Rachel & Julian August 2025

The Venue

Q:  How did you choose your venue?
A: We wanted to find a venue which was unique and memorable.  We viewed 5 venues, but Port Lympne was the first one we saw and we couldn’t stop thinking about it and comparing every time we viewed the subsequent 4

Q:  Why was it the perfect venue for your Kentish ceremony?
A: We loved how unique the venue was, and each part of the venue is stunning. We loved how the pergola is enclosed, so we weren’t worried if it rained on the day, as neither the ceremony nor wedding breakfast would be compromised. The only back-up plan we needed to consider was the drinks reception, but the Stephanie was amazing with supporting us on our wet weather plan, which we ended up going with anyway

The Outfits

Q:  Tell us about your wedding dress/outfit - where did you buy it, and how did you know it was ‘the one’?
A: I visited 3 wedding dress shops and a process of elimination to get the dress of my dreams. The dress was the opposite of what I thought I’d wear, but when I tried it on, I just knew it would be perfect for our day. Isabella Grace in Tunbridge Wells

Q:  Did you have any special accessories or shoes to complete your look?
A: Shoes were from Lace & Favour, alongside my veil. And I bought a plain teardrop diamond as my necklace. My husband bought me a bracelet with my new initials engraved and I wore my late Nanny’s blue ring

Q:  How did you choose the suits?
A: Suit Supply, London. Julian always wanted a navy suit and after trying on the double-breasted suit, he said he just felt amazing! We had a brilliant stylist to help Julian pick the best option

Q:  Tell us about your bridesmaid and groomsmen outfits.
A:  The bridesmaids dresses were from Azazie and were in a Mulberry colour. We always wanted the bridesmaids to wear the same and feel amazing and the dress we picked looked great and so flattering on all the bridesmaids.

The groomsmen’s suits were from Next and we just wanted to make sure we matched the colour of Julian’s suit with the groomsmen as best as possible. We found that buying the suits was the same cost as hiring

Hair & Makeup

Q:  Who did you use for your hair and/or makeup for your wedding?
A: Make-Up: Emma Gooch @emmagoochmakeup
Hair: Leanne Bower @lovelyweddinglocks

Q:  How did you decide on the style and look you wanted for the big day?
A: Emma had done my make-up at one of my bridesmaids wedding the year before. I loved her style and how comfortable she made me. I don’t wear a huge amount of make-up, but she has an amazing way to make everyone’s eyes look so bright and sparkly.

Emma recommended Leanne and I trusted her recommendation. Leanne was amazing too. I always wanted a messy bun, and she delivered my requests.

            When I tried on my dress, I played around with half up/half down do and then an up-do and then up/bun style looked so much better and meant the detailing on the top of my dress was more visible too.

The Ceremony

Q:  What was your favourite moment of the ceremony?

A: Reading our personal vows we’d written to one another

Q:  Did you pick any special music to walk down the aisle to, or have any readings?

A: Yes, we picked our own music. A instrumental version of ‘To Love You More’ by Celine Dion for the bridal party and then I walked into “How Long Will I Love You” by Ellie Goulding.

We had two readings, which were both personally written by our friends Milly & Michael

The Reception

Q:  What food did you have, and how was it?
A: Bruschetta & Terrine, Lamb & Seabass, Lemon Meringue & Sticky Toffee. We were told by many of our guests the canapes and food was the best they’d ever had at a wedding. And we absolutely loved that each guest got to pick between two options – wedding venues rarely offer that – it was such a bonus.

Q:  Tell us about your wedding cake. Who made and designed it for you?
A: We had a white wedding cake of three layers with 3 different flavours: red velvet, carrot cake, vanilla sponge with strawberry jam, covered in butter icing.

We found Jen through Google search and she was amazing. I sent Jen a picture of an image from Pinterest and she delivered it exactly as we asked. Jen also knew the venue and knew that the Orangery can sometimes get quite hot, so she layered the cake with something to ensure it didn’t melt!

Q:  What were your speeches like? Any standout moments?
A:  We had 4 speeches throughout the courses, so no one got speech fatigue! And two of my best friends acted as MC’s to give a personal touch throughout the wedding breakfast.

