The wedding of
Abigail & Tom
The Manor House, Castle Combe
Real Life Weddings at The Manor House
How did the proposal occur?
We met in college when we were 18 through mutual friends. 6 months later and Tom asked me to be his girlfriend.
When we were talking about our future together, I always said that I wouldn’t want us to get engaged until we lived together. We bought our first home after 8 years together at the age of 26. We renovated the house first and then moved in on December 11th. 2 weeks later and Tom proposed! It came as a complete shock on Christmas Day. It was very romantic and so thoughtful for him to propose in the living room of the house that we had hoped for and had renovated into our dream home. It was during COVID and sharing with everyone our happy news was so magical.
What did you love most about The Manor House?
I came to The Manor House at the age of 9 with my mum, dad and sister. My grandparents (dad’s mum & stepdad) first visited The Manor House over 20 years before our visit and had recommended it to my dad. I remember our visit so clearly and even remember the exact layout of the room. I fell in love with it at the age of 9 and told my parents that one day I would love to get married there.
Tom and I visited a few years ago, pre engagement, and after a beautiful Christmassy stay in Little Grubbins between Christmas and New Year, we decided that if we ever got married we’d love a Christmas wedding at The Manor House.
20 years on from my first visit and we had our dream wedding at The Manor House on 28th December 2022. It was honestly the best day of our lives. Every single second was perfect and our guests had the most incredible experience thanks to all of the fantastic staff who treated them so well.
We can’t name one specific thing that we love most about the venue because every single part is so special and we would visit every weekend if we could!
Did you have a theme or particular style for your day?
We both love Christmas and so wanted some elements of Christmas within our day. We loved having all of the Christmas trees in each room and the gorgeous arch with mistletoe outside the main doors.
Our colour scheme was ivory, silver and navy. The men wore navy and black tuxedos and the bridesmaids wore ivory dressed with hints of silver for the flower girls.
For our decor, our welcome sign read ‘Tis the season to be married’, which was a nod to our save the date cards that we’d sent to guests the previous year. My bouquet had pine cones and silver foliage in it for a wintery look along with gypsophila in mine and my bridesmaids bouquets. Our centrepieces were wreaths with candles in the middle to keep the wintery Christmassy theme continuing. Our favours were a white cracker with navy ribbon which also doubled as a place card on the tables.
We also scented our wedding reception with The White Company ‘Winter’ candles which smell so Christmassy!
We wanted a wintery yet elegant feel to our day.
Tell us about THE dress...
My lovely cousin owns a bridal shop in Bath called Ellie Rose Bridal. In the April after we got engaged, she told me to come up and have a little try on of their dresses. I picked 6 dresses that I really wanted to try on. Before I tried my selection on, she told me that she had picked one for me to try because she thought it would look lovely on me.
I tried the dress on that she picked and fell in love. No other dress that I chose compared to the one that she picked for me! (And that’s why she owns a bridal shop!) The dress was by designer Hayley Paige and was called Zazu. The dress was made using a gorgeous lace and I had an overskirt for the day which I took off and relaxed with a belt for a day to night change up!
The whole experience was so magical and I still can’t believe that my wedding dress was the first dress that I tried on!
I invited Ellie to dress me the morning of the wedding and it was so special to have her put me in my dress after her making the choosing of my dress so smooth and stress free!
What do you remember most about the day itself?
Tom - Walking through the village having our photos taken was surreal. The guests being wowed by our choice of wedding venue was also amazing - their reactions to The Manor House made the day even more special.
Abi - I just remember beaming from ear to ear all day. Seeing all of our family and friends in our favourite place celebrating us was something that I cannot put into words.
Were there any special moments or surprises on the big day?
The Manor House made our planning experience so special because they were willing to cater to all of our needs and requests to make sure that we had the best day. We loved our menu tasting experience two months before the wedding day which made us even more excited for our wedding day. The process was so calm with plenty of meetings and communication throughout to make us feel ready and prepared, and it felt so personal to us.
Suppliers & products
Photographer @johnmarkfilms
Flowers & Styling @jilljefferiesflowers
Abi's Dress @ellierosebridal
Tom and the Groomsmens Suits - Formal Hire
Bridesmaid Dresses @samanthaksbridaloccassion
Band @Skyknights via @entertainmentnationuk
String Quartet @acrosantimusic
Swags @aztecvenuedecorations
Dancefloor - Stealths Roadshow