butternut, Spinach and Caramelized Onions

Dessert:
Summer Berries, Meringue, Basil

In the evening, Caper & Berry served posh kebabs

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The Entertainment
For the drink reception, we had the wonderful Charles Burns wandering around creating marvelous silhouettes of guests and a jazz band in the background. For the evening we had the super talented Get Funked, I can’t tell you how much I adore this band. Love them! At one point Lisa and I could be seen having a little dance at the back of the marquee. Elena got changed into white jeans and t-shirt in the evening and rocked the dancefloor, even performing with the band at one point.

“Everyone, literally everyone, raved about the band – I was disappointed when they stopped and the record artists were put on – ‪Get Funked were BETTER than the originals AND gave me the chance to show off my inner Freddie Mercury.” Elena & Robert

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Best Day Ever
Trying to find words to thank Bernadette and her team but right now am so overwhelmed with happiness and joy that I’m not making much sense. Was so proud of you and everyone you chose to work with. It was a joy – from start to finish. You interpreted everything in the most spectacular way. Everything was flawless, and you continually went “over and above” the call of duty as you dealt with the worlds most disorganised couple. A massive thank you to the lovely Lisa who ran back and fetched the bouquet that I left behind… A big shout out to ‪Emily&Jo who dealt with change after change with enormous grace and competence. The food was exquisite and the service team at Caper&Berry were a delight. Nothing was too much trouble. Tim Bowden was a wonderful and efficient photographer, again, dealing elegantly and capably with our terrible disorganisation and faffing. Cellar 27 were fantastic and the sweetest people who were a joy and who left my kitchen cleaner than it’s been in weeks! ‪Jades Flower Design – moved me to tears. Even friends who work in the industry were bowled over by your creations and I was utterly thrilled. “

Credits:
Wedding Planner: Bernadette from Dream Occasions // Bridal Dress: Jenny Packham // Caterer: Caper & Berry // Photographer: Tim Bowden // Marquee: Highfield Event Group // Lighting: James from Wedding Creative // Cake: Amelie’s Kitchen // Band: Get Funked // String Quartet – One Foot in the Groove // Florist: Jades Flowers // Silhouette Artist: Charles Burns // Stationery: Emily & Jo //  Drinks Service: Cellar27

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