Mr & Mrs Coleman

It wasn’t quite the start to her wedding day that Natalie had imagined as when I arrived at the hotel most of the bridal party were locked in the bedroom. But nothing has ever stopped me from getting to a job before, so for the first time in my career I made my entrance via ladder and bedroom window to which I received a very warm welcome!  

I settled in as hair and makeup got underway, and the staff worked on fixing the door. Natalie gave gifts to her bridesmaids, and when the door was finally opened the children celebrated by ransacking the housekeeping trolleys for biscuits! 

The wedding guests were taken from the hotel to the wedding venue by a red London bus. David received his guests at Shustoke Farm Barn and eagerly awaited his bride. Accompanied by her father, Natalie made her way to the ceremony in a cream VW camper van. Pageboy and flower girls led the way down the aisle, followed by Natalie and her father, then her bridesmaids. The couple exchanged vows, said ‘I do’ and became husband and wife. 

Guests formed a guard of honour and covered the new Mr and Mrs Coleman in confetti as they took off for a few moments of quiet privacy touring in the camper van. Meanwhile guests were treated to canapés, Prosecco and Corona. The sausages went down a storm with the waiting staff being descended upon whenever they appeared! 

Everyone sat for the wedding breakfast and there was a lot to be said for the manager leading the waiting staff who had ‘worked for the Queen for ten years. After many comments and recoils at his attitude towards his staff, the last straw was when he let rip on a waiter for dropping a tray of cutlery. Two of the groom’s party decided enough was enough at this point and tried to have words. Luckily ‘The Manager’ had good legs and got away just in time. He then gave up the act announcing they were acting and they were actually singing waiters, the room was stunned! Much to everyone’s delight (and relief!) they had guests up dancing and singing with a Bride vs Groom conga alongside the wonderful act they put on.  

The speeches started with David, making a touching speech about his late mother, taking the last drink from his mother’s bottle of Southern Comfort, a tradition he has undertaken every year on her birthday since she passed (all the emotions!) For the first time a speech nearly got me and most of the room too. It was beautiful and sad in equal measures. It certainly was a room full of love and emotion. Natalie’s brother in law had the job of the ‘father of the bride’ speech. It was of a different tone to the grooms and without going in to too much detail, there was talk of pet rabbits who had met their demise to cold weather and a rather harrowing story involving the bride, the bride’s sister, a bath tub, a ‘number 2’ and an all too vivid description of what happened next. It was hilarious!  

The guests partied on throughout the night with a fantastically eclectic musical buffet from Nirvana to The Beatles to Prince. Guests enjoyed drinks and dancing, pizza and marshmallows toasted in the fire pits and made night time glitter with sparklers.  

Although it might not have started the best way, Natalie and David’s wedding certainly turned out to be the gorgeous, rustic, happy occasion they hoped for. Many congratulations to you both, may there always be a ladder nearby for your times of need.   

Venue: Shustoke Farm Barns 

Flowers: Perfect Day Flowers 

Singing Waiters: https://www.facebook.com/yoursingingwaiters/ 

Photography: www.marcosbornephotography.co.uk