Speeches were:

• My Dad
• 3 of my bridesmaids – I decided to ask them, because Julian and I met at 34/35 yrs old and I knew my Dad would talk about me growing up, but a huge section of my life is uni and afterwards, so my bridesmaids filled in that gap!
• Julian and I did a joint speech. Thank Yous together and then we said a bit to one another, which we hadn’t heard before
• Best Man

The decor

Q:  What was your decor/colour scheme, and how did you decide on it?
A: Black, White, Gold & then the colour of the bridesmaids dresses was in the floral decors.

Q:  Who did your wedding flowers?
A:  Samantha Reynolds, Emily and me.

Q:  What did you have in your flower arrangements/bouquets?
A: White, yellow/pale orange and a dark pink/mulberry colour flowers.

Q:  How did you add personal touches to the look and feel of your day?
A: We had an audio guest book, which we build a MDF sailboard stand for the phone to stand on. The sailboard had “I Just Called To Say I Love You” printed on it. And next to that we had a photo collage of every photo that Julian and I have ever had taken of the two of us over the last 2.5 years of being together with “The Smiths” neon light attached.
On the tables we have a mix of tall floral stands and small floral centre pieces, which were the bridesmaids bouquets.
We also gave guests a playing card which a photo of Julian and I and asked each guest to write a note or piece of advice to us.
We bought black napkins to go along with the colour scheme and printed each guests menu as their place setting with their name printed on a ribbon.

Q:  Did you use any local suppliers for things like lighting, accessories and props?
A: No we provided and made all ourselves.

The Entertainment

 Q:  Did you have a DJ or a band? How did you choose them?
A: Band and then spotify playlist

Julian and I prefer female vocalists, so we found band with a duo female vocalists who were brilliant. It always seems a bit of a risk, as we hadn’t seen them live before but watched videos and we loved the tone of their voices.

Q:  What was your first dance, and why was it special to you?
A: “Conversations in the Dark” by John Legend

On our second date we watched an episode of Grey’s Anatomy and the song came on and Julian said, I’d love that song at my wedding…and 2 years later, he did have it at its wedding. It’s a beautiful song and the words really resonate with us

The photography

Q:  Who was your wedding photographer, and how did you choose them?
A: Jeff & Sarah Oliver - @jeffoliverphotography
Jeff was one of the recommended suppliers and we not only loved his style, but also decided as the venue was so big and Jeff and Sarah had photographed there so many times, that we should go with someone familiar with the venue. We also LOVED that there was two of them, so they got to capture all parts of the day e.g. when I walked down the aisle, one captured Julian’s reaction and one captured mine

Q:  What style/look did you want for your photos?
A: We had no particular style in mind, we were more concerned about making sure we had photos in certain areas of the venue e.g. top of trojan stairs, Moroccan garden, on safari, etc.

Q:  Do you have a favourite photo from the day?
A: No, there are SO many good ones to choose from

Q:  Did you have a videographer?
A: Yes and he was brilliant. Matt Hampton - @hamptonfilms

Matt was recommended from a friend and was very happy to follow Jeff and Sarah around. One of the most brilliant things about Matt is he makes such an effort to make sure no one really knows he’s there – he’s so discrete but captures all the moment

And finally...

Q:  What was your absolute highlight of the day?
A: The whole day was just perfect and the best day of our lives.  The venue was just a standout and the fact we went on safari was just the most incredible experience. We couldn’t have asked for a better venue or better service from Port Lympne, so thank you.  My personal highlight was the end of the night with the last few songs that we’d picked and my friends all picked me up during Dirty Dancing! And Julian and I were dancing in the middle of all our favourite people. Just the best!

Q:  Do you have any tips or advice for other couples having a Kentish Ceremony?
A:  Pick a photographer who knows the venue. Jeff and Sarah even knew which part of the day each area of the venue looked best in e.g. Moroccan garden just before sunset. It’s a big venue and you need someone to just know where to go and how to manage the public, if they’re in any of the areas you want photos. Book the safari – guests will talk about it months and months later!

Ready to start planning your big day?

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