A+D (and Ralphie) married on 17th December at Dodmoor House, a rustic barn in the East Midlands. They fell in love with this venue at an Open Day, so if you haven’t yet taken a look through our upcoming events you can do so here! There’s nothing quite like being welcomed into your venue-to-be and taking a stroll around imagining your own celebration.
Over to Abbey for all the big details…
Abbey + Dan say…
After going to one of the open days we knew instantly that Dodmoor House was just what we were looking for. We loved the feel of it and just knew it suited us as a couple. It has an intimate feel and the staff couldn’t have been more welcoming. It was the perfect size for the amount of guests we wanted, meaning it was really cosy but not cramped!
In the run up to and on the day, the staff were amazing and so attentive, nothing was too much trouble. Kathryn was our organiser and made everything so effortless! We are so grateful to her and all the Dodmoor staff.
I’d seen a dark green velvet jacket in Moss Bros. and thought that Dan would look great in it, it took some persuading but after trying it on Dan loved it admitted I was right all along! He wore the jacket as part of a dinner suit and had a black bow tie. The Best Men wore full dinner suits but to match with Dan they had dark green bow ties.
My dress was the Avery by Justin Alexander and I got it from Courtyard Bridal in Lubenham. It was the first one I tried and I knew straight away it was the one! I wore personalised converse with it as I never wear heels and wouldn’t have made it down the aisle in one piece if I had done! Our bridesmaids dresses were from ASOS and all the bridesmaids looked amazing!
Our theme was CHRISTMAS! We absolutely love Christmas and always knew it was going to be a factor in our big day. The way the venue was decorated, including our own 7ft Christmas tree in the ceremony room, really made it special to us, as I don’t know if we’ve mentioned but we love Christmas! We also had personalised Christmas tree decorations made as favours for our guests.
Our florist was Julie Anna Flowers and she did an amazing job making everything extra Christmassy! We wanted simple winter themed designs and she incorporated baubles on the tables and hanging from the chandeliers – we were both so pleased with the results!
Dan’s Mum Paulene made us three separate cakes! We had an orange cake, a carrot cake and a chocolate cake so there would be plenty of variety. Paulene even made us and our puppy Ralphie out of icing to go on top!
Our caterers were Lemon Zest, who have worked at Dodmoor plenty of times. We had a wintery menu with arancini to start, beef fillet or vegetable wellington for mains and banoffee pots for desert. The food was delicious and our guests were all very happy! In the evening Lemon Zest did pizzas which were really well received. We also chose the pick and mix station to let people snack all evening!
We booked with Ania Ames Photography as we wanted natural photos rather than loads of awkward posed ones, neither of us are fans of having our photo taken and Ania was great at keeping things natural and easy! She got loads of great shots of us and our guests as well as our puppy Ralphie, who really stole the show.
Best part of the day
Abbey: Having everyone together to celebrate including our puppy Ralphie!
Dan: When I first saw Abbey walking down the aisle.
From one couple to another…
Enjoy every second as it will be over in a flash! And try not to stress too much!
Venue Dodmoor House
Photographer Ania Ames Photography
Caterer Lemon Zest
Entertainment Mick Wright Caricatures and Strike Entertainment
Flowers Julie Anna Flowers
Dress Courtyard Bridal
Table Plan Ami Webster Designs
Favours Amber Henry Co.
Based on a weekend wedding in January.