Emma and Cleveland are a joy to know. Before, during and after their wedding, I have loved getting to know these guys. They planned an incredible wedding to celebrate their love for one another and to show their guests a good time. Weddings are great for both of those reasons and a Preston Court Wedding really champions them both and shows every couple and their guests a great time. Emma and Cleveland had the most relaxing day, full of love and joy. I always think that if you are able to be relaxed on your wedding day, you've got a lot of things right. These two were so chilled out and just having the time of their lives and I was the one who got to capture that- what a privilege! They treated me like a guest and were a pleasure to work with. That is not only true for the bride and groom, but the same can be said for the suppliers! Before hearing from Emma and Cleveland about their beautiful wedding, I just want to give a little S/O to the following suppliers who made the day a great success...
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- Sarah and Natalie from The Wedding Dolls made everything run smoothly and did a great job of coordinating everyone!
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It was great to work alongside Breathe Motion, I love his style of videography and I know he will have captured all the amazing moments that happened on the day.
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Discologic got everyone dancing and made sure the evening was a hit. He played so many great tracks, I had to stop myself from joining in on the dance floor!
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Emma Sands did Emma’s makeup and as you can see, she looked amazing!
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The folk from Tayberry Foods were so lovely and it was a pleasure to get to know them. Their catering was such a hit with everyone!
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And last but by no means least, a huge thanks to Preston Court Wedding team- these guys are always an absolute pleasure to work with!
How did you two meet?
And how long have you been together? We met through online dating, our first date was in May 2013 so we’ve been together just under 5 years now, he took me to play bingo for our first date, which was a bit different to your usual first date, neither of us were very good at it though!
How did he propose?
We went on holiday to Lake Garda in Italy in June 2015 and he proposed on a boat in the middle of the lake. It was totally clueless to it and I wasn’t expecting it at all. It was a bit of a brave choice as I’m not that keen on boats but it was really lovely.
What made you decide to have a Preston Court Wedding?
I had seen Preston Court online a few months before as one of my friends was looking at wedding venues and thought it looked like a lovely venue and loved the idea of the carousel, and once we got engaged I spent ages trying to find it again as I couldn’t remember what it was called. Cleveland was adamant that we needed to look a different venues but I had pretty much made my mind up already, but after going to view it he didn’t take much persuading. I loved the relaxed atmosphere and all the little quirks, we wanted to get married outside and the island with the bridge was perfect too.
How did you choose your photographer?
I basically googled photographers based in Kent, opened what felt like a million tabs and started going through websites and looking at their photos. I don’t like having my photo taken and I knew from the outset that I wanted mainly natural unposed photos, I love when a photo captures a moment or tells a story and when I came across your website it was exactly what I was looking for.
What was your experience of working with James?
Having James photograph our wedding was without doubt one of the best wedding related decisions we made. He is genuinely such a nice person, he took the time to get to know us and made us and all our guests feel completely at ease on the day. He is incredibly professional and went above and beyond what we could have asked for and the photos speak for themselves, they are perfect and captured our day so well.
How many guests did you have?
We had 65 guests to the day and another 20 in the evening. We never wanted a really big wedding and it was really nice because we got to talk to everyone and spend time with people.
How long did you take you take to plan the wedding?
I love planning things, lists, spreadsheets and stationary make me really happy so I was pretty much on it from the first day. We were engaged about 2 years and we booked all the things that were important to us early on and then I just did everything else as and when. I’m glad I started planning early as I didn’t really feel rushed or stressed at any point and could enjoy it.
How would you describe your wedding day in 2 sentences?
Our wedding was an incredible experience, we couldn’t stop smiling all day. It was perfect from start to finish and we loved being about to share that with all our friends and family.
Who was your dress by?
My dress was by Justin Alexander and I got it from Perfection Bridal in Maidstone. And your accessories and shoes? Shoes were from Debenhams.
Did you have a theme or colour scheme?
We pretty much planned the theme and colours around the venue so the wedding had a bit of a vintage feel, and a pink and mint colour theme. We tried to keep everything quite natural looking.
What sort of flowers did you have?
I am a bit clueless when it comes to flowers, Heather & Wood did our flowers and they were great at suggesting flowers to fit in with the theme and look we were were going for.
What sort of decoration did you have?
The flowers were a big part of the decoration on the day and I didn’t want to over decorate the venue as it’s so beautiful as it is already, with the organs and the carousel and the barns. We had some hearts around the venue and grounds, and some vintage props and photos.
What did you have as entertainment?
We had a DJ in the evening from Discologic. I love my music and having a good dance and they were really good at playing the sort of music we asked for but also playing a variety of different music so keeping everyone on the dancefloor. Cleveland regularly reminds me not everyone loves George Michael songs as much as I do! We also had a magician during the reception drinks which our guests really seemed to enjoy and a photo booth in the evening and we have some really fun photos from that to look back on as well.
Did you have any personal touches? Or things that you did yourself?
I did quite a lot myself, I’m quite creative and really enjoyed making the invites, place cards and table decorations and quite likely the idea of them being individual to us. It was a really nice feeling when we first saw the barn all set up as it was exactly how I had pictured it. We had a couple of photo displays of different pictures of family and friends from over the years as well which was quite fun for people to look at and a nice way of making people feel included. We also had quite a few family and friends involved in the wedding which was also nice touch, a family friend made the cake and we had another friend and my uncle drive us to the venue.
What were your special moments or highlights of the day?
There was so many but to choose a few, walking over the bridge and seeing all of guests throwing confetti at us, the speeches and for me seeing how much fun everyone was having on the carousel and the photos of this are some of my favourites.
What advice would you give other couples?
Probably similar to what everyone says the day goes so quickly so take the time to enjoy it, don’t stress over the little things because they really don’t matter on the day.
What was your biggest surprise of the day?
I think how relaxed we actually were on the day, and this was partly because all our suppliers were so amazing, you worry about people having a good time and think of things that might go wrong in the lead up but actually I think we would have had an amazing day whatever happened and it was amazing to see how happy all our guests were to celebrate our day with us.
Here's a list of the rest of the amazing suppliers that made Emma & Cleveland's wedding day come together: Brides Gown (Designer & boutique ): Justin Alexander bought from Perfection Maidstone Jewellery (Designer & boutique): borrowed from family Shoes: Debenhams Florist: Heather & Wood Cake Maker: Friend Bridesmaids Dresses: Go Bridal in Tunbridge Wells Groom/Groomsmen: Moss Bros Maidstone Entertainment (day & evening): Chris Harding - Magician