When you choose Thicket Priory as your wedding venue, you’re choosing more than just a place to get married – your coordinator (and pretty much the entire team!) becomes invested in your story, from how you got engaged to where you’re going to honeymoon, and we’re always encouraging you to come back for a visit so we can catch up…
Amy and Steve’s story is one which we’ve all followed closely, from initial enquiry to their wedding day to honeymooning in Japan, they’re now enjoying married life with their gorgeous baby boy, Sebastian.
Here’s a little reminder of their stunning spring wedding back in April 2023…
To celebrate their anniversary, the three of them came back to Thicket to have a wander round the grounds, catch up with the team and get some more photos to follow their bump shoot they did at the end of last year – so we thought we’d ask them a few questions to follow on from their Real Wedding Blog here.
So how did you meet Mr/Mrs Right? We met at work.
On my first week of work, I got an ‘agency boy’ tour by one of the account managers where the account manager pointed out all the single guys in the agency. After the tour the account manager asked who I was interested in but stated that it could be anyone but Brucey (this was Steve’s nickname at work).
A week later at someone’s leaving do one of the account directors nudged Steve in my direction.
When did you know they were ‘the one’/ how did they pop the question? We were meant to be going away for a few days, Steve had planned a lakeside proposal but lockdown restrictions were put in place stopping us going. So instead, we got dressed up for a New Year’s Eve night in, cooked a three course meal and whilst we sat talking about how far we’d come that year and all the things we had achieved Steve got down on one knee and popped the question. Steve asked me to marry him at the same dining room table we had lived, worked, laughed, and cried at during the whole of the pandemic year… It seemed so fitting and so perfect!
What did you do for your night prior to the big day? We stayed over at Thicket Priory with 60 of our family and friends. We put on a meal for everyone and one of our friends did a pub quiz to break the ice.
What was the biggest MUST HAVE for your wedding? For Steve it was the band, they were a non-negotiable, and his green suit. For me it was making sure we’d got the right photographer – you have your pictures forever!
Who was your florist and what did you choose?
Our florist was the amazing Kim from Dreamboats & Carousels. Our brief to her was happy and colourful using in season flowers, including cherry blossom as a nod to our honeymoon in Japan. Kim created our bouquets, button holes, cake flowers, and a deconstructed arch for the end of the aisle, along with floor meadows that lined the aisle and then later framed the top table.
How did you find THE dress to say ‘I do’ in? Where did the boys get their suits from?
I wore a dress by Ukrainian bridal house, Esty Style. As soon as I tried on the dress (at The White Yard Bridal Boutique) I knew it was the one! Everyone commented on how unique the dress was and that it was very me. I needed a dress that had the wow factor to match the venue, Thicket Priory – the puff sleeves brought the drama, whilst the thigh high slit added a modern touch. Steve’s green suit was custom made, using fabric from W.T. Johnson’s and tailored by Owen Scott Bespoke Tailors. We always knew we wanted Steve to wear a green suit and we searched for months trying to find one but never quite found one we loved. W.T. Johnson’s is a client of ours and they kindly offered to gift us some fabric and dye it any colour we wanted – giving Steve a truly unique suit. Steve wore a William Morris tie, along with all the groomsmen, dads and brothers to ‘tie’ them together as they weren’t wearing matching suits. The bridesmaids wore a sage green, one shouldered dress from ASOS, whilst the groomsmen wore a beige suit from River Island to complement Steve’s suit rather than match.
How did you pick the perfect photographer/videographer to capture your day?
Our photographer was the very talented Charli Palmer. I stumbled across Charli on Instagram (@photosbycharli) when we first got engaged and loved her style. I knew from first meeting her that I wanted her as our photographer and she didn’t disappoint! We loved that she captured the essence of the day and there was no awkward posing and cheesy wedding pictures! Charli brought second shooter Ryan with her to help capture the day, and together they both took photos and videos. We’ve since had a maternity photoshoot with Charli – we love how relaxed she is and can make us, and her photos just come out so amazing. Both our wedding pictures and video came out better than we could’ve ever expected!
Who gets the gold medal in the wedding olympics for helping make your day amazing? My mum, Paula. She designed all the stationary, hand painted the wedding invites, and made our vision come to life!
