Susan and Mark’s Wedding at Cain Manor

Susan met Mark during their secondary school years. Mark was a friend of Susan’s brother and, at the time, she knew that Mark had taken a liking to her, but didn’t realise quite how much. Susan went on to marry someone else and raised her two boys, James and Alexander. Mark joined the Navy and the friends lost touch. Years passed by and then by chance, 6 years ago, Mark and Susan met up again. As soon as the couple laid eyes on one another, they knew they’d found their soul mate.
The couple spent New Year’s Eve 2015 in Disneyland Paris. After the clock struck midnight and the magical firework display had come to an end, Susan wanted to head back to their hotel. Mark, however, persuaded her to walk up to the castle just one more time. Then, all of a sudden, he bent down on one knee and proposed with a beautiful platinum engagement ring featuring a unique heart shaped diamond. Susan was over the moon and of course accepted his proposal. As the couple headed back down Main Street ‘We Belong Together’ from Toy Story 3 played in the background, so the couple took that as a good omen. They danced all the way along the street and decided that they’d play the same song at some point during their future wedding day. The couple spent the next 12 months planning their cosy winter wedding at Cain Manor.

They invited 40 guests to witness their nuptials and decorated white chiavari wedding chairs with elegant lace sashes and hung a jar filled with wintry flowers on the chairs lining the aisle. The couple brought some very special touches in to the rustic barn wedding venue, including an old bicycle with flowers filling the basket at the front; lace bunting to line the banisters; and a selection of vintage suitcases and books to complete their unique wedding style. The main feature in The Music Room was the Christmas tree; a perfectly fitting accessory for a wedding which took place just 3 days before Christmas.
Susan walked down the aisle to ‘I Promise You’ by Ronan Keating, on the arm of her father. She held a stunning bouquet filled with seasonal blooms and the couple had previously chosen a selection of readings and songs that meant something to both of them. They even walked back down the aisle as husband and wife to the very song they’d heard on Main Street at Disneyland, moments after their engagement the previous year.
After celebrating their marriage with drinks and canapés in The Library at Cain Manor, the couple ventured out to the cold with their wedding photographer, Susan’s son James, to capture some memorable moments. Guests were welcomed back in to The Music Room for a wonderful three course wedding breakfast and were able to find their table numbers by looking at a hand-made display featuring a wooden crate filled with flowers with the table numbers printed on vintage luggage labels.
During their Wedding Planning Wednesday meeting at Cain Manor during the lead up to their big day, the couple had tasted and chosen a menu consisting of a red onion tart, spinach & saffron shallot, mascarpone, red currant & balsamic for a starter. Followed by roast breast of free range chicken, seasonal vegetables, duck fat potatoes, sausage meat stuffing with Yorkshire pudding topped with gravy, and for dessert, a blackberry and apple crumble with caramel ice cream and crème Anglaise; a perfect winter wedding menu.
Susan and Mark’s beautiful four tier wedding cake was covered in intricate iced flowers and followed a burgundy colour scheme to match the rest of the day. The cake, designed by Little Cottage Cakes in Fleet, was filled with four different flavours; lemon drizzle, chocolate, cappuccino and Victoria sponge. For wedding favours, the couple gave their guests small pillow gift boxes filled with chocolate and vintage key bottle openers; wedding reception tables also featured white vintage jugs wrapped in hessian and filled with theme fitting flowers.
The couple hired the white vintage post box from Harper and Susan decorated a guest book which sat on a table with tea lights for guests to sign. An additional 26 guests joined the happy couple to celebrate at Cain Manor during the evening. A cheese board along with a tray of bacon butties were offered to everyone and the couple danced their first dance to ‘Everyday I Love You’ by Boyzone, played by the Harper DJ.