Katie & Dan’s Real Life Wedding

A Bridgerton-inspired proposal led to a beautiful Georgian manor wedding at Bourton Hall

Tell us about the proposal – how and where did it happen?

Dan proposed on 14th September 2019 on the Priory Park bridge in Bath (now famous from Bridgerton!) We had just spent the summer in Arizona with all my extended family after I finished university and, once we were home, Dan decided it was time to pop the question. I wasn’t allowed to know where we were going on this secret trip and actually moaned for a lot of the way because it involved climbing up a massive hill. I was totally oblivious to the fact that Dan had the ring box in his pocket the whole three-hour drive and all the way up that hill!

What was your first step in planning your wedding?

We started planning our wedding during lockdown to give ourselves something to look forward to whilst we were both on furlough. The yellow colour scheme and sunflower theme were kind of already decided without needing any discussion because they are my absolute favourite. The venue was our first booking so that everything else could be planned around that. We used the Bridebook app to keep track of suppliers and ideas that we liked, and to track our budget. We also looked on Etsy a lot for inspiration and to try and support small businesses during the lockdown.

Inspiration: Did you use blogs or magazines for ideas?

For our inspiration, I followed lots of wedding inspiration accounts on Instagram.

What were your wedding “must have’s”?

We definitely knew we wanted a venue that would photograph beautifully and have lots of atmosphere in our photos without us having to spend a huge amount on flowers and decor. We wanted to have the ceremony and reception in the same place, so people didn’t have to travel between, and we also wanted rooms on-site for family travelling a long way. After our proposal in Bath, we loved the idea of something in the Georgian manor theme like the city.  We were also going to have yellow as our colour scheme and sunflowers everywhere!

Wedding budget: how did you organise your wedding budget?

Our wedding budget was decided by looking at how much we could save each month between us and how many months away the wedding was. We planned to cover the whole cost ourselves and put any family contributions towards our honeymoon.

Wedding venue: how did you search for a wedding venue?

We used the Bridebook app, social media, and Google to find wedding venues.

What made you choose your wedding venue?

I originally came to look round the venue with my mum. We instantly fell in love with the beauty of the place and the atmosphere. We loved the fact it was exclusive, and we could use the whole place on the day. It ticked all our boxes of being able to have the ceremony on-site, rooms for family, and food and drink covered. When we were shown the main hall and were told we could have the first dance at the bottom of the stairs with our guests all around, we both teared up. This is when I knew this is where I wanted to get married. We Facetimed Dan at work from the lawn and told him I had made up my mind. Luckily, he fell in love too.

Styling your wedding: how did you personalise your big day?

The theme for our day was sunflowers. They have always been my favourite flower and I am well known for loving yellow, so much so that was a no brainer! My bouquet was sunflowers with eucalyptus and lots of greenery, and we bought a range of oil sunflowers in various sizes to decorate around the venue. My stepdad also built us a wooden archway which we got married under in the chapel. We moved this out to the lawn on the day for people to use for photo opportunities. The rest of our theme was very rustic, so our favours were hessian bags with personalised stickers on. We gave our guests a packet of their own sunflower seeds to plant and some personalised Love Heart sweets. I made the centrepieces with my mum and grandma out of mason jars from The Range, which we filled with a mixture of fake flowers and real sunflowers I picked at the Overstone Sunflower Farm with my best friends the day before.

Wedding photographer: how did you choose your photographer?

Our photographer was recommended to us at a wedding fair. We looked at his website and Instagram, and then met him over FaceTime. We wanted our photos to be very natural and reflect the atmosphere of our day rather than being too posed and this was definitely Chris’ style. We also went for a pre-wedding shoot to get to know Chris better and discuss in more detail what we were hoping for on the day.

Wedding suppliers: how did you choose your suppliers?

We attended a few local wedding fairs. We used Anne Marie’s florist in Rugby because she is local to where a lot of my family live and we have used her for other events before. We discovered Karen from Cakes Fabulous Cakes in the Bourton Hall brochure and decided to approach her. My hair and makeup were done by Beauty Within who are really local to where I live and I have been getting my nails done there for a couple of years. My dress was altered by Dawn at Dawn Bird Alterations. She altered a friend’s wedding dress and did such an amazing job that I knew I wanted her to alter my dress.