Which supplier was a real stand out for you? The unsung star who deserves a special mention. It’s really tricky to pick just one! Jo, our celebrant, really brought the energy to start the day. Also, Purple Chilli – our guests are still talking about the amazing food.
Out of 10, how involved was your partner in the planning process? Did this help with your planning process? Steve was actually the one who found Thicket Priory (he won’t let me live it down). He was in charge of the music and I did run most things past him. I wanted to make sure the day was what we both wanted so it definitely helped that he had an input into the planning.
What was it about your venue that gives it the WOW factor? Would you recommend this venue to other couples?
The fact that there was so much detail! We viewed so many venues that were empty spaces without any personality. We loved that Thicket Priory has small details everywhere and we didn’t need to do much to the venue for it to feel so special!
You honestly won’t regret choosing this venue! We’ve been to Thicket as guests as well as bride & groom and we can honestly say it’s the best venue we’ve ever been to. All the staff are so brilliant from the run up, to the actual day / weekend, and beyond.
How did you style your venue? Did your wedding day have a theme?
We always knew we wanted to go to Japan on honeymoon so we booked our wedding for April so we could head off to Japan straight after for cherry blossom season – unfortunately we missed cherry blossom season as it was the second earliest bloom on record! But we knew we wanted to incorporate cherry blossom into our styling and our flowers.
We love colour and are quite a creative family so we knew we wanted to add as much colour as possible to our day from the flowers and decor to Steve’s suit. From the beginning of wedding planning we had discussed getting Steve a suit that was different to the standard blue or grey wedding suit, we ended up getting the suit custom made (and the green was actually a custom dye). I knew I needed a dress to match the drama of the venue!
What’s your favourite memory from the day?
So hard to choose a favourite memory! Everyone says that their wedding day was the best day of their lives but ours really was and we got to do a full weekend of it! From getting legally married on the Friday with just our immediate family, to having an amazing day of celebrating with all our friends and family, to catching up with everyone the morning after.
But if we had to choose, Steve’s was seeing me walk down the aisle and the first dance. And mine was the ceremony and the amount of love felt in the room!
Finally, what’s your best advice you could give to couples who are about to tie the knot?
One piece of advice we were given before our wedding was from the moment you walk back up the aisle as husband and wife to spend the rest of the day together. Go everywhere with each other, whether that’s the bar, speaking to people, the dance floor or even the toilet! Your wedding day is about the two of you so spend it together!
Post-Wedding
Where did you go for your honeymoon?
Japan – we spent time in Tokyo, Kyoto and Okinawa.
How did you find out you were expecting?
I had a gut feeling that we were when we got back from Japan but waited a couple of weeks to take a test. I then took a test while Steve was at work (just in case it was negative, I didn’t want to get his hopes up) and it was positive!
How does it feel coming back to Thicket Priory after your wedding?
So special – it reminds us of the wedding weekend and all the build up too. We’ve been back a few times to catch up with the Thicket team, as well as for maternity and baby photoshoots.
A year on what’s the part of your wedding you remember the most?
The ceremony, it was the best start to our day – everyone was cheering and laughing all the way through. You could feel the love in the room.
What did you do for your 1 year anniversary?
We came and showed Sebastian around Thicket Priory and then went for an early dinner at The Pearly Cow in York.
It had been a whirlwind of a year so it was really nice to go back to Thicket Priory on our anniversary and reminisce about the wedding. And so lovely for Becca and the team to meet our son.
Looking back, is there anything you would have done differently for your wedding?
No we wouldn’t change a thing, everything was perfect how it was.
If after seeing their wedding and reading about Amy and Steve’s experience, you’re interested in having your wedding here and becoming part of the Thicket Priory family, please get in touch HERE, we’d love to hear from you.
With love,
Lil xXx
Supplier Love
Photographer & Videographer Photography & Films by Charli
Florist Dreamboats & Carousels
Celebrant Love Jo Ceremonies
Bride’s Dress Ukrainian Bridal House at the White Yard Bridal Boutique
Bridesmaid Dresses Asos
Grooms Suit Owen Scott Bespoke Tailors
Groomsmen Suits River Island
Hair Studio Sister
Makeup Amber Kiah
Cake Costco
Daytime Musician Glen Roughead
Evening Musician The Warning Tones
Live Event Artist Lucy McLoughlin
Props Event Prop Hire
