Alison & David’s Stunning Spring Wedding!

Date of your wedding: 18/03/2023               

Time of your ceremony: 2pm

Location of your ceremony: Old Dairy

We’d love to hear your first date stories or tell us how and when you first met!
We met online 8 years ago. Our first date was at the Polar Museum in Cambridge, although we didn’t realise it was tiny so ended up in Cambridge Botanical Gardens, where David proposed 7 years later.

Which parts of the venue you used for your big day? Ie. where did you have your ceremony and drinks reception and evening dancing?
We had our ceremony in the newly refurbished Old Dairy. Due to spring showers our drinks reception was mostly held in the granary with guests popping out into the courtyard for photos. We had the evening dancing in the horse barn, allowing guests to watch all the interesting dance moves from the comfort of the Tudor barn.

Which was your favourite spot for wedding photos?
We had some lovely intimate photos in the drawing room and garden. The courtyard was great for the big group photos.

Tell us about any special colour schemes and themes you had for your wedding day?
The theme for the bridesmaids’ dresses was springtime embroidered flowers and guests were asked to wear spring colours.

For the pageboys, Alison was inspired by the matching patterned waistcoats David and his brother, Chris, wore to their aunt’s wedding when they were little and handmade waistcoats to fit the spring floral theme.

For Tudor barn décor, we had an ocean theme due to Alison’s job as a marine biologist. We found glass fishing floats on holiday in Dorset last year and used some large hurricane jars to hold floating candles. The tables were named after some of our favourite sea creatures, complete with Latin names.

Alison handmade the kissing penguin cake toppers, complete with a baby penguin for our little boy. These were inspired by the reading ‘Personal Penguin’ during our ceremony.

How did you first hear about South Farm and what made you choose our venue for your wedding day?
South Farm had an open day shortly after we got engaged in 2022. It was the only venue we visited and was too perfect to go anywhere else.

Tell us some detail about your special day?
We were nervous about getting married with a toddler, would he be ok in a completely new surrounding and with so many people, but he was wonderful. He sat perfectly through the whole ceremony and his face lit up when he met Jack then pony and the pigs.

We had 15 children on the day, 7 under 3 years old and South Farm was such a wonderful venue for them all, everyone felt very safe, and the animals were great entertainment.

How did you feel on the day?
Surprisingly relaxed, after being together for nearly 8 years and having a baby during a pandemic we felt ready to get married.

Izzy was amazing getting myself and maid of honour ready, she was so calm, and we felt so comfortable getting ready with her.

What was your most memorable moment from your wedding?
Seeing friends and family we hadn’t seen for years due to the pandemic and meeting some of our friends’ children for the first time.

We also booked Mr. Jack Brock the confetti pony to surprise our guests after the ceremony, seeing everyone’s faces light up when he came out was magical. He was amazing entertainment for the children and adults whilst supporting an amazing cause.

How did you choose your ceremony and first dance music?
Our ceremony music was the soundtrack from Blue Planet 2.

The first blue planet series inspired Alison to pursue a career in marine biology and the second series came out when we first moved in together. We went to see the Blue Planet 2 live in concert in 2019 and when our son was born, we played this to him on loop when getting him to sleep.

We chose Somewhere Beyond the Sea sung by Robbie Williams for our first dance. It’s the song at the end of Finding Nemo, another strong influence on Alison’s career choice.

How many bridesmaids did you have and how did you ask them to be your bridesmaids?
I had my best friend Ruth as my maid of honour and her daughter Evie as our flower girl. I asked them when I met Ruth for celebration drinks after getting engaged, I bought Ruth a Maid of Honour badge and Evie a flower teether as she was only 8 months old at the time.

My nieces were both little bridesmaids, I asked them by sending them Unicorns themed cards.

How did you pick your best men and ushers?
Dave chose his brother to be his best man and we chose our little boy and nephew to be our pageboys. It felt like a natural choice.

How many speeches did you have and do you have any advice for anyone giving a speech?
We decided not to have long speeches as we had a lot of young guests who may get bored. Dave gave a short toast to absent friends and family and Chris, best man, gave a lovely toast to us the married couple.

What did you wear?
I wore an Art Deco inspired Essense of Australia A-line dress with slit skirt, D3421.
The veil was cathedral length and embroidered with spring flowers to match the bridesmaids’ dresses. My shoes were Sophia Webster Paloma mule in white.

Is there anything you would have done differently?
The day was perfect, South Farm and all our suppliers were incredible. Summer, our Event Manager, was wonderful. She was amazing at keeping us subtly informed of everything and keeping Jack a secret from all our guests.

What are your top tips for other couples?
Enjoy every second, the day flies by. If something doesn’t go quite to plan, brush it off, have a drink and focus on all the wonderful people who have come to celebrate you and your family.

Where did you go/where do you plan to go on honeymoon?
We aren’t planning on a honeymoon anytime soon, holidays with toddlers aren’t super relaxing. In 2020 we were meant to travel through Australia, hopefully in a few years we’ll finally be able to get there.

Suppliers 

Photographer: Lucy Lloyd Photography

Videographer: N/A

Dress: Gowns & Garters, Thrapston

Grooms & Groomsmen outfits:

Dave’s suit – James Cox, Huntingdon

Dave’s tie, pockets squares, pageboys’ bowties & waistcoats – Handmade by Alison

Pageboy suits – Next

Bridesmaid dresses: Maid of Honor – ASOS, Bridesmaids – Monsoon, Flower girl – Next

Cake: Keen for Cakes

Hair: Izzy Foster-Wild

Makeup: Izzy Foster-Wild

Flowers: Verdila Flowers

Transport: N/A

Entertainment: DJ Gary

Confetti Pony: Mr Jack Brock