I also found out I was pregnant in March this year quite unexpectedly. We had told everyone that we were expecting but decided to keep the gender a secret until the wedding. We found out two weeks before we’re expecting a little girl. Karen at Cakes Fabulous Cakes dyed the bottom layer of our cake pink so that when we cut the cake at the wedding, everyone found out the gender at the same time. This was an amazing moment for all of our family and friends to find out together.

Describe your wedding attire

My dress was from Wed2B and was the Brielle dress. I bought in at the store in Bournemouth when we visited on holiday. My dress was the 4th dress I tried and was very close to exactly what I have envisioned. I felt amazing in the dress and loved the A Line shape. The lace was patterned and had a subtle sparkle. I also really wanted a corset back so I could adjust it through the day if I needed to.

It turned out I picked the perfect dress for the fact I was unexpectedly 22 weeks pregnant on our wedding day. Dawn was able to make the dress fit beautifully with very little altering, and I felt comfortable and amazing all day.

What accessories did you wear on the day?

My veil was my favourite thing about my whole wedding outfit. It was floor length and was hand embroidered by a lady on Esty. It had blue and gold flowers as well as sunflower appliqués.  I loved adding colour to my wedding look and everyone on the day was in love with the veil.

I also wore a belt with my dress from Wed2B. I loved the sparkle and the belt helped show off my figure in the dress.

What did your partner wear?

Dan wore navy blue tails which we hired from Moss Bros. I did go with him to choose the suit, so I had seen it before, but seeing him on the day was very emotional. I also surprised him in the morning with an engraved pocket watch which had the date and time of our wedding along with ‘please meet Miss Bunting and leave with Mrs Seath’. He incorporated this into his outfit on the day.

Tell us about your Bridesmaids, Groomsmen and their outfits

We found our bridesmaids dresses on Etsy after sending for so many fabric samples to find the perfect shade of yellow. We went for infinity style dresses so that everyone could match but feel comfortable with whatever neckline or sleeve options they chose. When the dresses arrived, they were so perfect for my two sisters.  I asked my sisters to be bridesmaids at Christmas with handmade boxes with the dresses inside.

What was your biggest wedding splurge?

We knew we wanted to prioritise our spending on getting the perfect venue that ticked all of our boxes.

What was your biggest wedding saving?

We saved lots of money making the centrepieces ourselves and using lots of fake flowers.

What was your ceremony like?

My best friend sang while I walked down the aisle. That was really special as we met right at the start of secondary school and have sung in choirs and shows together ever since. We also had another close friend’s beautiful little girl as our flower girl who was only 18 months old at the time. She walked in first and everyone was completely besotted.

Our readings were done by my godmother and Dan’s best friend from university. We picked two poems that mean a lot to us.

Tell us about your drinks reception and wedding breakfast

The drinks reception was so lovely, following our exit from the reception to Dancing Queen by ABBA. It included a virgin mojito for me, so I didn’t miss out on the cocktails being pregnant.

We had salmon to start, chicken main and Eton mess or brownie as puddings. The food was amazing, and the venue catered so well for all of our guests with dietary requirements.

The speeches were one of the highlights of the whole day. They were definitely an emotional rollercoaster! Everyone in the room was crying and laughing in equal measure. They ended with my brother reciting all three verses of ‘In the Ning Nang Nong’ which had us all crying with laughter.

Did you have a band or DJ for your evening reception?

We had a DJ for the disco in the evening.

Tell us about your first dance – what song did you chose and why?

Our first dance was to ‘Drops of Jupiter’ by Train. We heard it when we were riding in a helicopter over the Grand Canyon and knew there and then it was going to be our first dance at our wedding before we were even engaged. We didn’t choreograph our first dance, but we did invite everyone to join in at the end.

I did perform a choreographed ABBA mash up routine with all of the girls from my hen do though! We learned the routine in a class on the hen do in Bath a month before the wedding and then performed it for all the guests. It was so much fun, and our audience loved it!

Based on your own experience, give us some top tips:

I would definitely recommend finding your venue first. You will just know when you’ve found the right place for you and then everything else falls into place. Once you can imagine how you’ll feel on the day getting married there, you can visualise the other elements so much more clearly.

“If we could do it all again, we’d…”

Add more hours to the day so we could make it last even longer!

Did you go on a honeymoon or mini-moon?

We went on our honeymoon after breakfast the next day. We flew to Santorini and stayed there for 10 days before heading to Athens to see the Parthenon and the ancient theatres.

Purchase & Hire – Tell us who your suppliers were: