Rachel and Fiyin’s Spring wedding day was so full of love and laughter!  Surrounded by family and friends, they created so many beautiful memories that will be cherished forever.

We caught up with them to relive their special day and give you a glimpse into just how much fun was had, from those loud “Yam Seng” to the incredible traditional wedding attires…

How did you meet and what’s the proposal story?

We met for the first time through mutual friends who invited a bunch of us to a pizza night in Shoreditch. We didn’t actually speak after that until the same friends invited us to a karaoke event, they hosted a year later. Honestly, if it wasn’t for them, we wouldn’t be together!

The proposal happened on our bucket list trip to Iceland. We had just polished off dinner at a restaurant in Reykjavik and before heading back to the hotel we decided to go for a walk around the stunning Harpan concert hall to take some pictures. It was at this time that Fiyin, being the opportunist that he is, decided to get down on one knee and propose!

Why did you choose Millbridge Court?

Initially we didn’t really have an idea of what kind of wedding we wanted, but we came across Millbridge Court online and were really impressed by the aesthetic and how it seemed both modern and classic at the same time. The location also suited us well as we were London-based and wanted it to be easily accessible for our friends and family, but at the same time it was remote enough to feel like a countryside escape. With Rachel being a passionate foodie, the catering was also something that caught our eye from the get-go with impressive menu options offered by Kalm Kitchen.

Ultimately, we are so glad that we went with Millbridge given that from the moment we reached out, they had been really responsive, personable and eager to help which meant a great deal to us, especially throughout the planning process.

What did you love about having a Spring wedding?

Having a Spring wedding was one thing we were set on from the start of the planning process. It’s that time of year when the skies start to get brighter, but it doesn’t get overwhelmingly hot during the day and the sun sets later in the evening. Of course, with Spring comes the blossoming of nature and wildlife, and there was just something so beautiful about the symbolism of new beginnings at springtime which made the idea of having a spring wedding all the more special.

Tell us more about your suppliers and why you chose them.

We chose Philipa Day as our florist as we loved her organic style using a combination of flowers and colours that perfectly suited the fresh spring theme we were going for.

From the moment we came across Emma Jane Lewis’ portfolio online, we knew that we wanted her to photograph our wedding. Her photos are romantic, candid, and editorial all at the same time and there were so many key moments throughout the day that we’ll always be able to look back on thanks to her.

Our decision to hire a photobooth was a pretty last minute call but might have been one of the best things we decided to do! Picture Blast provided a really easy booking experience and set up on the day without a hitch. Our guests loved taking photos with the fun accessories it came with – and the best part is, the photos were all saved digitally so it was very amusing looking through them all when the link was sent to us!

We made the conscious decision to get our friends and family involved in some parts of the day too. It made the day so much more meaningful knowing some of our nearest and dearest also had a part to play in our big day.

Were there any family traditions that featured in your day?

At the end of the meal, we went around to each table to toast our guests – a Chinese wedding tradition called ‘Yam Seng’ (equivalent meaning to ‘Cheers’ in Cantonese), Rachel’s dad encouraged everyone to raise their glasses and shout “Yam Seng” at the top of their lungs. It definitely brought plenty of laughter and even a little bit of competition between the tables as to who was the loudest!

Our first dance then featured the two of us in traditional Yoruba wedding attire which were custom made for us in Nigeria. We danced our way into the reception hall surrounded by friends and family before our Nigerian guests sprayed us with cash – talk about a grand entrance!

Tell us something that we wouldn’t know about your day from the pictures.

The food was absolutely incredible. It was one of the things our guests kept bringing up as a key highlight from the day; from the canapés to the bountiful sharing platters and the late-night snacks, it was all so delicious and beautifully plated. Hats off to the Kalm Kitchen team for doing such a fantastic job!

Favourite part of your wedding journey?

The day itself! The planning process was tough at times and there were days when we were both questioning “is this really worth all the stress?”, but when the day came, all of that faded away as we were surrounded by the ones we love and were reminded of what the day was really about.

Any words of wisdom for future couples?

Throw any expectations you have for the day out of the window and just focus on being present and making the most of it. Find five minutes for just the two of you together to take everything in and appreciate the moment. This might be the only time you’ll see all your loved ones under the same roof, and it flies by much quicker than you’d think!

We are always so excited to receive a gallery from The Springles, and with the autumnal light hitting just right, we simply had to share a snippet of Maya & Adam’s wedding day from October last year.  From the bohemian dress from Farnham Boutique to the tables adorned with mini white pumpkins the day was such a pleasure to host.

