Vibrant, Colourful Marquee Wedding in Essex

By bernadette |

Last year I had the pleasure of organising the wedding of Nicky and Tom held in September 2015. This felt extra special as in 2013 I organised her sister Claire’s wedding. Recently Nicky and Tom’s wedding was featured on Style and the Bride

Instead of my usual write-up, I decided to ask Nicky some questions so she could explain the wedding planning from a bride’s perspective.

What were the main reasons you decided to hire a wedding planner?

I decided to hire Bernadette (wedding planner extraordinaire) as she helped my sister, Claire, through the sea of administrative tasks involved in organising her home wedding. Bernadette whipped the suppliers into shape ensuring the wedding day was everything Claire had hoped for. I am also convinced that if it hadn’t been for her timely intervention, Mum would have been under the Doctor’s knife much earlier. A triple heart bypass later Mum was fighting fit, but she looked slightly faint when I told her I also wanted to get married at home. I wasn’t prepared to risk my sanity or Mum’s new ticker so calling Bernadette was a no brainer.

A lot of people were quite scathing, saying things like, ‘you have a wedding planner?!, isn’t that a bit excessive *snort*’ and that’s sooo American’. To answer those critics or sceptics out there all I can say is; ‘hell yes I did!’. And it’s the best decision I ever made. Finally, someone who didn’t laugh at my lists… in fact, she had even more than I did.

Excessive? Try organising an event at home, liaising with the caterers, florists, waiters, chefs, toilet providers, generator specialists, marquee putter-uppers and the band, whilst simultaneously having your hair tonged, lipstick applied and your mandatory glass of prosecco… then let me know your thoughts! It may be American, but they are on to something. Get someone else to do the hard work so you can just enjoy yourself. Sorry Bernadette, but it is so true. On the big day, she gracefully negotiated drunks, prodded blocked toilets, mopped up blood from the dance floor, without me knowing a thing. When something went wrong, we didn’t have a clue. This Bridezilla wanted her day to be perfect, she wanted to enjoy herself with all of her friends and family, and that I did!

Talk to me about food and why this was so important to choose the right caterer.

There are always compromises during the planning of a wedding and for me, it was no different. The one thing I hadn’t wanted to compromise on though was the food. My husband and I love our food, so we were adamant we would have what we wanted. Our idea was to have Beef Wellington and then have one person at each table carve it. We loved the idea of a sharing, interactive element to the meal and had our hearts set on this. What became clear is that all the caterers we spoke to, bar one, were happy to do whatever we wanted. If we asked, we were told yes, yes, yes. The only catering company that were more reserved were Movable Feast. They chatted to us at length about our requirements and the feasibility of the menu in the marquee. Justin was honest and open with us and told us that whilst they would be happy to do what we wanted, we needed to be aware of the problems with the Beef Wellington and the logistics of our menu. What was perfectly clear is that this was a team that really cared about their clients, but also about the level of food delivered. They did not want us to compromise on our ideals, but they made us question what the most important thing was, good food or good ideas. We listened, tasted and then tasted again. Justin did not stop until we had everything the way we wanted. Quite frankly, the food was beyond our expectation, especially considering the obstacles that arose on the day.

Choosing the right caterer was a very careful process for us, and we were so pleased with Movable Feast. When choosing a caterer, take your time to talk to them, explain what you want, listen to what they say and most importantly how they approach you and your ideas. Booking someone just because they say ‘yes’ to everything does not always mean you will get what you want in the long run.

What did you love most about your dress? What other accessories did you choose?

I absolutely adored my dress. It was perfect for me in every way and I felt a million dollars in it. I am not kidding when I say I watched approximately 1000 episodes of “ Say Yes to the Dress” (thanks, Bernadette) before the big day. I was hooked and I was waiting for that elusive moment when I would just know that I could finally say “yes”. I tried so many dresses on and I loved them all, but, there was always a ‘but’. There was always something I wasn’t quite happy with. It was completely by accident that I stumbled upon ‘the one’, but when I did there was no going back. I remember coming out of the fitting room, my sister & my best mate started blubbing, which of course set me off. The dress was picked out by my super, stylish, stylist sister and it was beautiful. Clean simple lines, off the shoulder straps, fitted waist and a gorgeous train. It was the first dress that I wore, rather than it wearing me. I looked like myself and I felt like myself, only better.

The only issue was the length, I had wanted a shorter fronted dress to show off my fab shoes. I wanted this dress and the ladies at The Wedding Dress Shop Wimbledon were amazing. They said altering the dress at the front wouldn’t be a problem and would look awesome! They weren’t wrong. After several fittings, they had transformed the front of the dress and had preserved the integrity of the beautiful Pronovias lines. I had my perfect dress! By shortening the front, it added an element of fun and showed off my fabulous BLUE Jimmy Choo shoes! I felt amazing on the day, I was comfortable, I could swish around and move easily but still felt like the best version of myself EVER!

What was your most memorable moment from the day/evening?

For me, the best bit of the whole day was the ceremony. There are so many things I loved about the service; from seeing my gorgeous Tom standing at the altar waiting for me, saying our vows, the beautifully delivered readings, the Vicar (who was awesome), the hymns and the smiles on everyone’s faces. The music played by the lovely Amy to the most fantastic rendition of Love Changes Everything sung by my amazing sister and to our surprise the rest of our guests! Claire had secretly been emailing and calling all the guests to let them in on the secret, which we really had no idea about. We sat watching her sing brilliantly, then all of a sudden everyone stood up and sang the last chorus together… there was no stopping the tears. I was bowled over with emotion. Did I love the rest of the day? Of course I did, who doesn’t love a good party, but I will always remember the Church. It really was the best day of my life!