Jade & Christian’s New Year’s Eve Wedding at Huntsham Court

Jade and Christian chose this historic manor for its impressive Gothic architecture and the freedom to infuse their personalities into every detail. I’m talking evocative tones, endless champagne, and countless candles, which created an enchanting and decadent atmosphere. Of course, the night was also a double New Year’s Eve celebration, with a dance floor that turned into a joyous, chaotic celebration of pure happiness!

Scroll to soak up the atmosphere and hear from our bride, whose candid, helpful words of wisdom on planning, priorities, and protocols are some of the best I’ve read.

Jade & Christian say…

We had a list of must-haves for our venue: it had to be something gothic with enough of a dramatic feel, complete dry hire to enable us to inject as much of our personalities as possible, a venue that would allow us to dance as late as we wanted to given the New Year’s Eve date and something that could comfortably sleep as many of our friends as possible without room sharing. Huntsham Court was the only one that offered this out of all the venues we looked into and visited.

The dramatic feel of the venue, in particular, was a huge sell when we were looking, and it lived up to it. It’s a wonderful feeling to drive up a long, beautiful driveway in two great outfits to a huge country manor in the rain with huge gusts of wind.

Bride: I tend to wear a lot of black, so I find white quite jarring (which is an interesting discovery to make about yourself when shopping for your wedding dress)! So I wanted something that wasn’t too white but also made me feel fiery, powerful, and dramatic despite being a dress that tradition dictates must be delicate and very white.

Given the theme, we also anticipated that our guests would go full out on the glamour and drama, so I knew I had to stay on brand, too.

I loved my dress. The lace was white and over a form-fitting mesh very close to skin colour. The back of the corset was my favourite part—it was a somewhat transparent mesh held together with boning. I felt elegant but also punchy, and I refused to take it off until I had to start wearing the train as a scarf because the bustle had broken.

Groom: We decided on a black tie dress code, which felt appropriate given the venue and New Year’s Eve date. I went for a classic velvet dinner jacket from Casely Hayford, which was perfect. The midnight blue velvet ensured that I looked the part without taking any attention away from Jade, and Casely Hayford’s signature Duval collar dress shirt was an additional detail I absolutely loved.

Our theme included lots of drama, dark flowers with subtle toffee/caramel tones, and loads of foliage. We wanted the lighting to be predominantly candles to the point where we’re sure it was a fire hazard. We paired this all with gold and a lot of black. We wanted it to all feel a bit like a glamorous 20s prohibition party with moody tones and a lot of champagne.

I’m certain our opening words to our florist, Sophie of Earth Gallery Flowers (and actually most suppliers), were something like, “Think moody, gothic, dramatic, dark”. She should have run a mile with such an incoherent brief, but she did amazingly well. We initially wanted everything very dark with a lot of foliage, but we soon learned that adding lighter tones would show off how dark the flowers were. Sophie’s knowledge of the venue was invaluable, as she guided us to find the perfect balance between our brief and her experience of what works at Huntsham. We could not have been happier with the flowers throughout the day.

We wanted a caterer who could comfortably execute an Italian-themed wedding breakfast and a Caribbean evening snack. This was quite a hard find, particularly given that the Caribbean family members in attendance would be eating the food. We wanted a caterer who could do both instead of two to make it all a little more seamless without cross-over times in the kitchen. The caterer we found was Chef Secrets, based in London, where we live. The food was spectacular throughout the weekend. From an informal 40-person dinner the night before to starting on the day with some pastries and nibbles before the church services, through to canapés and charcuterie boards during the drinks reception and a three-course wedding breakfast, Chef Secrets didn’t put a foot wrong. The service levels were superb, and the desserts, in particular, were to die for.

For our cake, I had a very over-the-top idea of a huge fresh cream cake with layers of pastry that could comfortably feed 120 people but also be in keeping with our dark theme. Nicole from Sweet Satisfaction Cake Design was incredible at listening to the idea and helped steer us in a far better direction. She took the colour brief, clearly asked for “a lot of cream”, and pitched the idea of three ginormous pavlovas with loads of mini ones for decoration. All of this was adorned with dark fruits and gold leaf. Sophie, the florist, also assisted with flowers, ensuring that the cake display was absolutely in keeping with our theme, not to mention delicious!

We used James Frost for our photography and Shutterbox Films for our videography. We wanted a set-up that captured the darker, moody theme with predominantly candid shots. This is mainly because we didn’t wish to group pictures or to be away from the wedding to do too many staged pictures. The photos and videos are great; it’s been so wonderful to look back on them to remember the day.

The best part of the day

This is difficult – on one hand, the moment that I walked into the church and saw Christian and all of our friends and family. I’d love to bottle that feeling and relive it every day, and, on the other hand, we loved the midnight countdown aftermath, which descended into madness. Midnight hit, and it became chaos – loads of jumping to bad dance music. We had neon visors and ginormous glow sticks. We also had almost every single person we loved (with a few incredibly missed absences) on the dance floor, most of whom were unknowingly re-hashing the groom’s time at university. I laugh every time I think about it. The dancing was quite awful – it was pure joy and chaos. We were so unbelievably happy.

From one couple to another…

1) When planning, pick three to four important things to you and lead with those. We decided on food, alcohol, a venue that fits our brief, and music. You should allocate most of your time, energy, and resources (including financial resources) to these things. Everything else will fall into place, and the three to four things will ensure your personalities shine through.

2) On the day, please take a step back and observe what you have managed to execute. Breathe it all in and watch your favourite people enjoying your day. They’re all there for you—it’s an incredible feeling.

3) Guest lists and seating charts are a nightmare. You don’t need to follow any rules or protocols. Address the task however the hell you want to.