Here at Gosfield Hall, we make dreams a reality… Kelly and Chris got exactly that!
“In April 2017, I came home from work and was greeted at the door by Chris holding a bunch of red roses where he informed me that we would be going out for dinner at at little Italian restaurant. Just before dessert he told me that there was a reason he took me out for dinner and surprised me with a trip to Venice! On our second day, at sunset he took me on a gondola ride and got down on one knee and asked me to marry him. It was the most romantic and perfect proposal, straight out of a fairy-tale. I could not stop smiling the entire time and even now writing this, it puts a huge smile on my face!”
With it decided that they wouldn’t be engaged long, they got straight onto planning their special day…
“We started talking about it straight away in Venice! We decided that we wanted a short engagement, as we did not want to wait, we were far too excited! The most important thing we needed to plan was where we would hold the wedding. I am half Irish/English, with family in both countries. We toyed with a couple of ideas but in the end decided on England as most guests lived here. Once that was decided we started a Pinterest board, googled ideas and downloaded an app called Bridebook which was a fantastic planning tool and also where we found a lot of our suppliers.”
With the country decided on, the next job was where to decide on for the big day itself. Having made a list of over 20 venues, they whittled it down to just 6… Us being one of them!
“Gosfield Hall was our first visit out of the 6 and when we saw it we didn’t bother to visit the rest! Walking round the venue we could just picture our day! We loved the idea that for every different part of the wedding there was a different room to use rather than having to wait for rooms to be cleared and be reset, we thought this would help the flow of the wedding and keep everyone entertained. Also, who could say no to that Bridal Suite?!”
Now that the venue was chosen, it was then on to deciding how they wanted to decorate the Hall and how they would budget for it…
“The Bridebook app provides a function where you put in your budget, it suggests what you spend on each part of the wedding. We also used a spreadsheet to help keep track of every little expense!
Gosfield Hall itself helped provide us with inspiration, as it so grand and beautiful we did not want to choose a theme that took away from this or felt out of place. We both love the Art Deco period, the art, literature, music, glamour and of course the cocktails! As Art Deco is full of glamour we thought this would work well the Gosfield Hall as it would not detract from the venue. We also kept it as inspiration rather than going over the top which worked beautifully!
Our florist, Poppies Floral Design created stunning table centrepieces that evoked the feel that we wanted and used our colour palette of navy, gold and white beautifully. We added small touches such as the birdcages for cards (decorated ourselves), our welcome poster which was a bespoke design from Etsy, roaring 20’s props for people to have some fun with and little signs for the guestbook, cards, cocktail list and seating plan all designed by the groom! Our cake was a gift from my aunt from M&S and we decorated this with some feathers and a cake topper.”
With the decisions made and the preparation finalised, all that was left was to sit back and wait for the day to arrive…
On the 17th November 2017 Kelly and Chris’ day had finally arrived… Yay! Everything was in full swing by 11am… By midday the house was set and ready for their guests to arrive…
With the decorations in place, all that was left to do was get glammed up…
“We are quite lucky that Chris’s sister is a make up artist and her husband to be is in a band so these two choices were easy. Elly is an amazing make up artist with a wealth of experience and did a beautiful job on myself, mum and bridesmaids. Matt is part of the band Swagger who play a great mixture of music from funk to the 90’s, you can’t help but dance! The rest of our suppliers were found using a variety of methods, Hitched, Bridebook, recommendations and Gosfield’s recommended supplier list.”
“Chris wore navy tails hired from Jack Bunneys. He went for navy to fit the theme and the cut of the suit with the tails fit in perfectly with the Art Deco theme. I had seen pictures of the suit and thought it looked great on him and on the day itself he looked so handsome! For his accessories I bought Chris an Omega watch as a gift, something he has his eye on for a long time! He also wore personalised cuff links and had a pocket watch on his waistcoat.”
And they had their Bridesmaids and Groomsmen right along side them…
“I had four bridesmaids and asked them in a few different ways owing to location! My sister was the first person I asked and announced our engagement to her on the phone by asking if she would be my maid of honour, it was such a wonderful moment that had us both in tears! My next two bridesmaids live in Ireland so we had a group video chat where I asked them, they have been my best friends since school and so there were more tears! Finally my final bridesmaid is also married to one of Chirs’s best men so we asked them together at their house after a BBQ we had together, the four of us often go camping together with their children so it seemed the perfect moment to ask them while sat round a fire! We had Chris’s second best man around for dinner one night and then the two boys went outside for a chat where Chris asked him. One of the groomsmen is Chris’s brother and in June we went to Glastonbury together, the perfect place to ask him! Chris then asked his final groomsman over a couple of pints in the local!”
“I knew that I wanted a cathedral length veil as it added a touch of drama, as soon as I tried it on I knew it was perfect! For shoes, I had two main stipulations, vintage style and comfortable! In the end I found the perfect pair from Rainbow Club. For jewellery Chris surprised me on the day with a pair of pearl drop earrings from Tiffany’s and I wore a pearl bracelet lent to me by one of my bridesmaids who wore it at her wedding.”
