Real Wedding

Mercy and Tom’s Wedding at Botleys Mansion

Explore Botleys Mansion

A Friday Wedding at Botleys Mansion with Guests from Around the World

Mercy and Tom tied the knot in the elegant Atrium at Botleys Mansion on Friday 1st July, 2016

About the Couple

Mercy and Tom met on their first day of University in Vermont back in 2002.

Tom was the first person that Mercy had met and he ended up helping her move her stuff in to her dorm room. Little did the couple know that they’d be sharing the same hallway for all four of their University years. Mercy and Tom became best friends; they travelled all over the place together and even ended up going to visit each other when they weren’t together. However, it took 10 years after their first meet for Mercy and Tom to become an official couple. They finally realised that it was silly to keep pretending that they didn’t love each other beyond friendship.
The proposal took place around Christmas time, 2014. Mercy is from Washington DC and the couple had flown over to spend the holidays with American friends and family. Tom asked Mercy’s mother for her daughter’s hand in marriage, and then ended up proposing over lunch with friends, with an engagement ring that he’d had made especially for Mercy; it was stunning, and a perfect fit!

Choosing the Wedding Dress

Mercy and Tom decided to get married in the UK, but seeing as her mother was in Washington, the bride-to-be wanted to share her wedding dress shopping experience with her.
Mercy and her mother headed to three different bridalwear shops and ended up trying on a variety of 15 different gowns before finding ‘the one’. She knew she wanted something simple and classic with an interesting twist. In the end, Mercy fell in love with a design by Angel Sanchez; a simple A-line with subtle lace detail on the front and back – along with stunning detail on the corset.
A friend of Mercy’s styled her hair and did her bridal make up on the big day – she went for a natural blow-dry and didn’t want to do anything too fancy because she just wanted to feel like herself on the big day.

Choosing the Wedding Venue

As Mercy and Tom knew that they’d have a lot of wedding guests coming to England from abroad for their wedding, they wanted to choose a special wedding venue that had true English charm and style for everyone to enjoy.

The couple looked at four different wedding venues and hotels during their search, but when they realised that they could hire Botleys Mansion on an exclusive basis, their search for the perfect wedding venue came to an end. Mercy and Trent found Botleys Mansion to be unique and beautiful, plus, knowing that they’d have their close friends and family stay the night with them sounded like so much fun.
Another major selling point was The Atrium, which the couple felt gave the Mansion a feel of both classic and modern. The couple opted to have both their wedding ceremony and reception in The Atrium as this gave them the style and space they’d been looking for. They also fell in love with the stair case leading down to The Atrium – the ultimate entrance to both their wedding ceremony and reception!

The Big Day: 1st July, 2016

Mercy and Tom got married on the first Friday in July, 2016, surrounded by 130 guests from around the world in The Atrium at Botleys Mansion.

Mercy walked down the grand stair case and aisle with her mother, to the guitar version of Pachelbel’s Canon in D. During the wedding ceremony, friends read two readings: an excerpt from I Like You by Sandol Stoddard Warburg and an excerpt from Captain Corelli’s Mandolin by Louis de Bernières.
The aisle was lined with a white carpet, with green eucalyptus on either side and gorgeous rustic-style arrangements at the top of the aisle. Mercy’s bridal bouquet had a wild and free feel to it and was full of succulent blue, green and deep purple shades. Jay Archer Floral Design created all of the floral arrangements for the wedding.
After their ‘I do’s’ the newlywed couple enjoyed the grounds at Botleys Mansion. They celebrated with fizz and canapés before being announced as husband and wife at the top of the grand stair case leading back down in to The Atrium before their wedding banquet. The bride and groom were cheered as they walked down to their wedding reception where a menu of red onion tart, sticky beef and crumble was served.
After their meal and a few emotional speeches, Mercy and Tom cut through their three tiered carrot flavoured wedding cake. The cake had been created and designed by Lauren Roffey at Baked Worthing and to complete the look, the florist, Jay Archer, had left some extra flowers to be added as a finishing touch.
Mercy and Tom danced their first dance to and edited version of Romeo and Juliet by Dire Straits before dancing the night away with their guests, with tunes played by D Funk Music.

The Bridal Party

Mercy and Tom chose one bridesmaid and one best man to support them throughout their journey to the aisle. Mercy chose her best friend since childhood, Elizabeth. Elizabeth chose to wear a navy blue knee-length dress which worked perfectly with the overall wedding colour scheme of the day.
Tom’s brother James was his best man on the day and when it come to dressing the grooms party, Tom and his family went off to Hugo Boss to find super stylish wedding wear.

Mercy and Tom’s Wedding Suppliers

Wedding Venue: Botleys Mansion
Wedding Flowers: Jay Archer Floral Design
Wedding Cake: Baked Worthing
Wedding Band: D Funk Music
Wedding Gift List: John Lewis

Post-Wedding Celebrations

The day after the wedding, Mercy and Tom bid farewell to Botleys Mansion and headed back to Tom’s parents house where they continued wedding celebrations with a BBQ.

The newlywed couple plan on spending their honeymoon in Argentina, visiting Patagonia and Mendoza. The couple have a passion for South America having lived there in the past, but have never visited Patagonia or Mendoza before, so this will be a new experience for both of them.
When asked if there was any advice that they would give future Harper wedding planning couples, Mercy and Tom suggested that having an additional event either the day before or the day after the wedding takes the pressure of having to speak to absolutely everyone at the wedding. The couple also believe that rather than trying to make the wedding day perfect, and have the fear of anyone talking about their wedding afterwards, they decided to keep a relaxed attitude about everything and not worry about the minor details when it came to planning the big day.

Book a Visit Brochure Request