How did you meet?

We were introduced by our mutual friend Hatice at University.  Adam studied Forensic Computing and I studied Musical Theatre – so definitely not in the same buildings!

Why did you choose Millbridge Court?

By the time we visited Millbridge Court we had seen around 8 venues.  We wanted a space that was light and airy with beautiful countryside surroundings.

The thing that stood out most was the attention to detail and support from staff on the day!

We love the attention to detail from your day! What was your main inspiration?

We absolutely wanted to capture the autumnal time of year throughout our day.  Adam proposed outside our first home just after Halloween, so there were pumpkins everywhere.  Once we found our florist we knew these had to be incorporated in our decorations.

 

Who took charge of the planning or was it a shared experience?

It was definitely a shared experience, which was lovely as we both had equal input into our day.  We booked Millbridge just before the first lockdown so we spent a lot of hours in Pinterest!

Tell us more about your suppliers and why you chose them.

We had an amazing team of suppliers; we chose the majority as they felt they could deliver our theme.

Our florist was Alice from Meadowfolk.  I had scoured through Instagram to try and find a florist who had that calming Boho vibe.  Alice was so excited by our theme of using pumpkins, music and cricket throughout the day.  She came up with so many ways to subtly add these touches.

Our photographers were The Springles (Kat & Ash), what a fantastic duo!  They captured every special moment from our pre-wedding shoot to the day itself.  They were both so helpful from start to finish.  Their style is what made us want to instantly book after a visit at Millbridge.  It’s autumnal dreamy vibes.

Most people think I was crazy for doing it, but I made our wedding cake.  I run a baking business called Sass&Bake and I couldn’t imagine anyone else making it.

Wow, Maya you are super talented!  If anyone needs an excuse to get some deep dish cookies on order, do it now!

Tough question, favourite part of your wedding journey?

We both loved our ceremony (of course) as we incorporated so many special things to us.  From readings that childhood friends wrote, to our grandparents favourite songs as we walked down the aisle.

But our absolute favourite part of the day was during our wedding breakfast.  I think a lot of couples will tell you how fast the day can go.  Just after starters At Last by Etta James was playing in the background.  We both instantly welled up as our son was born to this song.

 

Any words of wisdom for future couples?

Enjoy yourselves and make sure you take a few moments in the day to soak it all in, but you’re safe hands with the fantastic Millbridge & Kalm Kitchen teams.

Spring is very much upon us with the welcome sight of snowdrops and daffodils popping up in the garden, however, with a small sprinkling of snow set for next week we just had to share details from Lauren & Craig’s March wedding last year.

How did you meet?

We met on social media (very 21^st century).  Craig’s first message to me was ‘You are one spicy tomato!’ and I immediately knew he was the one for me, haha!

We love this!  How did you know we were the right venue for you?

We looked at quite a few venues, hoping to find somewhere that looked beautiful, calm and just felt like us.  We saw a lot of lovely places, but none that felt right… It was Craig who found Millbridge Court online and as soon as we stepped foot in the door, we knew straight away that this was where we wanted to get married.  The layout was perfect, allowing guests to flow throughout the space, the overall vibe was stylish, relaxed and effortlessly beautiful.  All of our guests have since told us how amazing they thought the venue was.

What inspired your day?

Originally, the wedding was supposed to be at the end of December, so we knew we wanted a whimsical, winter theme.  We also love a party, so we needed to ensure there was amazing food, ample drink and great entertainment.  Although COVID forced us to move the wedding to March, it was still perfect, as we ended up having both beautiful sunshine and then snow! You can’t make this stuff up.  The food was also spectacular, Kalm Kitchen really do take tasty food to a whole new level, it was so delicious!  We honestly, couldn’t have asked for a more amazing day.

 

Who took charge of the planning or was it a shared experience?

We are not ashamed to say it was not shared at all, haha!  I (Lauren) love to organise events, so to organise my own wedding was so much fun!!  Craig’s involvement was letting me run with my ideas but then reigning me in when I got too carried away.  He did, however, choose most of the food options, which could not be faulted.

Tell us more about your suppliers and why you chose them.

Millbridge Court already had a list of the most wonderful suppliers, so our balloon decorations Bubblegum Balloons, the singer (Thom Music) and the DJ (Farnham Sound and Light) were booked using their recommendations.  They did not disappoint; they were so great to work with and the end results were far better than we could have ever imagined.

