What made you choose Hampton Manor?

We emigrated to Australia a few years back but knew that we wanted an English wedding so that we could celebrate with as many of our loved ones and friends as possible. Our families are from Rutland and Hampshire, but we met and lived in the West Midlands before we moved overseas. We wanted to pick a venue near to our old home in Leamington Spa as had been a special to us and the start of our lives together. 

We started looking at directories for venues and Stuart stumbled across Hampton Manor weddings and declared “this is the one”, which I thought was quite a bold statement after a quick look, but when I had a look it really did seem to be pretty perfect. We arranged a zoom call virtually and I think we were both sold before the call was even finished! We loved the old style building and the decor, especially the William Morris designs, and we are both big foodies so that also was a deciding factor. Also, being quite practical people we were swayed by its location – close to train lines/accommodation for guests and having rooms on site. 

When we then visited the UK later that year and nervously came to check out the venue we had only seen on a laptop screen, we knew we had made the right choice. The staff went above and beyond to help us come up with a wedding that would be us, and nothing seemed to be beyond them.

What was your favourite moment?

Stuart – It’s hard to pick just one, but I would say being in The Birches with our closest friends and family watching on for our ceremony was the most special moment of my life. The party from then on was also incredible and I loved every minute of it. Especially the food!!

Lotty – 

To be honest i had a smile on my face from waking up until the end of the night The whole day was so much better than I had ever imagined. If I had to pick it would be the last song “Mr Brightside” with me and Stuart in the middle of a circle of our friends/family all singing (screaming) out the lyrics. Just feeling the amount of happiness in that room was crazy.

What was your favourite food memory?

All of it including the food tasting. We went to visit the venue in person when we were back in the UK and did the food tasting during our stay. Every item that was put down in front of us was incredible which hilariously did make it hard to decide what to pick for the day (not a bad problem to have!). We eventually decided on the chicken which we deliberated on as chicken felt a little “boring”, but I am so glad we chose it. It was even better than I remembered on the day and the number of people that came up to us a little awestruck by how good it was, was telling! 

Also, we already decided before the day that we were going to prioritize eating the food, as you hear of so many couples that are too busy to eat, but this seemed like such a waste to us as the food was one of the reasons we picked the venue. And I’m so glad we did this as the food was incredible.

Tell us about the inspiration for the styling of the day

We had spoken about a garden wedding when initially brainstorming our wedding ideas, but we knew that a venue wedding was going to help us out so much when planning the whole thing from overseas. 

But, we still wanted lots of flowers and greenery to keep that English garden inspired feel. Amy, from AVA styling, really brought this idea to reality for us. We chose to stick with the bare tressel tables and leather chairs for a rustic relaxed feel with textured table runners and delicate flowers on the table to ensure that there was space for all the delicious food and no obstructed views. We also had big urns behind the top table along with meadow trays in front, which were amazing and also look amazing in photos from the speeches.

Tell us about what made you fall in love with your dress

My dress was by Justin Alexander from Angelica Bridal in London.

I actually found 2 dresses on the same day that I loved, both very similar in style and I ended up flipping a coin to decide, but I am so glad I picked the dress I did. As soon as I put it on I felt like myself, rather than playing dress up, which was how I had felt in other dresses. It was a simple shape and design but the cow neck line made it a little different and it was also made of quite an interesting fabric texture which I loved. I just felt like the dress reflected my style, I felt really comfortable in it and I could just be me – plus it had POCKETS!

Suppliers:

Photographer: Amy Rose Photography

Videographer: Roo Films

Stylist: Ava Events Styling

Band: The Collective Band

Cake: The Cakery, Leamington