Harriet and Jon’s Wedding at Botleys Mansion

She loved its elegance and how grand it looked, and when visiting a handful of different venues, just to make sure, nothing compared to the style of Botleys Mansion and it ticked ALL the boxes.

“Jon and I both got emotional when we were both shown around Botleys Mansion for the first time, imagining all of our loved ones sitting and watching us walk down the large staircase to the atrium as we were announced husband and wife. What we also loved was that we had exclusive use for 24 hours and that there were enough bedrooms for our close friends and family to stay the night and have breakfast with the morning after the wedding. This this made our day feel more intimate and private.

We loved the approach through the entrance gates and down the large driveway, passing the fountain and the sweeping stone staircase and entering the front door to the main entrance with the glittering chandelier; every detail is breath-taking. There is even gold leaf on the walls ceilings and doorways. We also loved how close Botleys Mansion is to London, yet feels like you’re in the middle of the country side.” explained Harriet. The couple wanted an autumn wedding close to fireworks night as it is their favourite time of year, and luckily Thursday 1st November, 2018 was available. The couple paid their deposit in mid-March 2017, giving them 20 months to plan their Botleys Mansion wedding to perfection.

Harriet described the online planner provided by The Harper Team as a ‘life-saver’! It was a great way to stay on track and keep organised.

Harriet’s grandfather gave her away as her proud mother watched her daughter tie the knot with the man of her dreams. Harriet’s two cousins and Jon’s sister each did readings during the ceremony and after romantic wedding vows, the newlyweds headed back down the aisle in front of their 80 guests as husband and wife.

Celebratory reception drinks were served on the Piano Nobile level of Botleys Mansion while Nick from Nick Rose Photography captured picture-perfect images of the newlywed couple with the venue as the back drop.

At 2:45pm guests were invited down in to the luxurious Atrium where they were wow’d with the stunning floral décor and glamorous ambience. Gold and champagne coloured tea light holders illuminated the room and chocolate pegs were placed at each table setting as a play on words as the couple’s new surname was Pegg.

At 5pm The brother of the bride, two best men and the groom, Jon, read their wedding speeches as tea, coffee and truffles were served. A further 40 guests arrived to join the evening party and celebrate with the newlyweds.

The couple thought it was important for their guests to remain entertained throughout the day, as weddings can be long and tiring for some. They spent a while decided on the style of entertainment but “throughout the day but were confident on one thing – the musician for the ceremony and reception. We had seen Stephen Cornwell on BBC1 ‘the voice’ and loved his voice.

We approached Stephen to ask if he would perform on our wedding day which he was more than happy to. He played acoustic guitar as the guests arrived, as I walked down the aisle and throughout the drinks reception. He then later sang for our first dance – James Arthur ‘Say you won’t let go’. We also had a magician that performed during the drinks reception, wedding breakfast and stayed into the evening so that our evening guests could enjoy the magic. We had a lot of guests saying he was the best magician they had ever seen! For the evening entertainment we had an electric violinist called Nino who recently got through to the semi finals of ‘Britain’s got Talent’. Nino managed to get everyone up on the dance floor with his Ibiza classics. To end our wedding with a bang we had a large firework display. We wanted a large display and high impact fireworks and some were heart shaped! Even our fireworks were in our colour scheme; we asked for white and pink explosions.”

The stunning 6-tier wedding cake designed by Gifted Heart Cakes, offered guests a choice of three different flavours; chocolate with salted caramel, carrot cake and lemon drizzle whilst an evening buffet of mini burgers and bacon butties was served as guests were on and off the dance floor. After bidding farewell to their guests and enjoying a night cap with their overnight friends and family members, the bride and groom drifted up to bed to chat about their incredible day.