Amelia and Jonathan chose a Winter Wonderland theme for their December South Farm Wedding and the weather didn’t fail to deliver! They enjoyed a stunning frosty day full of sunshine, with delicious mulled wine and cider to warm their guests. Just look at some of their stunning wedding photos in the gardens and grounds! Winter Weddings are so beautiful and we loved catching up with them to hear all about their amazing day!
Date of wedding: 9 December 2022
Time of ceremony: 1pm
Location of ceremony: Tudor Barn, South Farm
How and when did you first meet?
We first met on the Cambridge Young Professionals Group Committee and were friends for 6 months before we started dating. The Piano Bar at De Luca in Cambridge was (and still is) one of our favourite date spots – we both enjoyed singing and dancing the night away to 90s classics there!
Which parts of the South Farm did you use for your big day?
We had our ceremony in the Tudor Barn, which is a beautiful space. We then had our mulled wine and mulled cider drinks’ reception in the Old Dairy and went back over to the Tudor Barn for our wedding breakfast. In the evening, we had a fun-filled Ceilidh in the Tudor Barn followed by a fantastic set by South Farm’s house DJ Gary, in the Horse Barn.
Which was your favourite spot for wedding photos?
It is hard to pick just one! We had some lovely frosty-themed photographs in the gardens and next to the gypsy caravans – a robin even joined us for some of these, as he was very interested in Amelia’s wild mushroom & garlic arancini canapé! The group photos were lovely in front of the house. We then enjoyed taking some photos in the evening using the fairy-light lit driveway and moon as a backdrop, and with sparklers in front of the Christmas tree at the front of the house.
Tell us about any special colour schemes and themes you had for your wedding day or how you styled your big day?
Our theme / colour-scheme was a winter, frosted wonderland. The bouquets and buttonholes were made up of white and blue flowers, which included white anemones and blue thistles. We then used blue/silver eucalyptus and willow as foliage. The bridesmaids wore dusky blue, sparkly dresses and we used little silver baubles as the place name holders, with silver sparkly tealights dotted across the tables and a fairy-light canopy above.
How did you first hear about South Farm and what made you choose our venue for your wedding day?
We first heard about South Farm after carrying out research into different venues in the area. We chose South Farm as our venue because it offered something completely different to other venues that we looked at. Everyone that we spoke to at the venue, from the office staff to the gardeners, was so friendly and welcoming. It really made South Farm feel like somewhere special to get married. The house, Old Dairy, Tudor Barn, Horse Barn and grounds also all have their own individual character, which we loved and the fact that the food is homegrown really appealed to us. We were even more impressed with the food when we attended our food tasting later on in the year and knew then that we had definitely made the right decision!
Tell us some detail about your special day?
The morning of our wedding was frosty but bright – perfect December wedding weather! We both got ready separately at the venue and made sure not to see each other before the ceremony. Amelia walked down the aisle with her dad to “Wildest Dreams” by Duomo and we both walked out to “This Will Be (An Everlasting Love)” by Natalie Cole. It all felt very special. After the confetti throw outside the house, our guests then went through to our drinks’ reception in the Old Dairy with canapés and we snuck off together for some photos in the grounds. It was very cold, but so lovely to have this time together to try and take it all in.
We then did a receiving line through into the Tudor Barn for the wedding breakfast, which was a great opportunity to talk to all of our guests. We had a delicious three-course wedding breakfast (we chose the pumpkin & truffle croquette, dry-aged sirloin of beef and Cambridge burnt cream), followed by speeches.
We then nipped across the courtyard to greet our evening guests in the Drawing Room with a glass of prosecco before the cake cutting and our first dance back in the Tudor Barn. Our Ceilidh band then started their set with our photobooth also available for guests to use. The Ceilidh was chaos but great fun! To top it all off, DJ Gary did an amazing DJ-set, which kept our guests dancing all night long, ending with a group circle as we danced to “Wonderwall” by Oasis.
The day was everything that we could have hoped for and more. Helen, our wedding planner on the day, was so helpful and kept everything running like clockwork. All our guests have said how amazing the food was and how great all of the staff were – quite a few guests said that it was the best wedding they had been to!
How did you feel on the day?
We were both excited but slightly nervous in the morning. It was lovely to get ready at the venue with our friends and family. We both felt slightly emotional during the ceremony and there was a point when Amelia was not sure if she would be able to get through her vows, but she managed it! From then on, we both relaxed. We tried to take in every moment, from taking photos together in the lovely grounds to the cake cutting and first dance.
