Due to covid regulations, James and Samantha from the UK couldn’t carry out their big day in the South of France as originally planned, so instead, their wedding took place in Jane Austen’s Goodnestone Park!
This couple loves a fancy celebration, and now they must go from their crazy proposal in a hot air balloon in Morocco to a more low key yet just as amazing covid-friendly wedding.
What’s more, the couple did not just have a simple, impersonal wedding, but added finishing touches to make the Kent getaway more intimate. Your guests would be overjoyed to experience a ‘Plan B’ wedding like this one.
Proposing
It was an incredible surprise on our family trip to Morocco, when I was woken up at 5am one day to watch the sunrise on a hot air balloon ride. The trip was primarily for my 30th birthday, as well as other milestones for my lovely mum and James’ dad as well. We wanted to share memories with the whole family, like camel rides at sunset, quad biking through incredible terrain in the mountains and glamping in the desert. The surprise from James on the hot air balloon meant our whole family was there to share the experience with us!
While travelling, James and I would always watch the sunrise or sunset, and it has become a highlight of our travels together. As for what I was wearing for the proposal, James had asked my sister to make sure I felt on top of the world, so she had planned my outfit for me before breakfast! If you’ve seen the Bachelor, you’ll know what I mean when I say I felt like I was about to be chosen for a date! We drove through quiet Moroccan towns in the hours before the world was awake, and arrived at the hot air balloons. We had tea in blankets before we set off in the balloon.
Initially, I thought we were going to have to share our balloon with a rowdy group in the check-in area, but as James escorted me outside, I saw enough balloons and realised that we might have our own private hot air balloon! James confirmed my suspicions and told me we would be going on a private ride, just the two of us! I was so excited.
We set off, and I watched as we got higher and higher and soared about the landscape. As the pilot told us that the sun was nearly about to rise, James turned and faked getting his GoPro, but instead asked me the question of my dreams, one that I have been waiting to hear for three years. After I said “YES”, we drank champagne the whole rest of the way, while I couldn’t stop looking at my new ring! Then, when we got back, we confirmed the news and were able to celebrate the engagement with the whole family AND my 30th birthday, which already seemed so unimportant compared to James popping the question!
Theme and Venue
6 weeks before our original big day planned in the South of France, lockdown hit us and the rest of the world. We realised that we didn’t want to postpone the wedding for long, as we just wanted to get married already, so we looked into having a covid-restriction friendly ceremony in England, as long as we could have our party in France later on!
Goodnestone Park was the perfect replacement for France, as I had already decided it was my dream UK venue. It worked perfectly for our intimate 30 guest wedding, just for close family and friends. It meant that everyone was able to stay on or around the estate, and it was lockdown-friendly. We hired the estate out for a few days, and it truly felt better than a casual City Hall wedding! Particularly as no other restaurants would allow us to have the meal after the ceremony due to restrictions, and the estate beats getting married in the back garden at home!
The theme of the wedding was traditional and classic English Rose, so my dress was conservative and classic. We also had a church blessing, velvet chairs for dinner for added flare, pink roses and a seven-course meal with afternoon tea the day after. Before dinner, I felt like I was in Bridgerton, as we were accompanied by a cellist and pianist playing music reminiscent of the series!
Supplies
Everything reminded me of James and I’s journey. The incredible invitation sets and the handcrafted stamps encompassed our memories, including 1) The Sound of Music cover, a beloved family attribute, 2) our special symbol SJ designed by James’ lovely mum (which looks like some type of musical note as this is how James and I fell in love, 3) piano sheet music to Ludovico Einaudi’s Experience (this song was played during a concert where James first realised he was in love with me), 4) a watercolour of the wedding venue, to really make it feel special.
The Night Before We Tied the Knot
This night was luckily captured by our amazing photographer. My sisters and I finally got to celebrate one final evening as 3 single ladies, as we never got a real bachelorette party because of covid. It was amazing, like a slumber party straight out of 13-going-on-30.
Photography
Our photographer, Katrina, made it so easy to feel comfortable having our photo taken. She spent all three days with us, and I felt like she was a part of the family wedding by the time we said goodbye on day three! All our guests could not have been more complimentary of her, and I am so happy with how graceful, fashionable and effortless the photos turned out to be.
I haven’t been able to put the photo album down since the wedding. I wish I could have framed every single picture! She will definitely be taking photos of James and I’s newfound family for years to come.
Best Moments
After the ceremony, we were able to ride around in James’ dad’s DB6, with a ‘Just married’ sign and tin cans hanging off the back! It felt just like a Royal Wedding, and I was Kate! We were unable to believe how amazing and out-of-this-world it felt!
Because the wedding was so personal, we wanted to show our guests our appreciation for them. So, we wrote individual ‘love letters’ for all of our guests, and one of my favourite moments was watching their faces light up as they opened the letters to read them. James and I wrote each other love letters as well, obviously, and I will never be able to stop reading them as it reminds me of our special day and how I am now a wife!
Videography
I wanted to have the movie I had dreamed of for my wedding day, and the Walton brothers helped us get there! After listening to many recommendations, we felt that Ben Walton was the guy to film our big day. And we were so right! We barely felt like he was there, which gave the day an even more private and intimate feeling, and we now have an incredible wedding video of the day to share with everyone who wasn’t able to be there due to restrictions.
A bonus was that Katrina and Ben actually knew each other! So they worked really well together and never got in the way of the other person’s work. So, we would really recommend having a video/photo team who have experience working with each other for your wedding.
Dedication to the Cultural and Heritage
On the last evening, we wanted to honour my Filipino heritage, so we decided to host a ‘Spanish’ night, seeing as Filipino and Spanish culture share so much: Catholic customs, design, languages, culture and of course food.
It was so amazing to feel like I was at home with all of these traditions, even though covid made going home for our big day impossible. We had Filipino dishes, San Miguel beer and decorations reminiscent of the Philippines as well as Latin music.
Even my shoes showed the Filipino traditions, as they had the Pearl (dedication to my mother and The Philippines, Pearl of the Orient, on the heel. It was a bonus that the shoes were the comfiest heels I own!
Other Couples: take our advice!
- Remember to take time for yourselves during the day! It is so easy to feel the stress on your wedding day of trying to make sure everyone else is enjoying the day when really you should be focusing on each other! You have just joined for life, start as you mean to go on, by checking in on each other and being present for everything. Live in the moment!
- Get a videographer! You will be able to re-play the most special moments of your wedding day forever, particularly all those speeches! They are such a meaningful part of getting married, so it is important to have a record of everything. Then that way, you can re-live your favourite moments whenever you like.
- Make sure you save all of the smaller details of the wedding to keep mementoes from the day! We almost forgot to do this on our wedding day, but luckily our family and friends had us covered, by saving things like the menus, letters, flowers, and order of service! These detailed aspects are so important for the day, so it is worth saving them!
- Remember that the guest list is YOUR decision, and no one else’s. As much as it is easier to just invite everyone because it keeps other people happy, you must remember that with a more intimate wedding, you can’t just invite everyone. It is sad not to be able to have everyone who has left a lasting impact on your life at the wedding, but even if the ceremony is small, this doesn’t mean you can’t throw a bigger party for all of these people at a later date! The most important thing on the special day is being surrounded by those who love and care for you the same way you do for them, and those who will support your union for the rest of your lives!
