Where did you hold your wedding and why did you choose this venue? Great Ote Hall in West Sussex. We chose this venue as we could hire it from the Wednesday before the wedding until the Tuesday after. It was an entirely blank canvas for us to put our own stamp on which was really important to us. The gorgeous grounds and country house that acted as our backdrop were a definite bonus!
If you had to sum up your wedding in one sentence, what would it be? Best day of our lives! A cliche but it was honestly true! All the planning and hard work really came together on the day and it was everything we had hoped for and more! Having all our favourite people under one roof (or tent!), amazing food, lots of booze and a terrific band meant we just had the most fun ever! We woke up the next day with very sore heads but just wanted to do it all again!
Were there any notable speeches/music/readings or particularly memorable moments? We chose to write our own vows which made the ceremony all the more special and personal. It was our favourite part of the day and apparently there wasn’t a dry eye in the house!
How many guests did you have? 153
What did you choose to have on your menu? We chose scallop and pancetta with roast garlic pea puree & deep fried sage, slow cooked pork belly with apple cinnamon chutney and wonton crisp, wild mushroom & truffle beignets and Parmesan & rosemary shortbread, roast cherry tomato, pesto & goats cheese for our canapes. The first meal Tom ever cooked me was scallops with pea puree and pancetta to start with slow cooked pork belly for main so these were a nod to that! We had also recently been to New Orleans on holiday where beignets originate from, plus truffles are one of my favourite foods!
For the starter we had burrata cheese with heirloom tomato salad. We fell in love with burrata in Italy but have never been able to find anything in England that comes close to the Italian version – that was until we tried Jacaranda’s burrata at our food tasting! AMAZING!
For main we had the rump of lamb and for dessert the dark chocolate torte with pistachio ice cream – both were heavenly!
For evening food we served hot dogs out of the very cool Coco Van which also served all our guests the best hangover-busting burgers on the Sunday morning!
What was your favourite part of the day? Other than the vows it has to be the first dance. Our favourite song has always been Fabulous ‘So Into You’ but we didn’t think we could have an old school RnB song for our first dance! That was until Tom’s insanely talented sister Kate created an acoustic version for us. It was the last thing anyone was expecting and was so special that it was entirely produced and sung by her.
How did Jacaranda help make your day special? Where to start?! Tom and I are both massive foodies and so we always knew we wanted the catering to be a focal part of our wedding. This is probably why Jacaranda were the first of all the suppliers we booked way back in January 2017 only a few weeks after we got engaged! It was actually Jacaranda and the lovely Minty who we can credit for all our other wonderful suppliers as the band, photographers and florist were all recommended by her.
Throughout the entire planning process Minty and Jules were fab and always on hand to offer advice or to help with any queries we had/ problems we had come across. On the day Jules & Nigel ensured everything ran perfectly which meant Tom and I were both able to truly relax and just enjoy our day! Nothing was too much trouble for them and their professionalism wasn’t just noted by ourselves but by many of our guests as well. The bar staff deserve a special mention as they were truly amazing! They had their work cut out with our personalised gin bar and 150 thirsty guests but worked tirelessly never without a smile on their face and had many of our guests in stitches throughout the night!
Now for the food! How Jacaranda manage to produce food that good in a tent we will never know! It truly was exceptional and all our guests were blown away. I don’t think a single one did not compliment us on how amazing the food was and many said it was the best food they had ever had at a wedding!
Suppliers:
Photographer: Stephanie & Nicole (www.stephanieandnicole.com)
Florist: Nordic Twigs (www.nordictwigs.co.uk)
Band/DJ/Entertainment: Atlantic Soul Orchestra (www.headliner.io/acts/the-atlantic-soul-orchestra)
Cake (flavour of the cake and designer): A three tiered raspberry & white chocolate; carrot; gin & elderflower, made by the wonderful Emily of EJK cakes (www.facebook.com/EJKCupcakes)
Stationery: The Golden Letter (www.thegoldenletter.co.uk)
Hair/Makeup: Stephanie Dorelli (www.stephaniedorelli.com)
Props/furniture/linen rentals: To Have & To Hire; Just Occasionally (www.tohaveandtohireweddings.com); (www.justoccasionally.co.uk)
Videographer: Simulated Film (www.simulatedfilm.co.uk)
Bride’s outfit: Rime Arodaky from the Mews of Notting Hill
Bridesmaids’ outfits: Ghost
Groom’s & Ushers’ outfits: Bespoke suits made by Jonathan at The Drop
