An Exclusive real life wedding - Susan and Jeffrey

Jeffrey and I met through the dating website e-harmony in January 2013 and we both knew very quickly that we had met someone special!  When Jeff proposed, we were on holiday in the Lake District in April 2013. I guess, we became engaged very early on but took our time when booking our wedding.  

We chose the venue because it felt right. My daughter Hayley was instrumental in helping us to select the perfect cool winter venue for the wedding.  We all loved Royal Berkshire, an Exclusive Venue from our first visit. It is a beautiful property, traditional and welcoming. We liked the private feel of the wedding rooms and the stunning grounds.  The hotel team were absolutely fantastic! Our Wedding Organisers, first Natassia and then Colleen, were so friendly and professional.  We completely trusted them to consider all the details and to make our day special for us and our guests and they delivered every detail of our day to perfection – we cannot recommend them highly enough!

We chose our wedding date as the 4^th of November 2017 as we wanted to have the perfect winter wedding. Our 'royal' theme was complimented with shades of purple and silver for our bridesmaids outfits, flowers, chair ties and the general décor.  

Planning our big day for over a year or so , it was a pleasure to consider all the different details and to work with so many talented and helpful people.  This included Colleen who is so friendly,professional, patient and thinks of every detail which is so reassuring, William who served our sample menu choices, Steve and Maria on the day itself. 

Nigel our Toastmaster was superb – professional, thoughtful and funny, with excellent attention to detail.  Not to forget, our suppliers, who were all excellent – Victoria at Lily’s Flowers, Darren our DJ from Innovents , Darryl James our photographer was so clever capturing lots of formal and informal shots without being at all intrusive, Leanne Hutton my talented make up lady, Emma Roberts our fantastic hairdresser, Emerald Mirrors for so much fun and Danna Knight who made our amazing wedding cake (lemon drizzle, Victoria sponge and chocolate cake). Danna and the hotel chefs took the dietary requirements of our guests in their stride and everyone was very impressed.  Julie and Caroline, our Registrars from Windsor and Maidenhead Registration Service were warm, friendly and good humoured.  

Looking back on our big day, we remember being so incredibly happy and having such a lot of fun with our guests.  The hotel staff were superb, taking care of everything including details we had not considered, so that we could relax and enjoy every minute of our special day.  It was everything we hoped it would be and we have very happy memories of every aspect of the day. Everyone made it really special for us, especially our much loved guests!

Set a budget and have a spreadsheet with all the different costs listed so you can keep a track of everything.  It’s never too early to start planning.  Accept help from family and friends and visit a number of venues to find the one that is right for you.   Look at the reviews to see what others experienced.  Put a ‘reply by’ date on your invitations and have fun all the way up to the wedding day because it will pass incredibly quickly!  On the day itself relax and enjoy every minute – let everyone else make it happen for you!

The Bride and Groom: Susan Bridges and Jeffrey Lamb
That date: Saturday 4th November 2017
The location: Royal Berkshire, an Exclusive Venue
Photographer: Darryl James
Toastmaster: Nigel Worsfold
Flowers: Victoria Vigar of Lily's Flowers
Cake: Danna Knight
Styling: Emma Roberts  and Leanne Hunnor
Stationery: Optimal Print for the invitations, Natalie Shanks for the table plan and table cards
Attire: Wedding Dress from Phase Eight, Bridesmaid dresses and Groom's Suit from Marks and Spencer, Ties from Jenson Samuel in Skipton
DJ: Darren from Innovents