Millie and Hobie Wright – 1st August 2019
The lovely Millie and Hobie were married with us on Thursday 1st August 2019 after having been engaged for 18 months…though the weather wasn’t on our side all day long, they still made the most of it, and thankfully the sun reappeared for some of the afternoon so they could enjoy the beautiful Chestnut tree-lined driveway for those gorgeous couple shots!
We caught up with Millie and Hobie to hear about their memories of their big day with us!
The Story of Our Wedding
I chose my dress on Valentine’s Day 2018 with my mum at The Bridal Lounge in Hadleigh. Charlotte made me feel at ease with a process that I thought I would feel very uncomfortable with! I tried on 8 dresses and it was first dress that I tried on. The dress was not exactly as I had imagined – it actually was a dress that Charlotte picked out for me that she said she thought I should try on! I knew I loved the dress but it felt like a big decision to make so Charlotte let me go back to the Bridal Lounge the following day to try it on again with my mum and dad – when my dad cried when I came out of the changing room, I knew that it was the right dress! The dress was designed by Provinas and came from the “White One” collection.
We went to multiple wedding open days and tours around venues across Suffolk and Essex. When we visited All Manor of Events, we knew that it was the right place for us. We were welcomed with open arms from the staff and they accommodated us going back on multiple occasions with different members of the family to see the venue. We liked the fact that the ceremony and the reception could be held on the same site but in different rooms so that the reception venue was not given away before the ceremony. We also liked the amount of outside space around the venue for our guests to enjoy and for some amazing photos to be taken!
Both sides of the family helped in many different ways to contribute towards the wedding day, from making the cake, to setting up the venue the day before. Millie certainly got more involved in the planning side than Hobie! We both love travelling so this was a loose theme for our day with our tables each being named after places that we had visited or were visiting on our honeymoon together. We went for a light blue colour scheme due to it being a summer wedding.
The bridesmaids wore lace, light-blue floor-length dresses which matched beautifully with the flowers. The flowers were provided by Henley Flowers. Bev managed to catch our rustic, natural theme perfectly with the flowers with natural blues, creams and greens within the arrangements. We were very grateful of the advice on flower choices as we had no idea of the varieties that would be available at that time of year! Bev also accommodated us reusing our bridesmaids and brides bouquets as our table decorations in order to meet our budget requirements. For the bridesmaids, I chose my closest friends from college and university as well as my new sister-in-law. Lots of people thought I was crazy choosing 5 people but I wouldn’t have been able to choose between them. The girls were all excellent at helping on the day. Special thanks to Laura who went around and got people to sign our guest book and Izzi and Abbie for talking to our grandparents and making them feel special on our day.
The day before our wedding, AMOE staff allowed us to go to the venue to set up the tables. This was a really nice thing to do with our close family and bridesmaids to start to get prepared for the wedding. This was also a good chance for people to have a think about how things were going to play out on the day – this was a luxury for us with having our wedding on the Thursday as there was not a wedding the day before.
That morning, both of us were nervous but excited to get married. Millie managed to not get emotional until she arrived at All Manor of Events. Hobie was described as a “calm and collected groom” by the registrar. Waiting outside the Poplar Barn ready to walk down the aisle was very emotional, especially when the music started from musicians from the Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment.
The ceremony was perfectly delivered by Stowmarket Registrars. The highlights of the ceremony were my Grandma’s reading, Hobie saying “I do” too early in his vows and the heavens opening during Hobie’s mum Amanda’s reading! As the heavens opened during the ceremony, the plan of having drinks and canapés in the garden was not going to be able to go ahead. Becky and the team at AMOE adapted to change the order of the day without us even realising. The problem was sorted and a solution found before we even realised there was a problem in the first place! We actually preferred being able to spend the time just after getting married chatting with our guests rather than going off to have our photos.
It was so special to share the day with our closest family and friends. Our wedding breakfast started with a BBQ served to the tables which all of our family and friends thoroughly enjoyed – we couldn’t believe how much food kept turning up at the tables! We finished our meal with the pudding table with an enormous selection of delights. All of our guests dietary requirements were dealt with by Becky and her team. Everyone, including the staff, enjoyed the scratchcards as their wedding favours. We had a few £10 wins including one of the kitchen staff! Our speeches were very unexpected, with Hobie’s sister Heidi crashing the best man’s speech. Becky was so thoughtful and provided me with a non-alcoholic sparkling elderflower for me to enjoy during the speeches with everyone else. Harry, the best man’s speech, was not as cringeworthy as we expected!
Heff, our photographer, took us off after the speeches to have our photos with our immediate family – bit of a change of plan since the heavens opened after the ceremony. Heff expertly managed to get all of the formal photos that we requested with the family and our couple photos in 15 minutes flat allowing us to get back to the venue to spend time with our arriving evening guests. It helped that Heff knew the venue well and exactly where to get the best shots! Once these had been done, Heff managed to capture a group photo with all of our day and evening guests which is one of our favourite memories of the day. He captured all of the natural photos we were after which we love looking back on. He also took us out later on in the evening in order to get some beautiful sunset photos in the fields.
