The Story
What made Manor By The Lake stand out for you?
The exclusive use of the venue. The beautiful scenery, how picturesque every corner of the venue was. We had ‘that feeling’ as soon as we stepped onto the stones and walked up the pathway towards the arches. We could already invisage our dream wedding coming to life!
Tell us about your wedding journey in the lead up to your wedding and how did you feel?
The planning went well from the get go, but we did have 3 years to prepare so that was incredibly helpful! Ben was stressed about his speech, I was stressed about the first dance (as only 1 practice in the living room did not seem enough!) but both of them went perfectly and we realised how silly it was to stress, everything fell into place in the end.
What was your theme? Any favourite unique touches?
With our wedding being in Spring, we went for a pastel blue, peach, green & white colour scheme. We thought it went perfectly with the natural flowers around the venue and our bouquets and buttonholes were lovely and bright. We had wildflower seeds as our favours so that everybody could plant their own flowers and these would be a permanent reminder of our special day!
With several ceremony spaces available, where did you choose and why?
We fell in love with the Italian Pavilion as soon as we saw the venue. I could just imagine walking towards my husband with my dad (no grass to worry about my dress or shoes in case it was a wet day previously) and the simplicity of the pavilion we just knew was where we wanted to say our vows. Even though a lot of the vendors were telling us otherwise, everyone at Manor supported our decision and made it happen – after a few showers in the morning, the sunshine made an appearance during our ceremony and for the rest of the day!
Favourite moment of the day?
Saying I Do! With all of the wedding planning and pleasing other people, you can forget that the main reason you and all of your friends/family are here is because you are becoming husband and wife. Our ceremony was hands down our favourite part of the day!
Tell us all about your food! What did you choose and why?
From the breakfast myself and the bridesmaids were served the morning of our wedding, the canapés, the wedding breakfast, to the evening food (Italian Feast – great hit with everyone!) and even the breakfast the following morning for all guests that slept in the Manor, we had compliments from everyone about the food! One thing I will say is make sure you eat on your wedding day – our wedding coordinators thankfully held back some canapés so that we had a little nibble when we had a second of not smiling for photos (trust me, it was about 10 seconds) and then we made sure we didn’t rush our wedding breakfast and enjoyed each course, but we didn’t leave the dance floor all night and so the evening food wasn’t touched by us. We had a pizza slice thrown at us here and there thanks to some our of lovely guests, but I would say just make sure that you give yourself time to eat – this is your day and it gets tiring, you need as much energy as you can get!
With unlimited photo opportunities, where was your favourite spot?
Depending on the time of day, we loved our confetti shots & group shots under the arches, it shows the beautiful venue in the background. As the sun went down, we went over to the bridge by the lake and with fairy lights surrounding the walk way and the bridge being lit up, this was perfect for sunset shots! There are so many incredible spots to choose from, but these were definitely our favourites.
What was your favourite space/area at Manor By The Lake? Why was this your favourite space and how did you use it?
We loved the grass area to the rear of the venue, we had garden games set up which everyone loved, the garden bar was open which meant everyone could still socialise whilst waiting for drinks rather than having to go to an inside bar, it was so peaceful, and another great spot for group pictures because of the vast space it offered.
Tell us about your evening reception, did you party the night away?
Our evening went by so quickly, to be honest the whole day did, but one minute we were welcomed in to the ballroom as husband and wife and yet the next we were saying goodnight and going to bed. You really do need to enjoy every second, and that’s exactly what us and our guests did. It was nice to welcome the evening guests and have some more faces, we had the band that sang our first dance song & partied with us right until the end of the night, the cake cutting was fun and Manor organised everything for us so that we didn’t have to worry about this, and the evening food set up again was great so that people could still party with us and enjoy the night whilst queuing and eating.
Did either of you stay the night before in the cottage or lodge? Did you enjoy being closer the night before?
Myself, mother of the bride, maid of honour and chief bridesmaid slept in the cottage the night before, and it was such a surreal experience stood looking at the venue thinking… this will be all mine tomorrow! It gave me butterflies just like the first time I saw the venue, but it was such an exciting feeling and it dragging that wedding feeling on that bit longer which is always nice! We had food delivered to the cottage and then welcomed the lovely continental from Manor the next morning, which was such a lovely touch and there was so much food I felt guilty for leaving half of it, but a great selection!
Did you and your overnight guests enjoy the afterparty experience?
After such a long day, a lot of people went back to their rooms when the night was over, but a few groomsmen, bridesmaids, parents and of course bride & groom went into the Rock Bar and enjoyed some downtime whilst listening to the jukebox and playing some pool. It was nice to just elongate the evening until we felt ready to go to bed (even though that buzz doesn’t just disappear and we wanted to stay awake all night!) Everyone who stayed over at Manor said how lovely the rooms were, how comfy the beds were and how the breakfast in the morning was incredible.
Any suppliers that you would recommend to others? Perhaps your photographer or florist?
To be completely honest, every single person that we worked with to plan our wedding day I would highly recommend. I think people forget that we haven’t done this before and so the norm to them is completely out of the ordinary for us, but everyone gave us so much support and advice that we took with open arms and I have no doubt that this helped in our day going absolutely perfectly. I will list a few of our vendors that I could not have lived without:
Photographer & Videographer: Creative Depiction
Florist: Ivory Hill Floral
Hair: Jade Amphlett Hair
Makeup: Amy Rose MacDonald MUA
Band: Tux Fizz
Cake Baker: Hel’s Cakes and Bakes