Kalm Kitchen are the sole caterer and we can absolutely, see why, the food is like a piece of art.  And tasted insane!  It also compliments the style of the venue perfectly and the staff were just amazing.

We just loved Joanna Nicole Photography, the finish to her photos was exactly what we were looking for and she understood what we wanted out of them.  Natural, warm and full of love.

Our florist Fabulous Floristry by Carla came recommended to us by some friends who had used her for their weddings too.  Carla was also incredible, we still have our flowers to this day, dried and beautiful.

We found our Photo Booth, Photobot.Co. at a wedding show, we felt they were just something a little bit different and the guests loved it!

Luckily for me, my sister-in-law is a makeup artist and hair stylist, so this was a no brainer, but, what made it so special, was The Loft… What a truly lovely place to get ready the morning of the wedding.  Another reason why Millbridge Court stole our hearts.

 

Tough questions, favourite part of your wedding journey?

Wow, this really is tough.  We loved every single part of it, including the planning, weirdly enough.  However, if we had to choose, it would have been Thom Music, who is, by far, the best event singer we have ever come across.  Not only can he sing and play the guitar like a musical genius, he read the room so perfectly and played the songs that suited the vibe.  When I tell you the crowd went wild for Thom, that is an understatement!  Before the main course was even consumed, people were dancing around the room having the time of their lives!  Honestly, we are still having people tell us it was the best wedding they have ever been to.

Any words of wisdom for future couples?

Having planned a wedding the one time, by no means makes me an expert, but just to remember this is your day.  I completely understand wanting to make sure your guests are happy, but you are never going to please everyone.  The more people you ask for advice, the more confused you are going to be.  So just do what you want, make this a day all about you and your partner.  Your guests will just be so happy to be there and will have a great time regardless.

We first met Dan & Alex in February 2019 and after many postponements, we are beyond thrilled to say we finally hosted their special day at Millbridge Court in August this year!

With creative input from Alex, who sparked the big ideas, and Project Manager, Dan, taking the lead on the organisation, we knew the day would be carefully curated with every detail given thought.

We caught up with them to share with you a little glimpse of their journey.

Let’s start at the beginning, how did you two meet?

We met at Southampton University – Alex used to be in the musical theatre society alongside one of my housemates and so I got dragged along to watch their version of ‘Wicked,’ it was there I first laid eyes on Alex and knew I wanted to meet him properly!  Once we’d started talking, we very quickly became inseparable.

So when you had decided on forever, why did you choose Millbridge Court?

Millbridge Court was actually the first venue we visited.  We loved it straight away, the high glass fronted ceremony and reception rooms, the grounds, the staff, the relationship with Kalm Kitchen and the fact it lends itself to your own styling suited us perfectly.  Though as we were yet to see any other venues in person at this stage, we held fire on a booking and continued with other viewings.  At each venue we found ourselves constantly comparing back to Millbridge Court, or looking for ways to reshape how that venue worked to make it more like MC and so quickly realised that it was the one for us!  It couldn’t have been a better decision as everything came together even more perfectly than we could have hoped.

We loved working with you on your wedding journey!  Tell us a bit about what inspired your day.

As a same sex couple, we knew there were elements of the day that weren’t as traditional as you may see at other weddings.  We wanted to make the day our own while nodding to tradition where we felt we could – for instance, we each had three ‘Groomsmaids’ and our Mums walked us down the aisle.

The food was a big thing for us and the highlight has to be our starter.  We got engaged in Hong Kong and wanted to include an element in our day inspired by the city.  Kalm Kitchen created a Dim Sum dish which was absolutely delicious and something our guests really enjoyed, especially as it was a little unusual for a wedding breakfast!

We tried to give some thought to the little details that could make the day feel a bit different to weddings people had been to before (no easy task as people are so creative and have thought of almost everything!).  We managed to include a sky banner, timed to go over during the drinks reception which made for some amazing photos, and with the money paid being donated to charity, it was a win all round.  A ‘Lip Sync For Your Life’ sign complete with 5 toy microphones was also great fun in the evening and helped people get even further into the party mood!

Tell us more about your suppliers and why you chose them.

We found the MC recommended suppliers list and attending the ‘Details Date Night’ so useful, it’s where we met a number of our suppliers!

