Gorgeous weather, fabulous food & wonderful guests for a Farbridge wedding

Christopher and Chloe struggled to find a wedding reception venue that ticked all their boxes for their wedding on 8 September 2012. They knew that they were going to have a traditional church service at St. Mary’s in Lavant, but struggled to find somewhere to host their reception afterwards.

“One of our friends had their reception at Farbridge, West Sussex, a couple of years before,” Chloe explains. “And after looking at a few other venues and finding fault with all of them, they suggested we look at Farbridge.”

“We both knew the minute we walked in that it was the one – a lovely light barn with plenty of space inside and out, and beautiful surroundings of completely unspoiled countryside. It also had all the mod cons you need such as a great sound system for the after party and a projector for the speeches. Even the ladies bathroom was beautiful! The church was also just a few minutes drive from Farbridge.”

In front of 80 of their closest family and friends, Christopher and Chloe exchanged their vows beneath a beautiful blue, warm sky. The bride’s Granny, Pamela, wowed everyone with a wonderful recital of 1 Corinthians 13, drawing on her experience as a church lay reader.

Chloe and Christopher cite their beautiful church ceremony as their favourite part of the day. “Having all of your closest friends and family there to support you on the biggest day of your life, and to hear you say your vows is one of the most emotional, special and memorable moments and it will live with both of us forever. We get goose bumps still now just thinking about it.”

Chloe & Christopher Farbridge Jacaranda real wedding Lizzie Patterson Photography_013

Heading back to Farbridge for drinks and photos, the newlyweds revelled in the glorious weather as they mingled with their friends and family out in the picturesque grounds and enjoyed canapés out on the terrace.

“With such an amazing menu selection to choose from, and the food being a really important part for us, we attended a tasting evening to make sure we had the perfect menu. The meal started with soy blackened salmon, followed by a belly of pork main and berry & elderflower jelly with lemon posset for desert – suffice to say there were no left overs!”

“From the day before the wedding when I was worrying about everything, to leaving the venue at the end of our wedding day, everything was taken care of by JJ, Poppy and the team,” Chloe said. “Jacaranda have this magical way about them of being invisible, yet always appearing just when you need them. We had no worries throughout the whole day thanks to their organisation and attention to detail. They also made the build up extremely easy and embraced any ideas we had. Everyone commented on the quality of the food and the excellent service.”

The speeches at the reception consisted of the father of the bride turning Chloe’s favourite faerie tale into the story of how she had met Christopher. “It was really special and must have taken weeks of preparation,” Chloe noted.

“Christopher’s speech centred around photos of us through the years being projected onto the big screen – some nice, some terrible – but very much a crowd pleaser!”

The Best Man, Marc followed suit with a series of embarrassing photos of Christopher, ending in a shot of the newlyweds from earlier in the wedding, thanks to a collaboration with Chloe’s brother, Joseph, that saw a very swift upload of a snap from a guest’s camera into the presentation.

A further 50 guests joined Christopher and Chloe for their evening reception and helped to celebrate with the newlyweds by dancing the night away. “We had my Dad’s Irish band, Feckless, for the evening entertainment which got everyone up and attempting Irish dancing with instruments,” Chloe said. “This part on the wedding DVD has been repeated so many times; it’s comedy genius!”