What was your most memorable moment from your wedding?
It is so hard to pick just one memorable moment – there were so many! From walking down the aisle and seeing each other on our wedding day for the first time with everyone there to our first dance and then the fun of the Ceilidh and DJ set in the evening, it was all memorable. We know it is a cliché, but it really was the most perfect day!
How did you choose your ceremony and first dance music?
We carried out some research into the readings and music that we would like for our ceremony and sat down together to decide on it all – we wanted something that reflected us and our relationship, without being too serious.
It was trickier to decide on our first dance as we have never had one song that we both felt was our song. Eventually we decided on “You Send Me” by Aretha Franklin. We thought it was the perfect balance of being upbeat, but still romantic. It also features at the end of one our favourite Christmas films, “The Holiday”, which seemed very appropriate given the time of year we got married. It is nice to now be able to say that we have a song!
How many bridesmaids did you have and how did you ask them to be your bridesmaids?
We had 6 bridesmaids, who were a mixture of Amelia’s old school friends, university friends and friends collected through Amelia’s time living in Leeds. Amelia’s sister was Maid of Honour, and she also had her 2-year-old niece as a flower girl.
Amelia asked her friends and sister to be bridesmaids by sending each one a personalised card from Etsy with a photo of her and that bridesmaid on the front and a handwritten message inside.
How did you pick your best men and ushers?
Jonathan chose to have his best friend from university and his brother to be his best men. He did not have any ushers as he just couldn’t pick from all of his friends!
How many speeches did you have and do you have any advice for anyone giving a speech?
We had a speech from the father of the bride, the two best men and the groom. Our advice would be to keep each speech to 10 minutes maximum and to have them after the food has been served and eaten, so that people really engage with the speeches and are not left watching the clock!
What did you wear?
Amelia wore an ivory Pronovias dress from House of Snow in Bury St Edmunds, as fitted by The Bridal Pixie. She also had a blue, faux-fur wrap to keep warm in when outside.
Jonathan wore a three-piece blue suit with a grey waistcoat and a patterned tie, which featured a silver tie pin with a little red Labrador on to represent our dog, Winston.
Is there anything you would have done differently?
Amelia would have made sure that she was ready slightly earlier – the last ten minutes before the ceremony were a little rushed! Then again, Amelia is usually late, so perhaps it would have been odd if she had been ready on time for our wedding day!
Jonathan would also have ensured he had printed several copies of his speech days before the wedding, as unfortunately the file had corrupted when he went to print it on the morning of the wedding, and he had to redo it all in the car on the way over to the venue – not ideal!
What are your top tips for other couples?
Everyone says how quickly the day goes and it is true, so we would say make sure to take some time together, such as during your wedding breakfast, photographs, cake cutting and first dance to try and be in the moment just with each other. Those are the moments you will look back and reflect on together from the day.
We also thought taking the time to have a receiving line for our day guests into the wedding breakfast, and then a moment separately with our evening guests in a different room for the reception worked really well, as it meant we spoke to everyone without there being any pressure to go around and make sure we had talked to everyone.
Where do you plan to go on honeymoon?
We have a honeymoon booked for mid-February / early March 2023. We are going to Bali for 8 nights, then Singapore for 3 nights and the Maldives for 5 nights, which we are very much looking forward to!
Suppliers – who did you use?
Photographer: October James Photography
Dress: House of Snow, Bury St Edmunds
Dress fitting and dressing service: The Bridal Pixie, Girton
Grooms & Groomsmen outfits: Gere Menswear, Lincoln
Bridesmaid dresses: Maya through Next online
Cake: Mother of the Bride
Hair: Natalie at Cambridge Makeup Artist
Makeup: Ellie at Cambridge Makeup Artist
Flowers: Julie Cambridge Florist
Entertainment: Ceilidh – Ceilidh Tree
Photobooth: Waterfall Photo Booth Co.
DJ: DJ Gary, South Farm’s House DJ
As you can see from Amelia & Jonathan’s wonderful wedding day, saying ‘I do’ in the Winter with frosty photos and twinkling lights is utterly magical at our winter wedding venue.
At family-run South Farm no two weddings are ever the same. We have the most unique, picture-perfect farmhouse, rustic barns, stunning gardens and beautiful overnight accommodation for your magical winter wedding. Not to mention our homegrown, organic, seasonal, food and our expansive small-holding and gorgeous rare-breed animals.
Get in touch to organise a visit to see it all for yourselves we’d love to show you around!
