A Perfect Summer Celebration: Laura & Laurie’s Wedding in the New Forest
After a romantic proposal at their favourite beach, Laura and Laurie knew they wanted a beautiful and meaningful setting for their summer wedding and Careys Manor Hotel in Hampshire quickly stole their hearts.
We caught up with the couple to hear all about their special day…
A Love Story: Meeting, Proposal, and Choosing the Perfect Wedding Venue
How did you and Laurie meet?
We met each other through a dating app in 2018.
The proposal
Laurie proposed to me during the summer of 2023 at my families beach hut on the South Coast. This location had a lot of fond memories for me growing up and we both like to visit the beach hut as a couple. We had been together for five years before the proposal.
Finding New Forest wedding venue Careys Manor Hotel
We first visited Careys Manor as guests to another wedding and fell in love with venue. We thought the grounds as well as the old manor house were beautiful and could see ourselves getting married there one day. In addition, the New Forest has always been a place we loved to visit for walks which made Careys Manor the perfect location for our wedding.
Creating the Perfect Summer Wedding
Did you have a theme or style in mind for your wedding?
Being a summer wedding, we chose a light and airy colour scheme of dusky pink and white. Our inspiration came partly from online research and partly from a photograph we had seen of a previous wedding at our New Forest venue. I wanted the bridesmaids’ dresses to be dusky pink, and we thought the variety of pink summer flowers available would complement them beautifully. Careys Manor itself is full of stunning blooms, including some lovely pink varieties that our guests enjoyed photographing, perfectly tying in with our theme.
Tell us about your florist and the flowers you chose
We chose Laura from Blooming Marvellous Creations as our florist. She created a beautiful mixture of high and low arrangements for the centre pieces along with floating candles and tea lights, which created the perfect décor during the wedding breakfast. We were so impressed!.
Find Out More: Blooming Marvellous Creations
Tell us about your photographer
Simon John was our photographer for the day, whom we discovered at the Careys Manor wedding event. He invited us to view his portfolio and took the time to get to know us as a couple, thoughtfully asking about our preferences for the photos.
Find Out More: Simon John Photography
The outfits
Having gone to number of wedding dress shops, I found the perfect dress at Anya Bridal Couture where the staff were very attentive and found me the perfect dress based on feedback I gave from trying on other dresses. Laurie’s suit was bought from Suit Direct. He knew he wanted a light blue suit for the wedding day and after visiting a number of other suit shops found the ideal one for him and his groomsmen. The suit was a three piece suit all the same apart from the groom’s waistcoat which was cream in colour.
Making the Day Unforgettable
The entertainment
During the wedding ceremony and drinks reception we had harpist, Audrey (Enchanted Harp). Audrey took the time to learn songs we loved that were not on her repertoire and the music added a great ambience. For the evening reception we had Your DJ, who is one of the resident DJs at Careys Manor. Toby was brilliant throughout the process, taking note of what songs we would like to have played on the day. He also took song request on the day and introduced the evening guests and the cake cutting part of the evening.
Were there any other special moments from the day, or other suppliers and details you’d like to mention?
Hair by Danielle Tranter and Makeup by Daisy Bridal and Beauty both helped my bridesmaids and I get ready for the wedding. We all felt so beautiful and the hair and make up were perfect!
Careys Manor allowed us to set up garden games on the front lawn during the drinks reception which added to the enjoyment of the day.
The day as a whole was amazing but the stand out part for us both was the wedding breakfast and the evening do. The staff at Careys Manor were attentive and could not do enough for us. Our guests loved the food and the evening entertainment.
Start planning your summer wedding at our Hampshire wedding venue. View our packages here.
Photography credit: Simon John Photography
