WPC Real Wedding: Min & Duncan's Timeless Marquee Wedding

Our initial tour of the showroom was incredibly good fun and really set the tone for the service we have received. Met with Nyetimber and nibbles we were expertly talked through the process by Georgie who proceeded to show us around brilliantly. She was full of ideas, advice and council and a good mediator when we disagreed! We really valued this experience and felt that The Wedding Present Company were the only company to provide this level of service. 

Wedding service – Holy Trinity and St Constantine Church, Wetheral, Cumbria

Wedding reception – Castellane House, Great Corby, Cumbria (Min’s Mother’s home).  

Cumbria was the natural choice, we are quite traditional and felt the bride should marry at home, Min adores going back to visit her family in Cumbria and the church in Wetheral by the river Eden was absolutely beautiful.

Min’s mother Jenny has a beautiful garden overlooking the picturesque village of Great Corby and kindly offered to host the wedding.

Bakerwood Marquees did a fantastic job for us and were always happy to help, change things and tweak at the last minute, we felt very safe in their capable hands. Min’s family have used them very successfully previously, and they have a fantastic reputation particularly for tricky builds which was perfect for us as we had quite an engineering challenge for them as the garden slopes heavily with a 6ft difference from one end to the other.

We kept the marquee decor fairly neutral, following a largely green and white botanical theme with lots of flowers and greenery. We had clear sides to our marquee so that guests could see as much of the garden as possible, so we wanted the flowers and decor to be sympathetic to this. 

Min travelled to the church in her father's Audi R8 - it was a tight squeeze getting her dress into it! 

We used my beloved 1964 Series 2A Landrover as the wedding car. It had been given a spruce up the week before; carefully cleaned and lined to prevent any oil stains creeping on to Min’s dress!! 

All green and white – lots of delphiniums (Min's favourite), stocks and hydrangeas. My Mother had collected the blossom from her and my Grandmother's garden and dried it for the confetti – a lovely and special touch. Flowers are really important to Min so we wanted to ensure they were a real showstopper. We were absolutely thrilled with the arch at the church, it was truly spectacular. 

I found the dress at Miss Bush in Ripley – the whole experience was heavenly –the advice I received throughout the process was perfect. I actually picked up the dress thinking it would look quite different – but as I stepped out, and saw the smile on my friend Amelia's face, I knew it was special.

It was a Jesus Piero satin dress with full skirt, square back neckline and an extended train. I paired it with a bespoke bow made out of the same fabric as my dress which I wore on top of my head with a short bouffant veil. For the reception I added a crystal belt for a touch of sparkle.

My shoes were a steal for £35 from Marks & Spencer – they even had a sparkly sole.

I wore my grandmother's pearl bracelet as my "something borrowed"; and a beautiful pair of Sapphire earrings – a very spoiling "something blue" wedding present from my husband to be!

One of my oldest and bestest friends did my make-up and I couldn't have been more delighted with the way it looked.  It was such a special and relaxing part of the morning – Fleur had very sensibly advised me to have my make-up done in a secluded spot of the house and use it as a moment to relax.

My hair was done by Bobby from Dada's, a local salon in Carlisle. Bobby has been cutting my hair since I was a child – I was so delighted with how he styled it – a slightly relaxed but formal up do.

My morning suit is an Oliver Brown classic Herringbone Morning Coat, yellow double breasted waistcoat and houndstooth trousers.

Oliver Brown make stylish, good quality, robust, no nonsense morning suits just what you need on the dance floor at most weddings!

My Ivory shirt was from Harvie and Hudson of Jermyn Street, my favourite shirt makers.

Black half brogues are from Herring Shoes, very comfortable and smart and not eyewateringly expensive.

My cousin, Anna, was my maid of honour and she wore a wedding dress from Monsoon.

Duncan's two best men and ushers all wore their own morning suits. 

Bakerwood, provided all of our catering, as well as our marquee. Sarah, one half of the couple that own and run the business, is head caterer and did a fantastic job for us. Delicious and numerous canapés, fantastic lamb for the wedding breakfast followed by summer pavlova or wedding cake topped off with a fantastic cheese selection. There was also 2 rounds of delicious brie and bacon croissants at 11pm and 1am, both gratefully received! 

The wedding cake was a traditional three tiered fruit cake – Min's Grandmother and Mother made two of the tiers and my Mother made the third; a very special way to bring the families together.

It was vital to us that we got the drinks right, and we have had lots of compliments about the wine at the wedding.

Wine – Berry Brothers and Rudd. Our favourite wine merchant and a safe pair of hands! We organised a wine tasting and were given over an hour in the tasting room in their beautiful shop in St James, with one of their team of sommeliers to go through some options. This was a fantastic experience and we would thoroughly recommend it to anyone planning an event.

Red – Berry Brothers and Rudd’s 2016 Extra Ordinary Good Claret

White – Berry Brothers and Rudd's 2017 White Burgundy

Champagne – QDG Regimental Champagne Brut NV by Roger Brun. Long time supplier of champagne to the QDG Officers’ Mess; reliable and easy to work with.

We kept things simple with cocktails serving just Gordons G&T's with a variety of accompaniments, lime, grapefruit, cucumber etc.

Local ale was provided by the Great Corby Brewery who make delicious ale half a mile from Min’s Mother’s house.

Anya Campbell was our fabulous photographer. From our first meeting in London we knew she was experienced, capable and talented. We probably weren't the easiest couple to photograph (Duncan hates photos) but she did a fantastic job and captured some lovely moments from the day. She was very happy to listen to our ideas and was very much there for us. She even kindly took lots of photos of our beloved Labrador Draffen! Highly recommended.

Voop Weddings  – found Voop through a family friend. They were an excellent team, kept in the background whilst taking some really nice footage and capturing the days highlights.

Alongside the talented organist and a brilliant trumpeter, Musical Orphans provided music during the signing of the registers, at the reception and after the wedding breakfast. They were a brilliant bunch, played some energetic and fun sets and got everyone on the dancefloor all night long. I would thoroughly recommend them.

Our Save the Dates, wedding information booklets and table plan were all provided by a brilliant Artist called Barry Holmes, normally an illustrator of his own books about the Lake District. As a close friend of Min’s Mother Jenny he agreed to turn his hand to our wedding and with beautiful results the theme of Pheasants (Duncan) and Flowers (Min) continuing throughout.

Formal wedding and other invitations were provided by Gee Brothers of Battersea, these were of excellent quality and exactly what we wanted. They have a wide range of styles and options for all budgets and are easy to communicate with.

Jeweller: Edward Fraser

Marquee & Catering: Bakerwood Marquees

Wedding Dress: Jesus Piero from Miss Bush

Wedding Shoes: Marks & Spencer

Make Up: Fleur de Force

Hair: Dada's

Groom's Fashion: Oliver Brown, Harvie and Hudson & Herring Shoes

Maid of Honour: Monsoon

Wine: Berry Brothers and Rudd

Champagne: Roger Brun

Ale: Great Corby Brewery

Photographer: Anya Campbell

Videographer: Voop Weddings

Band: Musical Orphans

Stationery: Gee Brothers of Battersea