With gifts given, the final touches were then made…
“I have never been the kind of girl who pictured her big day so had no idea what type of dress I wanted! I went into the bridal shops with an open mind and tried on every style of dress that I could! Very quickly I realised that a fitted style suited my figure best and so went for an a line from the Sweetheart by Justin Alexander. It started off as a strapless dress but I asked the bridal shop to add the straps as I felt that it added a little glitz and add a little touch of vintage that would work well with the wedding theme.”
Dad was then called, to see Kelly in her dress…
And then it was onto the ceremony…
“The ceremony was absolutely perfect and full of so much emotion! We had a string quartet play for the ceremony which was just beautiful. I walked down the aisle with my dad to Hoppipola by Sigur Ros which was beautifully played by the string quartet.” 
“The ceremony was absolutely perfect and full of so much emotion! We had a string quartet play for the ceremony which was just beautiful. I walked down the aisle with my dad to Hoppipola by Sigur Ros which was beautifully played by the string quartet. We had two readings read by our brothers as we wanted every member of our immediate families to be involved and they did a wonderful job! The registrar was wonderful and so sweet which put us both at ease, we couldn’t stop crying with happiness, smiling and giggling we were just so full of joy! For our witnesses we had our mums as we wanted them to take a direct role in the wedding and for us this was really important! During the signing of the register we had Nightswimming by REM, In My Life by The Beatles and finally once the I do’s were done we walked down the aisle to Heroes by David Bowie.”
That was the hard bit over! The newlyweds… Mr and Mrs Moyser!
From the Queens Gallery, the happy couple headed down the staircase to their welcome drinks and canape reception, where they got to finally relax and relish the thought that they had just gone and tied the knot!
“For the drinks reception we went for cocktails including a Singapore Sling as we moved to Singapore straight after our honeymoon! This was a great time to mingle with guests, have photos taken, throw the confetti and finally have a couple of moments together where we could bask in the joy of being married!”
After saying hello to everyone properly, they were then taken off to enjoy the ground with their photographer and have a little alone time…
“Our wedding photographer, Scott Miller Photography, was recommended to us by one of Chris’s workmates. We looked at his work and just fell in love with it. Scott takes really beautiful and stylish photos that we felt would work well with the venue and our theme. On the day he was absolutely wonderful and we could not be happier than the photos he took, over 600 in total!”
From there it was on to the stunning Ballroom for their wedding breakfast and speeches…
“For the wedding breakfast we had duck confit, lamb and for dessert we couldn’t choose just one so we went for a trio of strudel, chocolate brownie and creme brûlée. The food was absolutely delicious and the portions very generous, with people mistaking the duck for a main at first!! Everyone really complimented the meal!”
“The speeches were fantastic and one of the highlights! Both of our dads did a speech, both of which revealed some funny things about us that our guests would not have known! Chris’s speech was both funny and loving and may have made me shed a couple more tears! The speeches by the two best men were hilarious, highlights included, Chris’s ability to get out of sticky situations, getting into trouble at school, a Rover that may not have been left in the best shape after Chris drove it, drunken escapades of the boys, the presentation of Asian conical hats to make us ‘fit’ into our new surroundings in Singapore and the impression the bride made on one of the best men after drinking 8 pints of Old Rosie on St Patricks day!”
All that was left to do, was enjoy the evening, with a bit more food and dancing!
“Our first dance, Songs of Love by The Divine Comedy was an easy pick as it has been our song since the first year we were together and discovered our mutual love of a certain sitcom about three priests on an island off the coast of Ireland! The chorus of the song may sound familiar as the the theme tune if you are a fan of the show!”
We asked Kelly and Chris, based on their experience, what they would suggest as their top tips!
“I would say organisation is key. For us keeping a list of what we needed to book and when we wanted it booked kept us on track. Also enjoy the planning as it really is so much fun. We would sit down with our ideas and have a glass of wine and make an occasion of it. This made the day so much more enjoyable as we could look at everything knowing that every idea was put there by the two of us working together as a team.”
“If we could do it all again, we’d do everything exactly the same, the day was so perfect!”
Two days after the wedding the happy couple jetted off to Bali for two weeks before re-locating to Singapore!
From all of us here at Gosfield Hall, we wish you a long and happy life together and thank you for choosing us to be part of such an important stage of your lives!
Credits:
- Wedding Dress – Sweetheart from Justin Alexander from Vicky Lee Bridal
- Accessories – Tiffany’s, Veil from Richard Designs, Headpiece from Etsy, Shoes from Rainbow Club
- Bridesmaid Dresses – Biba, House of Frazer
- Grooms Suit – Jack Bunney
- Makeup – Elly Jayne Makeup
- Hair – Chelsea Lenton Hair and Makeup
- Wedding Rings – The Diamond Factory
- Wedding Cake – Marks and Spencer
- Florist – Poppies Designer Flowers
- Photographer – Scott Miller Photographer
- String Quartet – Bridal String Quartet
- Band – Swagger Function Band
- Wedding Favours – Personalised M&M’s in boxes from Zazzle
- Light up Letter – Celebrations
