Kathy & Michael
Ashridge House, Hertfordshire
When Kathy and Michael first contacted me, it was all the way back in August 2019. They were living in New York and planning a destination wedding in the UK, a country they had never visited before! I had to ask… “why the UK?”, they both stated that they wanted a destination wedding which wasn’t Mexico and as they were both they were both huge Harry Potter fans it was the natural choice!
As a result, they booked the magnificent Alnwick Castle for August 2020, where the broomstick training scenes of Harry Potter had been filmed and where Michael’s parents had visited and really liked.
I then set to work planning a beautiful summer wedding with plenty of Harry Potter touches; we had owls to deliver the rings, a string quartet playing Hedwig’s theme, long banqueting style tables with floating candles, it was all taking shape nicely and then March 2020 happened; and well, no need to go in to all the details, but their August 2020 wedding wasn’t happening along with the majority of weddings that year!
Fast forward to autumn 2020, a move to Texas was now on the cards and we got news that Alnwick Castle sadly no longer wanted to offer weddings and here was our deposit back! I fully expected my very patient couple to say they’d just get married in the US, but no, they were determined to come to the UK and could I please find them another venue. Their criteria this time was just some kind of castle or historical venue with the wow factor; and it didn’t matter where in the UK. The only request was that it needed to be within reasonable travelling distance of a major international airport as all their guests were coming from the US.
I then had to undo all the plans for the previous wedding, with the aim being we would take the videographer and photographer with us if the dates allowed. And the search commenced for a new venue! After presenting a short list that stretched from Scotland to London, Kathy and Michael fell in love with the stunning Ashridge House, which perfectly fitted the bill as a former royal residence to King Henry VIII and Elizabeth I and it certainly had the wow, plus all the onsite accommodation you could need.
To give as much chance as possible for their 50 guests to be able to fly over they settled on a December 2021 date and we embraced a subtle Christmas theme for the wedding with mulled wine at the drink’s reception, a rich burgundy colour scheme, Christmas music and beautiful themed stationery; plus some subtle nods to Kathy’s Korean heritage.
When I set to work finding suppliers to help, I found some absolute gems, florist Rebecca Marsala was a joy to work with and she created a stunning fan bouquet for Kathy and made the venue look as magical as possible with her floral designs and hundreds of fairy lights which adorned the beautiful staircase where the ceremony would take place.
As Kathy and Michael were legally married in the US, they only needed a wedding celebrant to conduct the ceremony; I found the fabulous Rosalie who created the perfect ceremony including Korean wedding ducks!!!!
In addition, we had a string quartet, a fabulous cake; (Kathy wanted a real showstopper, so fake tiers were added to give it the height it needed), a great DJ and a brilliant hair and makeup artist, who could only do a trial a few days before the wedding, when the happy couple arrived in the UK. Eek!
One standout memory for me was how keen Michael and the groomsmen were to get dressed up in their top hat and tails. On the day, they really didn’t want to take their hats off as they said “this is the only time, we will ever get the opportunity to do this!”. Fortunately, we had the best tailor who helped them with all their hire measurements; if he hadn’t double checked the groom’s trousers… they would have been 3inches too short!
After two and a half years of working together we finally got to meet 9 days before their big day and their fabulous wedding venue; they certainly weren’t disappointed… thank goodness!
As is the norm for US weddings we had a great rehearsal dinner the night before at a nearby traditional English pub, where families and friends came together, overjoyed they had finally made it. Though Covid had reared its head again and travel restrictions prevented some guests joining us, we celebrated with 37 of their nearest and dearest.
On the day more challenges followed. The celebrant was struck down with Covid (but found a late stand in who did an outstanding job) and a different DJ turned up, again as the original was ill. But nobody got stressed, it was what it was and everyone played their part in making the day as special as possible for Kathy and Michael.
And on a Harry Potter note, Ashridge’s staircase was used as inspiration for the staircase at Hogwarts and the Whomping Willow is on the estate, so their dream of incorporating ‘HP’ elements turned out just perfectly!
Planning a wedding is no easy task, much less a destination wedding with the global pandemic on the horizon. Andrea helped us organize everything for our original wedding date and venue, but after COVID hit, our venue cancelled our wedding. Andrea did a new (nationwide) venue search which resulted in a complete redesign of the wedding due to the changes in location, time of year, and theme. She worked overtime to reschedule vendors, find new ones, manage deposits and keep track of refunds. She magically kept us and all of our vendors on track, despite closures and lockdowns. Her professionalism is also unmatched; not only did she communicate flawlessly with alacrity, she never once mixed up appointment times, despite us being in different time zones with different daylight saving hours. We’re incredibly grateful that we had her to guide us through these uncertain waters. Our wedding was absolutely stunning and it is all thanks to her.