Real Weddings – Maxine & Alastair

On the wedding blog today we catch up with Maxine and Alastair who celebrated their Christmas wedding here at Hampshire wedding venue, Careys Manor last December.

How did you meet?

We met while I was still at university and Alastair was completing his apprenticeship. We had been together for 9 years before Alastair proposed. Alastair intended to propose during our holiday to Korçula in Croatia, but the ring wasn’t ready in time which was funny as I spent the whole holiday expecting a proposal! Instead, Alastair surprised me with a proposal while on a walk in the woods near my childhood home.

Finding Hampshire wedding venue Careys Manor Hotel

Once we visited Careys Manor, we were blown away by the beautiful exterior, the ceremony room, and Françoise’s professionalism and friendliness. We were very undecided about what numbers of guests we wanted, and Françoise was extremely accommodating through all of the changes of plans! It was reassuring to know that we could create a bespoke package based on our final numbers, even up to a few days before the wedding.

Careys is so well tuned – their staff work so well together, and with the bride and groom, to ensure the day runs smoothly. Daniel was our master of ceremonies for the day, and he was absolutely flawless in his delivery – nothing was too much trouble, from whisking us away for a private glass of champagne right after the ceremony, to fixing Alastair’s jacket button in the evening!

The flowers 

We used Owen Lavin of Little Lillies. Owen is a true expert in his field! He is exceptionally talented and his work ranges from quirky and artistic, to traditional and elegant. He created a sensational package for us which included a moongate, a long and low
arrangement, table decorations, bouquets, buttonholes, and most importantly – a floral crown! We wanted something which captured an elegant but Christmassy feel, as we got married the weekend before Christmas. Owen absolutely delivered our vision, using red and cream roses, eucalyptus, fir, berries, wooden lanterns, candles, and wooden log slices. The floristry was a huge part in making our day exactly how we dreamed.

As we got married right before Christmas, we were also lucky to have lots of Christmas decorations and Christmas trees already in the hotel – also supplied by Owen!

The photographer

Az of Lemontree Photography was recommended to us by another photographer, and moreover he was the recommended photographer for pretty much every single venue we visited, which speaks volumes! Az did a great job of capturing the atmosphere of the day, and made sure we got enough pictures together without them seeming too staged.

The styling 

Luminique provided gorgeous lighting decoration for the room, along with the white dance floor and burgundy satin chair sashes, which really helped build the atmosphere of the room. We also hired in gold cutlery, gold leaf charger plates, glasses,
and linen from The White Chair Company which helped create an absolutely gorgeous table scape.

Wimbledon Print did all our stationery, including invites, menus, and our large welcome sign – which we have saved and have hung up in our garage! They were so reasonably priced and helpful with getting our design sorted.

We also got very creative with what we could find on Etsy, as we preferred to support small artists rather than big corporates. Our place settings were small wooden reindeer engraved with each guest’s name, which they could then take home as a Christmas decoration.

The food

We chose a sit down 3-course wedding breakfast, as we wanted a more traditional meal. The beef cheek was particularly lovely! In the evening, we had the garden barbecue-style cooked food, which suited the relaxed and fun atmosphere we wanted to
create. We got lots of compliments from guests about how great the food was. Careys were also extremely accommodating to our guests’ various dietary requirements – we had vegetarians, vegans, allergies, and someone who refused to have anything but chocolate ice cream for dessert!

The cake

Our wedding cake was made by Amanda Reilly (Reilly Cakes). Amanda made a beautiful two tiered semi-naked cake: one lemon and elderflower layer, one champagne Victoria sponge, with gold leaf and some of our wedding flowers cascading down the side.
Cake tasting in Amanda’s studio with a lovely cup of coffee was one of our favourite parts of wedding planning! Amanda even made a small icing figure of our little rescue cat Dave to put on the cake.

The dress & suit 

I bought my dress from Bridal Reloved in Street, and got the alterations done by the fantastic Couture Tailoring in Downton. Alastair got his suit from Moss Bros – classic!

The entertainment

We wanted the day of our wedding to be elegant, and the evening to be fun. During the ceremony and wedding breakfast we had electro-acoustic harp music from Scarlett Smith (Bristol Harpist) covering everything from Coldplay to Taylor Swift, and
the Foo Fighters. Scarlett was phenomenal and added so much to the atmosphere of the day. Walking into the wedding breakfast to meet our guests cheering us as Scarlett played “Clocks” by Coldplay is easily one of our most memorable and special moments of the day.

During the drinks reception we also had a close up magician, Magic by Alfie, to keep our guests entertained as we took pictures. We also did a lot of DIY personal touches, including photo mounts made by Alastair, and personal crosswords made by myself.

In the evening we had Your DJ, along with a DIY pick n mix table, a photobooth (Hampshire Photobooths), an air hockey table and other games (Party Game Hire). We also bought a box of glowing batons for the dance floor which was a great hit!

Start planning your Christmas wedding day at our Hampshire wedding venue with our ‘Love at Frost Sight’ wedding package.

Photography credit: Lemontree Photography