Our wedding cake was made by Hobie’s father Richard. He made a superb selection of 5 sponge cakes on a stand designed by another of our friends, Michael, who created a stand like a tree. We didn’t want a traditional tiered wedding cake and they managed to bring this to life. Once dressed by Henley Flowers, they looked incredible. The carrot, pineapple and pecan cake was the best hit with our guests with even the spare sponge cake in the kitchen disappearing too!
Our first dance was “Hold My Girl” by George Ezra. Hobie went for the lift at the climax of the song whilst the confetti cannons went off – the perfect photo opportunity. It was lovely when our bridesmaids joined us on the dancefloor towards the end of our dance ready to get the party started!
We spent the rest of the evening enjoying celebrating with our extended family and friends – it was nice to have more people join us and spend the evening with us. The pizzas made in the pizza ovens as our evening food are still being talked about now! The Wedding DJs managed to capture our eclectic cheesy music taste and keep people on the dance floor all night long. The garden games which we were meant to have in the afternoon were moved inside – the limbo and giant jenga went down well with the children and the adults later in the evening! We both remember the last hour of the wedding very fondly with just close family and bridesmaids/ ushers left allowing us to enjoy the dancefloor and letting our special day sink in.
It was excellent to have somewhere to stay on site at the end of the evening. The pods were an excellent addition to the venue – the only thing that we said was missing about the venue when we booked! Our close family and bridesmaids were able to stay with us and therefore spend the morning after the wedding together. We went on honeymoon 2 days later on the 3rd August. We had a three and a half week adventure in South East Asia. We started with a stopover in Singapore before heading to Bali in Indonesia for culture, beaches and biking on the crazy roads! We finished the trip with a final stopover in Singapore on the way home staying at the amazing Marina Bay Sands Hotel.
We want to say thank you to all of the staff at AMOE who made our day run so smoothly. A special mention to Becky who was on hand to help me when I was stressing in the lead up to the wedding and dealing with all of my silly questions! She made the day exactly as we wanted and we can’t thank her enough.
Top Tip(s) for Other Couples:
Make sure you do whatever you want – it’s your day, no one else’s!
Don’t feel like you have to talk to all of your guests – it’s impossible, especially with a number like ours! We had 70 guests during the day and an extra 100 joined in the evening.
Remember to eat! We forgot to go and enjoy the pizza ovens in the evening because we were too busy trying to see all of our guests.
Make sure you take out wedding insurance – we got ours through Debenhams and it was really affordable – great peace of mind when there are so many different things that need to come together on the day.
I wish I’d known…
…that the day would disappear so quickly. In hindsight, we would have liked to have had a videographer to capture the day for us to go back to. Things like the speeches which were not written down we are not going to be able to relive.
Did anything go wrong on the day?
Hobie saying “I do” too early during the vows in the ceremony
The heavens opening during Hobie’s mum Amanda’s reading during the ceremony – apparently it is good luck for it to rain during the ceremony!
Hobie still to this day doesn’t think he finished a drink during the day as he kept leaving them in different places around the venue
Bridal Party
Bride’s parents: Andy and Cherry Forbes
Groom’s parents: Amanda and Richard Wright
Bridesmaids: Laura Alvey, Alice Corkerton, Izzi Slater, Abbie Becker and Heidi Wright
Best man: Harry Forbes
Ushers: Matt Aldous-Horne, Cameron Harris and Adam Fuller
Suppliers
Photography: Heff’s Photography – https://heffs.co.uk/
Ceremony Venue: Poplar Barn. All Manor of Events – https://www.allmanorofevents.co.uk/
Reception Venue: Chestnut Barn, All Manor of Events- https://www.allmanorofevents.co.uk/
Dress: Provinas, The White One, Charlotte at The Bridal Lounge, Hadleigh – https://thebridal-lounge.co.uk/
Wedding rings: Smooch Rings – https://www.smoochrings.co.uk/
Bridesmaids’ dresses: David’s Bridal – https://www.davidsbridal.co.uk/bridesmaid-dresses
Hair: Jenny Bray from J&W Ladies Hair Design, Sudbury https://www.yell.com/biz/j-and-w-ladies-hair-design-sudbury-6387838/
Make-up: Martha Martinez Gonzalez and Rhea Thompson – family friends
Groom’s outfit: Coes, Ipswich – https://www.coes.co.uk/suitsmens
Stationery: Here Comes the Bride Wedding Invitations (now called Silk and Ink Wedding Designs) – https://www.silkandinkdesigns.co.uk/
Flowers: Bev at Henley Flowers – http://www.henleyflowers.com/
Cake: Hobie’s Dad – Richard Wright
Cake Stand: Michael at One Stop Steel Shop – https://www.theconstructionindex.co.uk/company/One-Stop-Steel-Shop-Ltd/43330
Catering: All Manor of Events – https://www.allmanorofevents.co.uk/
Venue dresser: Us, All Manor of Events and ExtravOrganza – https://www.extravorganza.co.uk/
Transport: Brian at The Wedding Cars
Musicians for Ceremony: Hetty, Carina, John Henry, Nico and Holly from the Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment. –https://oae.co.uk/
DJ: The Wedding DJs at AMOE – http://www.theweddingdjs.co.uk/
