We are very lucky that Shottle Hall as a wedding venue looks stunning all year round, however there is something quite magical about a Winter Wedding. Sarah Memmory and Dale Baker married here on the 12th of December 2015 and they turned the house into their own winter wonderland including life size elves!
Where & when did you first meet?
We met through mutual friends and our first date was at Melbourne Fayre in 2008.
Tell us about the proposal:
We were going to York for a weekend away as we had been together for 6 years, but as I got home from work there was a heart balloon on the door and candles everywhere and Dale was in the Living room on one knee with the ring in his hand.
Why was Shottle Hall the perfect venue for your big day?
As soon as we went to Shottle to visit, it had everything on our list that we wanted. We had heard great things about Shottle Hall and they didn’t disappoint. All the rooms were lovely and spacious and we really liked that you could have the whole Hall for the big day so guests had lots of rooms to mingle in as we knew that the weather would probably be a bit miserable. Even though it was raining all day, the views were beautiful.
All the staff at Shottle Hall were so lovely, helpful and made us feel so so special. All the guests commented on how lovely the venue was and how beautiful the rooms were but also on how nice the staff were. Everything went so smoothly and would definitely recommend people to get married there as they made such an effort to make it perfect for us.
The dress:
The dress was a Ronald Joyce design from Brides and Gowns in Derby. I liked the ‘princess’ style and loved the colour because it wasn’t the traditional White/Ivory – it was more of a cream/gold colour
Bestman, Bridesmaids & Ushers:
The best man was Dales Brother Drew, Bridesmaids were my Sister Kelly and 2 Best friends Amy and Emma. We also had an usher, my brother in law Dan and my gorgeous Nephew Teddy, 21 months, was page boy.
Suits were from Brigdens and Bridesmaid dresses were from Quiz.
Your ceremony:
The ceremony was perfect for us. We knew we would be nervous and wanted a shorter ceremony and the registrar was so lovely and really helped with our nerves. My Sister did a reading for us called ‘On Your Wedding Day’ which she read brilliantly.
Photographer:
We chose Red Square Photography for the wedding. We loved her style of photos because they were more natural and she really took into consideration that we don’t really like having our photos taken so she made us feel so relaxed and made us feel so special.
Chair covers, decorations, favours:
Chair Covers were from Cakey Wakey. They were gold and silver with Snowflake clips on as that was our theme and they looked beautiful, really helped with the colour scheme of the wedding.
For favours we brought scratch cards for the adults and sticker books for the kids so everyone was entertained.
I had been collecting the decorations all year so if I saw a vase or nice Christmas decoration I would buy it with the wedding in mind. My sister made us a stocking for gifts and cards from guests and a Christmas wreath with fairy lights.
We made the place names and spray painted pine cones in silver and gold to put them in. We also put confetti bags on each chair for the ceremony and put out cards and pick up sticks for the children so they wouldn’t get bored.
For the seating plan we used a white twig Christmas tree and put on reindeer decorations in Silver and Gold with the plan on as the table names were the reindeer names.
Cake:
The Cake (2 tier cake of Carrot Cake and cupcakes of Jam and Sponge) from Cakey Wakey. We met up with her before the wedding and had samples of her delicious cakes and they were so tasty. We also had figures of Dale and I and also our cats, Margaret and Brenda.
We also had an edible snowflake cover for the 2 tiers of the cake.
Flowers:
Flowers were from the Greenery in Duffield. We had cream roses for my bouquet and (can’t remember the name of the bridesmaids flowers) We also had a heart wreath on the door and flowers put into the garland on the stairs.
The centre pieces were the same as the bouquets and the bowls were filled with silver and gold baubles
Your theme:
Our theme was Winter Wonderland. We wanted to go for gold and silver with snowflakes. But had to include the 2 big elves that we have in our home every Christmas.
Evening Reception:
For the evening reception we had Spirits High who was fantastic, the dancefloor was always full and people could make requests in advance and on the night. Spirits high also provided up lighting for the day in Blue which looked lovely and the Light up LOVE letters which also added to the effect of the wedding.
We also had a Photobooth from Snap Candy who was brilliant and all our guests really enjoyed it as we can look back on the photos in years to come and it was something a bit different.
Any other details that you would like to share about your day?
We could not have imagined a better wedding for us. The staff and venue was outstanding.
Honeymoon:
We are going to Vegas for 4 nights then Mexico for 2 weeks in February 2016 as we are moving house on the Friday after the wedding and it will give us something to look forward to in the new year.
Best piece of advice to pass onto other couples:
Try and enjoy every single second of the day. It’s true what they say, it does go far too quickly so try to take everything in and relax.
