Lucy & Matt’s New Forest Wedding
On the wedding blog today we catch up with Lucy and Matt who celebrated their autumn wedding here at New Forest wedding venue, Careys Manor.
How did you meet?
We met in secondary school but didn’t actually get together until after college. Matt sent me a Facebook message asking how I was getting on at Drama School in London and we ended up going on a date. The rest is history!
Tell us about your engagement . . .
We had been together seven years when Matt proposed. All the ideas that he had for a proposal kept going wrong or being cancelled as it was around covid time. He ended up proposing to me in our flat next to the Christmas tree on Christmas Eve with a Santa hat on. He wanted to do it on a walk but due to the gale-force winds and sleet we returned from the walk early. I actually thought he was joking at first but obviously I said yes and we cracked open some prosecco!
Finding your Hampshire wedding venue Careys Manor Hotel
Careys Manor was the first hotel that we stayed in together as a couple. Matt had come to visit me at university and said he had planned a getaway for us. This was the first and only time he planned anything so it is particularly memorable! We absolutely fell in love with the hotel so when it came to picking a venue, Careys was one of the first places we looked at. There were a few other venues we considered but we kept on going back to Careys.
The styling
Autumn is our absolute favourite season. We always knew we wanted to get married in October and Careys Manor lends itself to the autumn theme. The building, the grounds, the rooms and the interior all look so gorgeous and autumnal. Obviously, the hotel looks amazing in every season (we kept going to the wedding showcases throughout the year because we were excited!) but an autumn wedding is always what we dreamed of.
Our Flowers were created by Laura at Blooming Marvellous Creations. She is a recommended supplier at Careys Manor and we can see why. We asked for rusts, white, creams and greens with a statement moon arch piece for the ceremony room. We pretty much left the rest up to Laura and I’m so glad we did because we have never seen anything so stunning! The bouquets, button holes, table decorations and moon arch that she created looked like they had come straight from a fairy tale. All our guests were blown away.
Luminique Events supplied us with beautiful fairy lights on the ceiling that stayed up all day and some lanterns for the ceremony that we re-used throughout the day and incorporated into our table centre pieces.
The photographer
I am actually a wedding singer myself and I met Hannah at a wedding showcase that we happened to both be exhibiting at. Matt and I looked at her pictures and just knew straight away that her style of photography was going to suit our day. Every picture she takes tells a story. We could not be happier that we chose Hannah Lucy Photography to be part of our day. She blended in and made all of our guests feel comfortable.
The outfits
I got my dress from Wed2B in Southampton. I knew what I was looking for and had seen some Heidi Hudson dresses online before I visited the shop. It was the third dress I tried on and when I came out of the changing room my mum and maid of honour just knew straight away that I had found the dress.
Matt and the groomsmen’s suits were from Next. We wanted to keep the autumnal colour scheme and go for browns and tweeds. They were really well priced and looked way more expensive than they were and just suited our theme so well.
The food
We were so impressed that we got to choose three different options for all three courses for our wedding breakfast. We had a meat, fish and vegan option to cater for all of our guest’s dietary requirements. We got loads of feedback on how nice the food was and how great it was that there was so much variety. It was also a lovely touch that we got to go and do a food tasting evening before the wedding to choose our food and wine options. I would recommend booking a room when you do to make the most of the wine tasting!
The cake
Alex from the Pastry Corner in Southsea made our wonderful wedding cake. We wanted to keep it looking simple and go for the semi-naked icing style so it looked rustic. She worked with Laura from Blooming Marvellous Creations to create the cake decorations from the flowers and it looked perfect. Not to mention how tasty it was. We went for one layer of lemon and passionfruit and one layer of white chocolate and raspberry. The guests loved it! We also received a free cake tasting session before the wedding which was a lovely touch.
The entertainment
As I am a wedding singer myself I know a lot of very talented musicians. I am in a couple of bands and had so much choice when it came to choosing our entertainment. Our ceremony and drinks reception music was performed by my band mate and good friend Lennon Taylor who did acoustic sets, singing and playing his guitar. Lennon takes older and more modern songs and puts his own spin on them. His song choices were perfect and all our guests commented on how great he sounded and how fantastic his voice was. I may be slightly biased but you won’t find a more talented musician for your wedding or event.
For our evening reception, we had both a DJ and a live band. Toby from YourDJ filled in the gaps between the bands sets perfectly. He played our song choices which were mainly aimed at Matt’s friends who like all the pop/punk music from the 00’s. They were head-banging and singing their hearts out! Central Avenue Band were our choice of live band for the evening. Again, I may be slightly biased as I am usually the lead singer but we could not have asked for a better group of musicians to entertain us and our guests. Central Avenue specialise in disco and soul music and their set list appealed to all of our guests – the dance floor was full for the entire evening! I did originally say that I wasn’t going to sing at my
own wedding but a few glasses of fizz later and I was up there singing to Matt who pretended he wasn’t embarrassed!
We also had a photobooth which was supplied by YourDJ as an add on to our DJ package. Our guests loved it and we now have a lovely album of hilarious photos to look through as a
keepsake.
Favourite moment of the day
Matt’s favourite moment of the day was during our first dance when all of the guests joined us on the dance floor and were singing together. My favourite moment was when my dad walked me down the aisle. It was a very emotional moment and I thought I would be super nervous like I had been all morning but as soon as I started walking and saw Matt standing at the end, I felt really calm.
Any advice you would give to future couples planning their wedding at New Forest wedding venue Careys Manor?
Our advice would be to trust your wedding venue and the suppliers that you pick. They know what they’re doing and it can make your day ten times less stressful if you let them do what they do best.
What was your favourite part about your Hampshire wedding at Careys Manor?
We don’t just have one favourite part because everything about Careys was wonderful. We would like to give special mention to Wedding Co-Ordinator Françoise, nothing was too much trouble and she always answered our questions confidently and in loads of detail. Françoise was very calming during the preparations and the pre-wedding meetings which put both mine and Matt’s mind at ease. We would also like to give a shout out to Events Manager Heather who was our ‘Master of Ceremonies’ on the wedding day. She was absolutely brilliant, very organised, relaxed, efficient, smiley and made the day run smoothly and to time. We don’t know how she did it!
Thank you, thank you, thank you to everyone at Careys Manor. We could not have wished for a better day we will remember it for the rest of our lives!
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Photography credit: Hannah Lucy Photography