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Getting married in a castle really was a dream come true for us. We have no qualms in recommending Super Event Catering & Marquee Hire Ltd and Wadhurst to anyone who will listen!...
Gemma moved over from Australia when she was 18, and 13 years later she is still here! Danny grew up in lovely Surrey and is a true English gent. We met purely by luck, with Danny moving into a communal flatshare with Gemma and us quickly becoming strong friends.
Somewhere along the line in our love story we realised that we both thought of each as more than friends and things quickly blossomed from there (despite Gemma always saying she would never date an Englishman!). After 3 amazing years together Danny took us on a romantic weekend away in September 2018 to the Cotswolds and proposed during a picnic on Leckhampton Hill, surrounded by stunning views. We always sum up our relationship in 6 words – from flatmates, to friends, to forever.
Wadhurst Castle was the second venue we looked at and we instantly fell in love with it and all the decadent English charm and picturesque views it brought with it. We had 6 other viewings booked at different venues however over the next week, so we decided to do those anyway. To make sure we had ticked all our options. We had originally wanted an outdoor, barn themed wedding so a castle was a big step away from this!
Even after seeing all the other venues we couldn’t help but keep comparing them to Wadhurst and none of them even came close. It was final, Wadhurst had won over our hearts and really was love at first sight for us. Who couldn’t help but fall in love with the sprawling green lawns overlooking the sheep, the beautiful rose gardens, convenient walled ceremony area and the amazing and historic interiors!
It was everything we wanted in a venue, and the lovely Venue Manager Susan, was an extra added bonus for us and truly a wedding saviour and guru for us! We have both always had a love for castles and history. So we seize every opportunity and trip away as an occasion to visit a new castle. Getting married in a castle is truly us. There weren’t many dates left for this year so we had the option of August or October. As Gemma has always loved Autumn it made sense to choose October the 5th.
We met Super Event Catering & Marquee Hire Ltd originally when we viewed Slaugham Place as a potential venue, and instantly loved the laid back and friendly vibe they had. So we were over the moon when Wadhurst had them as one of their recommended suppliers. There was no doubt in our minds we would pick these wedding caterers for our big day! From start to finish, working with both Tony and Chrystelle was a pleasure. With no questions too hard and nothing ever being too much trouble. They also really got the vision we were going for and we also fell in love with the food options after attending the tasting day.
It was so hard to only pick 3 courses! We went for the baked camembert as a starter (we are massive cheese lovers), slow cooked beef and potatoes for the main and the trio of desserts for pudding (and loved it had the Aussie pavlova!) and hamburgers for the evening. All of the food was a huge hit with our guests with the favourite being the roquefort and shallot tart canape.
We also loved that we could provide our own drinks, as we really wanted to offer our guests a wide variety and some more catered towards us eg Bundaberg Rum from Australia.
The lucky thing about Wadhurst Castle is the interior really does speak for itself and doesn’t need much adding to it, so we were able to go quite minimal! We knew we wanted an Autumnal colour scheme so went for a burgundy and navy theme. With all of our flowers being focused on rustic and minimalist greenery but still including pops of our heritages – English (Roses), Scottish (Holly and Thistle) and Australian (Eucalyptus). This also matched the bridal bouquets.
We opted for an outdoor ceremony in the walled garden area with a harpist to serenade our guests whilst they waited and the bride walked down the aisle. Also opting to have the drinks reception outside on the grounds overlooking the stunning views. We laid out some lawn games like Croquet and Giant Jenga for our guests to use and enjoy whilst they had drinks. Despite all the days prior to the wedding raining we got lucky with the weather and even though it was cloudy and overcast it remained dry!
The food was held inside the castle within the lovely Moncreif Room, and had just enough for our 65 guests to fit comfortably. For our tables decorations we wanted minimalist. So we went for a rustic wood theme, with wooden slabs, jars of wild flowers and jars of candles. For the table numbers we couldn’t think of anything more appropriate than castle names! So Danny lovingly hand drew each table number as a different castle we had both visited together. With Wadhurst of course being saved for the top table. Our guest wedding favours were little glass jars of our favourite tea (Green Rose) from an Australian company called T2, which were all placed lovingly on each napkin by Super Event Catering & Marquee Hire Ltd.
We added little touches for our guests like a sweets table and Instatix cameras for our guests to take silly pictures to fill our guest book. Also a fantastic thumbprint tree so guests could leave their lasting mark on our day.
To sum things up, our wedding day was perfect and we could not have been more happy with how everything went. From start to finish the service from Super Event Catering & Marquee Hire Ltd was impeccable and our guests were super impressed with amazing food and attention to detail. We felt so much love, laughter and support from all of our guests and family, with Gemma’s family even making the long trip over from Australia to be there.
Getting married in a castle really was a dream come true for us and we couldn’t think of anywhere we could have picked which was more beautiful and serene than Wadhurst Castle. We have no qualms in recommending Super Event Catering & Marquee Hire Ltd and Wadhurst to anyone who will listen!
We have so many fabulous photographs of the day. Here are just a few…
