The couples story…
Scott proposed to Alison at the top of the Grand Canyon…”It was an eventful day which featured a limousine ride, helicopter rides, a boat ride, the skywalk and Guano the point.” All before Scott finally got down on one knee to ask for Alison’s hand in marriage in August 2014. “It was truly a day to remember and signified the start of our future lives together.” Their wedding plans soon began, in the search for the perfect wedding venue… Once they visited Knowsley Hall, they immediately knew it was the ‘one’. 13 months later and their day had finally arrived. All the planning and thought was about to be thrown into action.
Their Wedding Morning:
With an early start to the day, Alison was excited for the day ahead. With her Bridesmaids and parents around her, she then realised she left part of her wedding dress at home. No fear.. her Make Up Artist Jessica Mae came to the rescue and drove home to pick it up… Let’s just say it resulted in Alison being fashionably late!
The Ceremony
Conducted in the Stucco ballroom we had champagne gold chivari chairs with their elegance and simplicity, blending in well with the architectural brilliance of the room. The aisle was lined with a thick ivory carpet and masses of candles meandering down the aisle and interwoven with rose petals and cherry blossom. The front of the ceremony house two large blossom trees with hanging tea lights in glass baubles, accentuating the grand display and finishing the room off perfectly.
The Wedding Breakfast
Hosted in the State dining room, with its numerous oil portraits, wooden panelling from floor to ceiling, impressive dome skylight which allows natural light to flood the room and finished off with a large golden chandelier.
The Top table took pride of place and was positioned in the impressive bay window overlooking the grounds and lake in the backdrop. Glass cylinders were filled with water and floating candles to create amazing candlelit effects, further enhanced by ivory rose bouquets, fresh rose petals and cherry blossom meandering through the design to reflect the cherry blossom trees and floral element of the wedding theme.
The 3 most central tables held large, architectural cherry blossom trees with masses of glass baubles falling from the branches. Each bauble held individual tea lights to create the vital illumination, which was further enhanced by masses of floating candles and tea lights around the base.
The 4 outermost guest tables held a rose gold candelabra with five long burning ivory candles, the base was surrounded by masses of rose gold and glass tea lights to create impact and bring interest to the table level.
All tables finished off with floor length, rose gold sequin table clothes to bring a touch of glamour and shimmer to the wedding breakfast.
I asked them both, ‘What was their most memorable part of their day?’…
“Marrying Scott. Happiness, nerves and excitement overwhelmed me as my bridesmaids lined up to walk down the aisle. As I walked into the ballroom and saw the smiling and emotional faces of our family and friends, I felt truly overwhelmed. Having my Dad walk down the aisle was a very special moment and without a doubt the most memorable walk of my life. I was feeling very emotional and close to tears but the moment my eyes met Scotts’ a sense of calmness took over. I’m not someone who normally enjoys being in the spotlight, but I felt so comfortable and so confident as I walked down the aisle. Saying our vows together and becoming Mrs Caton was the happiest moment of my life.”
“There was also a point during the wedding breakfast when I sat back for a few minutes and had a good look around. I watched our guests laughing and enjoying themselves and couldn’t believe that they had all come to be part of our special day. I felt truly blessed to have such wonderful family and friends, the day was made special by them. “
Scott replied, “Seeing Alison for the first time as she appeared at the back of the room, in the most amazing wedding dress I’ve ever seen. I went from being calm and collected to totally overcome with emotion and struggling to maintain my composure. Least to say I shed a tear or two.”
“The other key moment I remember vividly was as we both stood behind the giant solid oak doors, waiting to be announced into the dining room as husband and wife. It was the most nervous I’d felt all day, not least because I was shortly due to stand up and deliver my speech. But once those doors swung open and we were greeted into the room to rounds of applause and cheers, I suddenly felt at ease before leading Alison through the crowd to the top table.”
Evening Wedding Celebrations
Alison and Scott both said, “The first dance was her favourite moment, but also seeing our guests having such a fantastic time! After the initial moments alone on the dancefloor with Alison, we welcomed our friends and family to join us during the remaining minutes of our song.”
“There was so much going on in the evening it’s hard to select just one moment, from cutting the cake, to the first dance, to wearing a pink wig in the photobooth, and playing roulette and blackjack at the casino. It was a challenge in itself just trying to fit it all in, but when you’re still running on all the adrenaline from the day you have the make the most of it.”
“To add an element of fun to our wedding day we incorporated a couple of interactive games for our guests to get involved with. The first being a guess who game which we created by displaying childhood photos of the bridal party and asking guests to try and guess who was who. This acted as a talking point for when guests arrived and allowed people to reflect on the past and to see how we’ve all grown up and changed over the years.”
“After the ceremony and before the wedding breakfast, we had the groomsmen conduct a sweepstake to guess the total length of time of all speeches, commencing from the first word spoken by the father of the bride, through to the final word spoken by the best-man. If guests wanted to play, it was £1 per guess, with all proceeds going to the closest guess. We had guesses ranging from just over 10 minutes, to nearly an hour! With the closest guess being 1 second short of the total time 27mins 11 seconds and raising total prize fund of £78! Least to say most of that got spent behind the bar and they had a very cheap night on us.”
I asked them how they found Matthew Rycraft Wedding Photography’s service and they replied…
“Matthew was fantastic and is absolutely dedicated to his work, focusing on how best to capture those magical moments throughout the day. With his unobtrusive style, he is able to capture moments that others would have missed. These are the ones that tell the true story and really show off the emotions and feelings on the day”.
