Heidi & Matt’s Real Life Wedding

From the magic of Disney to the magic of Gosfield Hall

Tell us about the proposal – how and where did it happen?

The proposal was magical to say the least! We jetted off to Disney World Orlando for a holiday of a lifetime that Matt had booked the previous year, I had no idea what he was planning to do, but like every girl was secretly hoping. We scheduled each day for each park and on the 9^th September 2019 in front of Cinderella’s castle and a massive audience Matt got down on one knee and popped the question. There was cheering, clapping and it just felt so magical! He planned every moment.

What was your first step in planning your wedding?

I wasted no time in wedding planning, we were in Miami as part of our trip, and I was contacting venues for prices and availability for 2021. I created a Pinterest board of the colour theme I was looking for, flowers, dress ideas and was so excited to get back and start the venue hunt!

Wedding budget: how did you organise your wedding budget?

We didn’t have a budget but Matt made sure I didn’t get too carried away! We listened to the advice of other married couples and experiences from other weddings and went from there. Where we could save money we did, and where we wanted to spend that extra money we did. We didn’t apply to much pressure and made sure it was all affordable for us.

How did you find your venue and what made you choose 

I did so much research on wedding venues in Essex, as we wanted to stay local. I came across Gosfield Hall on Instagram through suppliers and made it a must see. As soon as we drove up the drive way we fell in love with it and instantly knew it was the one. While being shown around we walked into the ballroom with the music playing and we were blown away. Both Matt and I, and our Mums, became very emotional and that confirmed it, Gosfield Hall was the venue for us.

But not forgetting the breath taking Rococo Honeymoon Suite! How could you not want to start your wedding day off in that room! That was another decider for me.

Styling your wedding

We ensured we had parts of the day that meant something to us personally and as a couple. Our table names and decorations were places that we had visited since being together with a photo for each table. Our florist decorated the banisters on the main staircase with beautiful flowers to match for the centrepieces. We also had the help of JF Styling to help style the ceremony room and the evening room with blossom trees and the beautiful white drapes on the dance floor.

Our cake design had changed multiples of times due to the amount of time I had to think about it, but one thing never changed… (unfortunately) the West Ham badge that we secretly had made on the back! I changed the cake design with our supplier Tina to fit more in with the design of my dress and colour theme.

Did the venue provide any memorable extras or nice personal touches that stood out?

Gosfield insisted we had the 10 minutes on the day away from everyone in the Honeymoon Suite and at first I didn’t think we would be to bothered but it was so nice to have sometime together. We were also gifted a bottle of Prosecco from the team that we have saved for our 1 year anniversary.

Describe your wedding attire and favourite accessories

My dress was a beautiful fit and flare design and was a laced with subtle sparkle  with added bardot sleeves. It was the style I wanted as a little girl but not the dress I actually thought I would wear on my wedding day.

I had tried so many dresses and just didn’t feel myself in any of them until I put on my dress. It just fitted perfectly and I fell in love with it! All my accessories matched beautifully with the dress but my favourite had to be the Jimmy Choo’s.

What did your partner wear?
Matt chose his own suit. I trusted in his style and knew he had to be comfortable and love the suit. We chose to hire them as we needed 10 suits. He chose a silver type grey 3 piece suit with a blush pink tie. He chose to be different to the other groomsman and have the different waist coat to surprise me on the wedding day. With me having the expensive shoes for the day, Matt felt it was only fair he got have the shoes he wanted, a smart pair of black Louboutin’s to finish his look!  After a few hiccups all the grooms party looked very smart in their attire and we are glad with the choice we made.

Tell us about your Bridesmaids, Groomsmen and their outfits

We had five bridesmaids, five groomsmen and two page boys. My bridesmaids were my two sisters, a close friend, Matt’s sister and my Maid of Honour was my longest friend of 26 years. I invited them to my house in December 2019 for an afternoon tea and had surprise bridesmaid gift bags to present to them to ask them to be a part of our big day. I chose mint green dresses for the bridesmaids and our florist made them real flower hair clips to go in their hair on the day. As part of their gifts, I gave them a little rose gold pearl earring and necklace set.

Matt wanted to match my five bridesmaids with the same amount of groomsmen – he already knew his two best men, I think, before we even got engaged! He then had two other friends and my brother-in-law. Our two page boys were my nephews who matched the groom’s party attire with a three-piece suit and blush pink ties.

What was your ceremony like?

Our ceremony was one of our favourite parts, it was styled so beautifully. We had blush pink blossom trees at the end of the aisle with rose petals either side of the white aisle runner. Our chairs had blush pink sashes finished with a pearl broach to match each detail of the wedding.

We chose not to have a reading and kept the vows short as both of us were nervous about speaking in front of so many people! Matt ended up saying ‘I do’ at the wrong time which really set everyone off laughing and made it a fun, memorable ceremony!

We opted for a string quartet to play throughout the ceremony and to make it personal for us, we had Disney music played for the guests’ arrival and seating. They played ‘Part of your world’ for the wedding walk in which my Dad walked me down the aisle to Matt too. This song meant so much to me and set a lot of emotions off as it started, they really did play it beautifully.

Tell us about your drinks reception and wedding breakfast

For our wedding reception we hired the Prosecco Station and had so many compliments about it! We also chose Pimm’s & Margaritas, which are Matt’s favourite, Raspberry Daiquiris and a selection of beers, so we had a bit of something for everyone. Jocie, our Personal Wedding Manager, was great and made sure after our photos, I got a Prosecco from the station and Matt got his Margarita!

We chose Prawn & Crayfish Tian for our starters. Traditional Roast Topside of Beef with Yorkshire Pudding Served on a bed of Mash with a Red Wine Jus for our mains and Baked New York Style Cheesecake for the dessert. We had nothing but compliments on the food from the canapes to the evening buffet.

Did you have a band or DJ for your evening reception?

We had the Gosfield resident DJ for our evening reception and decided not to go for the classic slow dance type song… we chose ‘Born to Be Yours’ by Kygo & Imagine Dragons to get the party started and to suit us as a couple.

Based on your own experience, give us some top tips:

I would say, do please you as a couple! You won’t please everyone and it’s your day, make sure it’s there for you to enjoy. It really can be overwhelming so take a few breathers and enjoy every moment.

Did you go on a honeymoon or mini-moon?

Went on our honeymoon the Saturday after our wedding to Dubai for five days and the Maldives for 10 days. We had the best time and much needed rest to wind down from the wedding.

“If we could do it all again, we’d…”

Not change a thing! Our day was everything it was meant to be and more and we had the best suppliers we could have asked for.

Purchase & Hire – Tell us who your suppliers were:

Wedding attire:  Wedding Dress and Veil – Essence of Australia from Bridal Shop Ltd, Romford / Suits: The Grooms Room Colchester

The accessories: Bridal: Jimmy Choo’s shoes. Swavoski – Bridal jewellery set and Tiffany Pearl Bracelet
Groom: Louboutin’s Shoes and Gucci watch

Bridesmaid’s dresses: Wed2Be

Wedding rings: Ernest Jones – Vera Wang  Grooms: Goldsmiths

Invitations/Signage:  The Little Paper Parcel

Photographer:  Julia and You

Wedding favours: Our own creations

Florist – The Orchid Room

Videographer – Hitched Wedding Films

String Quartet – Scintillo String Quartet

Stylist: JF Styling

Makeup: Donna Robinson

Hair: Chelsie Lucas