Image © westlondonphotography : Buxted Park Hotel Emma and Mark's wedding photographs
Emma and Mark's wedding phototographs at Buxted Park Hotel Sussex wedding venue
The beautiful Sussex wedding venue Buxted Park ticked all the right boxes when Emma and Mark were looking for their perfect wedding setting.
'We wanted a venue where we could have exclusive use and make it a fun weekend for all our family and friends', explains Emma. 'We visited Buxted Park on a lovely sunny day and fell for it right away. This was two years before we planned to get married! We wanted the August Bank Holiday, so we booked Buxted Park immediately.'
It turned out to be the right decision. The sun shone on Emma and Mark's wedding day and Buxted Park was indeed perfect.
Keeping an eye on the budget
Emma and Mark met at University in Manchester where they lived in the same Hall. Emma was reading Economics and French, Mark Accounting and Finance, a very useful background for planning and sticking to a wedding budget.
Six months before their wedding day, they started looking for their photographer. 'We wanted a husband and wife team,' Emma says, 'and we looked at three different photographers. We like the reportage style that isn't obtrusive and family photographs are important to us as well. Susan and Godfrey showed us their work which we loved, and we liked them as people. That's important too.'
Emma's Wedding Dress
The next thing to be sorted was the dress. Emma prefers to dress casually and wasn't looking forward to choosing her dress. She started by looking at magazines and narrowing down her choice. Then she went out on her own, to find her ideal shop
'Silhouettes Bridal Gowns on Richmond Hill has a stunning range of wedding gowns and great service. They listened to my ideas and then made their own suggestions. They showed me twelve dresses, and some of those I wouldn't even have considered, just seeing them on their hangers. We made a short list of five and I arranged to come back with one of my sisters and a friend. I had my secret favourite, and that's the one everyone finally agreed was THE dress.'
What style? What theme?
Emma then started to brainstorm about the style she'd like. Both of them love travel, they adore summery places. Travel had to be part of the mix and Emma has a weakness for hot pink gerberas.
Donal Casey of Pollen Flowers was brilliant, suggesting simple hand tied bouquets for the bridesmaids and an explosion of colour for Emma's bouquet. Scattered rose petals added to the vibrancy and lent a soft, romantic feel to the room where they exchanged their vows.
As a complimentary colour she chose teal green. With six bridesmaids surrounding her, Emma chose the pink for her three sisters dresses and the teal green for her friends.
Great service from our wedding caterers
Emma and Mark have nothing but praise for Suzanne Labadie, Wedding Co-ordinator, Ram and the staff at Buxted Park. 'They went the extra mile for us. The day sped past at a hundred miles an hour but there were no hitches. That meant a great deal to us. We had peace of mind and could get on with enjoying our day.
A big thank you to our three best men
We'd planned the day carefully and then we were able to delegate to our best men Will Stewart, Jon Vooght and Ian Roberts. We particularly appreciated their help with organising the group photographs. We didn't want many but they are important to us and we allowed about twenty minutes.
Susan and Godfrey had explained that each group takes about five minutes to photograph, depending on whether the people we needed were to hand. We drew up a list of 'must have' groups and it happened very quickly. Our guests complimented us on this; so many people have been to weddings where you're hanging around for hours, waiting for your turn in the group photos. That's not Susan and Godfrey's style and they made it fun. My Mum especially appreciated that'.
If music be the food of love...
Music was very important indeed to the couple. They go to a lot of concerts and have friends who work in the music industry, so they chose their live bands with care.
Beautiful live woodwind music played by The Fortuna Trio led by Elizabeth Trigg enhanced the ceremony. Afterwards, Pimms was served in the gardens and some of the guests tried out their croquet skills. The sun shone down on a very English scene.
Throughout the reception everyone enjoyed the playing of that great jazz pianist Carl Membrino. He is a lovely person and a very talented player.
Later in the evening he was joined by the other members of The Band o Gold for a fantastic evening of music making.
The Wedding Cake
The table decorations ran with the hot pink and teal green theme and the tables were named after the ten countries that Emma and Mark plan to visit next year. A gorgeous cake was commissioned from Carolyn White at Cakes 4 Fun in Putney and the wedding breakfast was really delicious.
Special moments with their wedding photographers
'One of the most enjoyable moments of the day was when Emma and Mark stole away from their guests to spend some time with Susan and Godfrey in the gardens of Buxted Park. Emma remarked, 'It was so relaxing just to be just the two of us.
Godfrey explained that the evening light was just perfect and we quietly explored the grounds and the lake, with the sun beginning to go down and the evening party ahead of us. I love the photographs from these moments.'
A perfect end to a perfect day
The rest of their wedding day has nothing but happy memories. 'Everyone danced, chatted and had a great time,' observes Mark. 'It was wonderful knowing that nobody had to rush away and that the festivities could continue into the night, without worrying about disturbing the neighbours. And some of our friends had travelled quite some distance to be with us. Meeting them again the next morning for breakfast was just wonderful''
The honeymoon
Emma and Mark flew off to The Maldives for a week's honeymoon. 'Yes, it was far too short,' explains Emma, 'but we'd used up all our holiday with a trip to Sydney earlier in the year. We chose Kuredu Island as we're not the sort of people who want just to lie on the beach. The larger island offers snorkeling, boat trips and you have to take a sea plane to get there. That's incredibly romantic.'
The honeymoon may have been short, but Mark added that they have more ambitious plans for next year. 'Our real honeymoon starts next April. We're taking a year to go travelling, staring in St Petersburg and then going on through Beijing, South East Asia, via Japan where we've friends and then on to Australia. We'll both work there for a while - there are lots of opportunities for Accountants. Or maybe we'll travel on to South America'
Bon voyage!