Here is the story of Joanne and Richard’s wedding, which was held at Leeds Castle on 22nd December 2012.
Jo and Richard were childhood sweethearts and met when they were 16 at the their Saturday jobs in WHSmiths (aarhhh…). They survived a long distance university relationship, bought their first home then decided to tie the knot after 12 years together.
Apparently when they started to plan their wedding they wanted a very quiet affair (how many times have I heard that?!). Sadly, Joanne’s dad passed away very suddenly and and it made them realise how important it is to create memories to treasure and also to share those occasions with those you love.
Leeds Castle was the first place they visited and they fell in love with it – and I don’t blame them. If you haven’t been to Leeds Castle before, you will be so surprised by how homely it feels inside. The grandeur of the facade is one aspect, but inside it is so cosey and warm. Tourists are restricted to what they can touch etc. but as your wedding venue, you can lounge on the sofas, tinkle the piano keys and peruse the books in the library. It really is your own castle for the day – and the night if you choose
I will always remember Jo and Richard’s consultation as it was quite an emotional one. As mentioned above, Jo lost her dad suddenly and thus the planning of a wedding was obviously a huge emotional task. This really struck a chord with me as at the time, my mum had been recently diagnosed with cancer and I really felt Jo’s sadness.
The theme colour for the wedding was naval blue. A beautiful deep rich colour – perfect for a winter wedding. They kept things simple with dark blues, whites and a little touch of Christmas sparkle here and there. Jo’s mum even made some little Christmas stockings as wedding favours, embroidered with navy lettering. These doubled up as place settings.
Jo had three bridesmaids. Her best friend Theresa and her elder sisters. She also had two little flower ‘people’ her godchildren Ellen and Joshua. Jo told me she had so much fun dress shopping with her girls and covered many miles searching for the perfect dress and accessories. Not sure if I am supposed to mention the marvellous spanx undies…? Well, were all girls aren’t we?!
Jo and Richard had seen our Naval Elegance cake design and had fallen in love with it. So, to be honest there wasn’t really too much designing for us to do just the choosing of flavours and working out portions for the guests. Jo accessorised her wedding cake with a beautiful Swarovski crystal snowflake brooch, which added the perfect bit of Christmas twinkle.
The weather wasn’t wonderful on the their wedding day – a bit damp and drizzly. But, this made no difference to the look and feel of the castle three days before Christmas.
For obvious reasons I never take my children on deliveries but my husband and little boy were with me on this occasion as were delivering the cake before popping off to see Father Christmas. I allowed Louis to take a little peak inside the castle and his eyes nearly popped out of his head when he saw the amazing Christmas tree at the foot of the staircase!
I am sure you will see from these pictures why Jo and Richard say they wouldn’t change a thing about their day. Jo says they look back on their day with smiles on their faces and lumps in their throats.
Jo and Richard were wonderful to work with and sent us the loveliest testimonial.
I sincerely hope to keep touch with them and shall wait for the next family occasion that warrants a scrummy cake!
Nicola x
PS. These images are courtesy of David Fenwickhttp://www.davidfenwick.co.uk David, thank you so much. They are beautiful…