Last Saturday dawned blowy and blustery, and was set to get worse as Storm Brian moved across the country. Luckily I wasn’t off to a big outdoors event with lots of travelling, though – Phil and Jayne had taken the 10-bedroomed Chaffeymoor Grange for the whole weekend for themselves and their guests, and the wedding itself was just part of a long weekend house party.
Obviously, then, I arrived to a much busier house than usual – all the guests were already in residence, and instead of just the bridal party getting ready, the whole wedding party were! Phil was ahead of time, however, and I had a quick chat with him before heading upstairs to Jayne and her bridesmaids.
Hair and make up were well under way, so after stopping with them for a while I headed back downstairs to capture the details all around the house as the guests began to mingle in the hallway. Before long Jayne’s Dad arrived at the Bridal suite to escort his daughter downstairs, and the bridesmaids lead the procession down the stairs and through into the Oak Room where Phil was waiting at the front of the now-seated guests.
The warm ceremony was beautifully personal, as is always the case at such intimate weddings when the only guests are the couple’s most important family and friends. Once they were declared husband and wife everyone processed out together for celebratory drinks, but in a change to my usual method I stopped them and whisked everyone outside for the formals on the terrace steps; I had noticed a break in the weather, and I wasn’t going to lose the opportunity for Phil & Jayne to get their few group shots. It was still blustery, but at least we stayed dry!
With those accomplished, I stepped round to the rear of the house with the couple so that they could have a few photographs with Phil’s pride and joy, his Aston Martin. We had just a few minutes before the weather began stirring up again, and we quickly stepped back into the welcoming warmth of the Grange.
Back indoors everyone could ignore the weather blowing outside, with drinks and canapés circulating and a real house party atmosphere growing as one of the musician guests wrote a great rap for the occasion which was very funny, and another played the guitar and sang for background music – guests joined in singing and had a little dance before everyone was invited in to dinner.
One of the nicest things about weddings at Chaffeymoor Grange is the enormous table in the dining room, which means all the guests are seated around one table rather than scattered into individual groups around the room. The guests enjoyed the first course before the speeches, and once everyone had toasted the Bride and Groom I said my goodbyes and headed out to be blown home by the remains of Brian as the guests settled into the rest of their weekend together.
Here are just a few tasters from the day ….
Venue – Chaffeymoor Grange
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All the lovely details from Jayne and Phil’s wedding at Chaffeymoor Grange in Dorset ….