Mark and Sarah Arnold's Perfect Wedding

Where did your wedding take place, why did you choose that venue, and how big was your wedding party?

Our wedding ceremony took place on Saturday 5th March 2011 at St Mary’s church in Shaw-cum-Donington, Newbury, Berkshire. This church is very special to us as it’s my family church where I was christened, and great grandparents and grandparents were also married at the church.



Our wedding reception followed at Elcot Park Hotel in Newbury. We chose Elcot Park hotel because of the setting and beautiful surroundings, and we found the staff very friendly and accommodating.



We opted for an intimate traditional wedding, attended by 60 of our most special family and friends.



Did you have a theme for your wedding, and what sort of look and feel did you want to create? 

Although we had a traditional wedding we chose to theme our special day on the 1950’s Rat Pack era.



The groom, Mark, and his best man wore tailored three-piece suits and thin ties complete with Trilby hats, and for the evening they changed into black tie and DJ’s.



Me and my bridesmaids went for the 1950’s Audrey Hepburn look, with slender dresses complete with elbow length gloves.



Please tell us about the running order and format of your day, including details of any live music or entertainment. 

Our day actually started the day before with most of our guests arriving at the hotel the night before. The girls had a pamper night in the huge bedroom I had been given, which was very special, as my bridesmaids and our 2 year old daughter spent the night with me.



The guys had a poker evening downstairs which was a good way of getting friends and family from both sides together.



Our wedding day started off very relaxed and we all got ready at the hotel, which was nice to have family/friends popping in during the morning to chat over a cup of tea.



Mark took our daughter to breakfast and then to play on the giant chess set on the lawn.



My bridesmaids were more nervous than me when we were getting ready, maybe because I had our daughter to assist me with getting ready. My Matron of Honour said “you are definitely not a Bridezilla!”, as I was just enjoying every moment of the day. 



Once we were all ready we made our way to the lounge downstairs to an awaiting brand new XJ Jaguar outside, to take my father and me to the church.


  
A highlight of the ceremony was our daughter setting off her talking Thomas the Tank Engine which she had hidden in a little bag. When the question “does anyone know why these persons should not be joined in matrimony” was asked, we heard my daughter’s Thomas The Tank Engine go off saying, “Buff my Buffers”. A moment we will never forget.



After the ceremony we all headed back to the hotel for a Pimm’s drinks reception, followed by a 3 course traditional sit down dinner and of course speeches. 



During the best man’s speech our daughter kept saying “Me bed”. Bless her; she was so tired that she didn’t make the evening to enjoy the wonderful music or a dance with mummy and daddy.

As soon as the speeches were over, the casino started. We hired a casino in keeping with the Rat Pack era, and this was very well received by us and our guests.



The casino was followed by the first set of the fantastic Russell Shaun and his band. Mark and I had secretly taken dancing lessons so that we could fox trot to our first dance “Fly Me to the Moon”.



We had problems completing our dance routine in full due to the length of my dress. Russell Shaun was great and we managed to do it again at the start of the second set.



How big an impact did live entertainment have on your wedding day and would you recommend it to others? 

I sincerely recommend live entertainment to anybody getting married. It made a huge impact to the success of our wedding and our guests thoroughly enjoyed dancing and listening to the band. Russell Shaun and his band were terrific.



What were your favourite moments of the day?

Our whole day was perfect, and so special, that it’s difficult to highlight just one favourite moment. My father-in-law gave an unexpected speech which brought all of the guests to tears. Another favourite moment was crouched down with our daughter outside the church and her giving us a kiss in turn.



What pearls of wisdom or words of advice would you extend to future brides and grooms who are planning their perfect wedding? 

I would recommend shopping around and not always going with the first thing you see, and certainly don’t rule out ebay or charity shops. We saved money by designing and printing our own wedding invitations, order of service, table plans and layouts which turned out to be relatively simple.



Delegate some of the on-the-day responsibility to friends and family so that they can help to ensure the day runs smoothly, meaning you can sit back, relax and enjoy. If you have any little children included in the immediate wedding party, don’t have any strict schedules and just go with the flow, then you will not get stressed if things don’t go to plan.