On the 28th of February, Laura woke in the Lady’s Chambers Cottage to find a beautiful white canvas had covered the grounds at Gosfield on the morning of her wedding!
It was not planned, nor was it forecast, but the snow came anyway and what a lovely back drop it made to what was already set out to be an unforgettable day for Laura and Jonathan.
Before we speak of their white wedding lets back track 6 months to where this journey started…
“Myself and Jonathan had been together for 3 years and every year we always had a summer holiday in Cornwall, the first year we went he took me to a place called Kynance Cove and I was blown away at how beautiful it was and jokingly I said I would love to get engaged here one day! Well 3 years later he took me back there and proposed to me on one knee overlooking the sea on a cliff edge and of course I said yes just as I felt I was going to fall over the cliff edge! It was just incredible I will never forget it.”
After that, it was full swing into planning their special day. The first step is always finding where you want to say those two special words… I DO! and that is of course the venue…
“I will never forget the feeling I had when I was shown around Gosfield Hall for the first time, I was just overwhelmed it is truly beautiful. It felt like all my dreams had come true! It is such a grand place yet intimate enough to have family and friends close by to celebrate with you on your special day.
Jonathan used to live near Gosfield Hall, so he has always known it’s been there and also regularly played golf at the golf club next to the House. We always had it in our mind that we would love to get married there one day, but never thought we could afford it!”
After getting the wedding venue of their dreams, it was on to booking suppliers. With only 6 months to go, their main priority was to get the photographer booked in that they wanted and the cake supplier for a yummy cake!
“We searched online at wedding photographers in Essex, Simon Carr Photographer came up straight away! We were very impressed by what we saw on his website, he stood out for us so we booked an appointment to go and see him. As soon as we met him we knew he was the one we didn’t go and see anyone else! We felt so comfortable around him and his passion for photography is out of this world! He is a perfectionist and goes above and beyond to get the perfect image of you special day. I can’t recommend him highly enough; he is the best photographer around.”
The last few preparations and decisions were left to be made, an important thing such as a theme…
“I have always known how I would like to theme my wedding since I was younger, I love the vintage old fashioned style! My favourite colour is burgundy so I tied that in with my stationary, flowers and ties! Then had navy suits and bridesmaids dresses, I felt the colours worked well with Gosfield Hall too.”
With all preparations now in place, all that was left to do was to look forward to the big day… And what a day they had!
Having awoken to see the beautiful white snow outside, it was time to start getting ready!
“I went to a local wedding shop called Peaches near where I use to live, and always had an idea of the wedding dress I wanted. I tried on around 10 dresses it was the 6th dress I tried on and I just fell in love with it straight away. You just know when it’s the one!
Jonathan had bought me a tennis Swarovski set necklace, earrings and bracelet for my 30th birthday so I decided to wear this on my wedding day. It just looked beautiful with my dress. I got my lace shoes from Asos.
Jonathan and his groomsmen, including our dads, hired suits from Coles in Epping. They wore dark navy suits with burgundy ties and pocket squares. We had both decided on the suits together, so I was fully aware what they was wearing but didn’t see Jonathan in his suit until the day. They went so well with the bridesmaids!”
The girls then started to get their selves ready…
“I had my three close friends Kate, Lana and Becky as my bridesmaids I sent them all a card to ask if they would be my bridesmaids they were thrilled, we had managed to get their dresses from Debenhams they were multi way dresses so it worked really well they could wear them however they wished.”
The boys were just as busy as the girls getting themselves ready!
With the girls in their dresses and the boys in their suits, it was time to fetch Laura’s Dad then down on to the ceremony in the Grand Salon…
“We had a CD made with the piano guys music on, I had a thousand years as I walked down the aisle it was truly magical. My lovely dad walked me down the aisle it was just beautiful memories that will last a lifetime. My advice is to walk slow and try and take it all in! I just remember seeing everyone smile and the gorgeous snow falling outside that I could see through the Grand Salon windows.”
With the nuptials done, it was onto welcome drinks, canapes, pictures and finally saying hello to their family and friends!…
Having now had some time to take advantage of the lovely snow outside for photos, it was then back into the house and up to our fabulous Ballroom for the newly wed Mr and Mrs Wallace’s wedding breakfast… And what a lovely menu they had!
Starter
Wild Mushroom Risotto
Wild mushrooms sautéed with garlic and fresh herbs topped
with rocket and parmesan finished with herb oil
Crayfish Cocktail
Crayfish tails & prawns with homemade Marie rose sauce
on a bed of mixed leaves
Main Course
Traditional Roast Topside of Beef with Yorkshire Pudding
Served on a bed of horseradish mash and a rich red wine jus
Roasted Vegetable Wellington
Roasted seasonal vegetables encrusted in puff pastry served with a cranberry reduction
Dessert
Sticky Toffee Pudding
Served with toffee sauce and Baileys cream
Speeches followed soon after!
“It was to die for!! Everyone had said how delicious the food was! We will be returning for a dinner evening soon! Whatever food you choose at Gosfield it will be amazing! The speeches were great, my dad was very nervous but I assured him all would be fine and just take a deep breath, however Jonathan was very confident with his speech he didn’t even read what he had prepared! Very memorable part of the day!”
After the happy couple and their guests had finished their lovely wedding breakfast, they then all joined their evening guests downstairs and gathered around to watch Laura and Jonathan cut their cake and have their first dance…
“This was our hardest decision… a first dance song, it took us ages to decide. Myself and Jonathan have very different taste in music and we didn’t particularly have a song that was special to us. We researched for ages, and then finally decided on Eva Cassidy- Songbird. It was lovely, the words were perfect and worked really well. We are both quite shy and not very confident dancers so managed to sway and then everyone came onto the dance floor and joined us. I also had a first dance with my dad, we choose a Frankie Valli song as my dad has always loved his music.”
After such a perfect day, from the snow to the food, from the memories to the dancing, the day had come to an end… And what a fabulous day they had!
We asked the happy couple, based on their own experience, what top tips did they have…
“My advice would be have a notebook, write endless amounts of lists/ ideas. Once you’ve booked the important things e.g- photographer florist cake. Write all the details, down like contact details, and when the final payment is due then hopefully you won’t get confused with it all and you will keep on track. My wedding planner book was my bible! Don’t know what I would have done without it. Also shop around I saved so much money when searching for wedding bits online. We only had 6 months to plan our wedding and it was more than enough time I would recommend it to anyone, on the day just don’t stress and enjoy!!”
“If we could do it all again, we’d…
We would turn back time and do it all over again! When people say your wedding day is the best day of your life, they are not lying!!”
After the wedding the happy couple went on a mini-moon to a lovely spa hotel. They hope to go to Antigua early next year! We hope you both have a lovely time!
Credits
Wedding attire: Peaches Wedding Shop
The accessories: Swarovski Jewellery, Asos shoes
Bridesmaid’s dresses: Debenhams Debut Multiway dresses
Suit Hire: Coles, Epping
Wedding rings: Finery and Co, Bishops Stortford
Wedding cake: Lisa at Cake Cuisine
Invitations: Lana Yearly
Photographer: Simon Carr Photography
Wedding favours: Homemade/Hobby craft
Florist: Megan at The Willows
Hair and Make up: Lightbox Make up Artist
