Your Sussex Wedding - October/November 2023 (Issue 105)

LUCY AND DAN’S BIG-DAY SUPPLIERS Venue and catering, Cottesmore Hotel Golf & Country Club, www.cottesmoregolf.co.uk | Photographer, Dominic Smith Photography, www.dominicsmithphotography.co.uk | Bride’s dress, Confetti & Lace, www.confettiandlace.com | Hair stylist, Hair by Sian Denman, www.facebook.com/bridalhairbysiandenman | Make-up artist, Bespoke You, https://bespokeyou.co.uk | Venue styling, Shelley’s Venue Decoration, www.shelleys.co.uk | Transport, D.S .Wedding Cars, www.dsweddingcars.co.uk | Cake and favours, Rose Petal Cake Company, www.rosepetal-cakecompany.co.uk | Entertainment, Dennis Elvie, www.denniselvie.co.uk | The Oliver Soul Band via Bands for Hire, www.bandsforhire.net | Rob Sharp Close-up Magician, www.honestdeception.co.uk | Photo booth, Absolute Booth, https://absolutebooth.co.uk | Videographer, Brighton Video Production, https://brightonvideoproduction.com My top tips? Use an Excel sheet and get it set up early. Sit back and take it all in. And ladies, do a speech and take blotting sheets! The Oliver Soul band sang 90s RnB, Motown and funk tunes, keeping everyone entertained throughout the evening. We’d asked them to sing our first song and they totally smashed it. We also had a DJ. Cottesmore provided us with a selection of canapés for the drinks’ reception... not that I managed to eat any as we were off having photos! For our wedding breakfast, we dined on ham hock terrine, chicken stuffed with wild mushrooms and sticky toffee pudding to finish. The evening buffet was cheese platters, lamb koftas, pulled pork baps and, of course, wedding cake! We had a wonderful pianist playing in the courtyard as all the guests arrived for the drinks’ reception. We had given him a list of our wedding party’s first dances or meaningful songs, which he learned and played for them. We also had a close-up magician who was brilliant. Our guests loved him, and everyone was stunned. We set up a gorgeous kids’ area in the barn room with wisteria trees and tipis, which was where we also had the photo booth set up. Our venue stylist, Sarah Shelley, was incredible from our first meeting where she bought me a coffee and sat down to listen to all our ideas, right through to the day itself. Nothing was too much trouble and she brought our dream to life. 42

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