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A Festival Theme Wedding with The Daggers

With vinyl records for their table plan, neon sticks and plenty of colour to create their very own festival themed wedding, Becky & Gary certainly produced Warble’s idea of a fun-filled day. The couple married at the beautiful country house, Blake Hall in Ongar, Essex and with the help of their wedding planner Austin and caterer Dave it sounds like they had a great time with the whole planning process. The couple chose rock/pop band ‘The Daggers’ who are guaranteed to start off a Conga line or two and are definitely the icing on the cake when it comes to making your very own festival.

Becky & Gary - Mick Parkins

Tell us a bit about yourselves

Gary and myself have known each other since school and frequently bumped into each other while out on the town, but it wasn’t until a mutual friend’s party 6 years ago that we actually got together after discovering our shared love of indie music, McDonald’s and stupid jokes. Both of us had just got out of serious relationships and neither of us were looking to settle down, but it wasn’t long before we were besotted with each other and within a year we were living together. Fast forward a few years and we bought our first home and got a little dog, Ellie.

Becky & Gary - Mick Parkins

The Proposal

We got engaged while on holiday in Tenerife. It was Gary’s birthday and we were all dressed up to go to a charity event. Before we headed off Gary invited me onto our balcony where he had a couple of glasses of bubbly waiting (well cider, because neither of us like champagne and I’m classy like that lol). He then took me completely off guard and proposed. I fully remember being all flustered because we were running late and my make up was melting in the heat but after he proposed I could’ve looked like the Joker for all I cared, I was over the moon. We were, however, completely unaware that I was 4 weeks pregnant at the time, which we only found out a couple of weeks after we got back, we were delighted. Two of the biggest milestones in life and we were conquering them at the same time. We decided to wait a couple of years to get married, so we could enjoy parenthood and make sure we had enough time to have the perfect day we always wanted.

Becky & Gary

So you said yes… What happened next?

We weren’t entirely sure what we wanted, although we had been to a barn wedding and we loved the type of venue and the rustic theme. So after a little bit of research we found Blake Hall and it looked perfect. We organised a meeting and fell in love with the place and with the wedding planner Austin. He was funny and laid back but obviously very passionate about each and every wedding and the place was gorgeous. It was the first place we looked at and the last, there was no need to look elsewhere. We booked it straight away and everything fell into place from there. Dave, in charge of catering, was also an absolute legend and together him and Austin made us feel like a part of the family.

Becky & Gary - Mick Parkins

The Dress

I was trying on wedding dresses at 3 months pregnant (in the strongest pair of control pants I could find) and buying bits and pieces every day. In fact buying so much our neighbours were on the verge of charging us for taking in parcels ha!

The Decor

We both love music and decided to theme the wedding around bands we loved and had seen and knew from day one that we wanted an indie band to perform at the reception. Our table plan featured retro vinyl records with names of the bands we had been to see as a couple. We had glow sticks and neon sunglasses dotted around the place to get everyone in the festival mood and made sure we had plenty of colour with the help of the beautiful flowers from Karen at The Flower Mill.

We love a personal touch and we were so thrilled that so many of our friends and family came together to help us out. My friend Roz did our make up, my sister-in-law Sophie did our hair, my father-in-law supplied the sweets for the favours (courtesy of Rascal Confectionery) and a family friend made our cake using our main colours, coral and teal. My bridesmaids helped with the decorations and my sister and maid of honor helped me decorate recycled jars for flowers and paper straws. It really gave the place a relaxed and rustic feel and everyone loved it. The barn was decorated with fairy lights down the beams and we had tea lights covering the tables to give a bit of a romantic feel.

Becky & Gary - Austin, Blake Hall

The Entertainment

When it came to the band, we didn’t really know where to start as we didn’t know where to find wedding bands in Essex. But when I dropped into conversation with a group of friends that I was after an indie band, one of them recommended The Daggers, who they had seen play at a wedding she had been to. So we jumped onto the laptop and found them and a few videos of them playing and we loved them straight away. They were very talented and knew how to get a crowd going! We got in touch with Sam at Warble and she was fantastic – super organised, very friendly and quick to reply and didn’t mind that I had a hundred questions to ask. She really made the whole process smooth and enjoyable. When the day got nearer I got to speak with Luke from the band and he was great – really put us at ease and took on board all of our suggestions. On the day, well… they were beyond brilliant! It wouldn’t have been a party without them, they had everyone on the dance floor and really knew how to get the place jumping. The conga and 500 miles sing-off were the highlights of the evening for me, it was more than we could’ve ever wanted and I got to throw more than a few shapes myself. All in all, a perfect day and one we’ll never forget.

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Thanks again for everything, we really had the most amazing day (and night).

Bridesmaid DressesNew Look

Suits – Young’s at Debenhams

VenueBlake Hall, Ongar, Essex

Entertainment – The Daggers, Warble Entertainment

Flowers – Karen at The Flower Mill

FoodWaters Edge Catering

Photography – Mick Parkins – [email protected]

The Gallery

 

Published by Warble Entertainment

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