Our florist, Alice at Meadowfolk, did an EXCEPTIONAL job!  The installation at the end of the aisle was absolutely stunning and everything she did exceed our expectations.  On top of this, she was also the most lovely, calming and reassuring person to have involved in the day and came up with so many of the ideas we managed to include.

Matt Tyler is the most incredible photographer and we never had the slightest doubt in him capturing photos we would love.  We were introduced to him by some friends who had booked him previously and we felt there was no comparison between his work and any others we looked at.  He was also a remarkably calming presence on the day.

Kate and Dave were the most incredible duo, who played during our ceremony and drinks reception. We deliberated for a LONG time over the song to walk down the aisle to and had toyed with ‘Two in a Million’, but worried a song by S Club 7 would come off as a bit cheesy – Kate sang it beautifully and the acoustic version they put together was perfection.  With people not quite able to place the song but loving the meaning behind the lyrics – exactly what we hoped for!

Forever Cakes designed and delivered the most incredible, delicious 5 tier wedding cake.  Karl at Moment Weddings captured the perfect video of the day so we can continue to relive it in years to come.  Simon Alexander entertained the guests with magic during the drinks reception (and got RAVE reviews from our guests!).  Caz Watts designed all our stationary and had so much patience as we made (a rather high number of) tweaks!  We found Bubblegum Balloons‘ ceiling installation in the dining hall a brilliant way to fill the space with extra colour and their team are also incredibly friendly.  Farnham Sound & Light helped us with the personalised dance floor, putting the ‘logo’ of our names across a vinyl print for some special photos during our first dance.  Our DJ was recommended by Jonny Ross Music, DJ Freddy de Lord got the music spot-on and his sax sets went down an absolute treat!

There were so many people involved in bringing the day to life, too many to list here but everyone did such an incredible job and we could not be more grateful for their efforts.

 You both looked absolutely fab!  Tell us about those suits…

We were SO happy with the way our suits turned out!!  They were made by King and Allen, a tailor we’d both highly recommend.  We felt in safe hands from the start as they had a 2-Groom wedding section on their website.

Again, looking to keep certain traditions in place, we didn’t want to see each other in our wedding outfits until the ceremony itself.  To make sure the colour of our outfits complimented each other, we visited and selected the cloth for each suit together – no one would want to see clashing suits on the day!  Once we’d picked the cloth, we followed the rest of the journey separately, visiting for fittings and adjustments at different times.

The lovely thing about having them made for us was choosing the extra details, like the bolder patterned linings and having our new surname sewn into each jacket!

Tough question, favourite part of your wedding journey?

Oooh this is an interesting question!  It actually has to be the week before the wedding, being in that bubble knowing the big day is finally approaching (we’d had nearly a 4 year wait… thanks COVID!).  I had heard from a number of people that the days ahead of the wedding could be stressful and so we were determined to be in a position that would allow us to enjoy that special time.

In the months ahead of the wedding, we worked through the ‘to-do’ list, making sure something was done every couple of days to really spread out the tasks.  It meant by the time we were a week away from the day, all we needed to do was pack and get ourselves to Surrey!

The morning of the wedding day was equally relaxed and full of excitement with Charlie (from MC) doing an *EXCEPTIONAL* job at looking after us and taking care of everything to allow us to just get ready and enjoy our time.

Any words of wisdom for future couples reading this?

We would have to say spread your to-do list over time.  It made the build up so much more enjoyable and avoided any last minute stresses.  Make sure you also plan the day for you and don’t get too caught up in what other people want/think.  While you want the guest to enjoy themselves, they will do exactly that just by seeing how happy you are on the big day.

To see even more images from Millbridge Court wedding days, then do take a look at our gallery here!

On 16th September 2016, Millbridge Court hosted the most spectacular Wedding Day for Mr & Mrs Watson, a day filled with so many gorgeous personal details, breathtaking floral arrangements, so many smiles & so much love.

C+J had the most sensational vision & they chose two amazing MBC Partners to share in their day. The wonderful ladies at Jay Archer Floral Design created cascading wild flower arrangements with rich green foliage & gorgeous purple flowers which popped so beautifully. And capturing every special moment & all of the personalised details was the fabulous Guy Collier. Guy has photographed a number of Wedding Days with us now at Millbridge Court & it is always such a pleasure to work alongside him, he always makes everyone feel so relaxed & that really shows in his images.

Thank you to the lovely C+J for letting us share in your special day, it really was such a privilege. We wish you all of the love & so much happiness in your married lives together.

Xx