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Tania + Andy – Somerset, UK

Tania and Andy’s relaxed, stylish and fun wedding at Brympton House in Somerset should be an example to everyone that demonstrates that when it rains, the party continues! The atmospheric backdrop of the manor house during a storm, coupled with Tania and Andy’s upbeat, positive and infectious energy came together to create a visually stylish, dramatic and authentic day.

Oh, and don’t forget the emotion! The small glances to one another, the deep embraces, the hugs with their parents mid-ceremony, music led by their close friend with so much passion and the oodles of other personal symbols of affection throughout, this celebration in the countryside mid storm really was a real treat for my eagle eyes…

Now for some words from Tania and Andy, or scroll down to see their fun and emotive wedding photos.

Before becoming engaged, did you have any preconceived ideas of what your wedding would be like? And if so, how did this change once you started planning?

We did! We thought we wanted a relaxed “festival” themed wedding in a DIY venue where we could really express ourselves. Something outside in the summer with tipis, lots of music and Glastonbury vibes.

How and why did you choose your venue(s)?

We went to visit what we thought was our dream venue (a farm venue in Somerset) and popped by an open day at Brympton House on the way back to London as a “wild card” to test our assumptions about what we thought we wanted. It was a dark drizzly January and the house looked so grand and romantic in the darkness. We fell in love. We were both quite shocked as it wasn’t what we thought we wanted but the house was so beautiful and the chance to get married in such an amazing venue – with that staircase! was too tempting. We thus decided we could bring the elements of the festival wedding that we wanted to the stunning and grand venue that was Brympton House.

What were your top one/three priorities in planning your wedding?

(1) Having the wedding party being able to stay on site for more than just the wedding day.

(2) Being able to party late.

(3) Being able to bring our own wine.

What one thing most surprised you during the build up to your wedding?

Honestly …. how awful the wedding venue treated us at every step of the planning process and then on the day and after! Their service level contrasted so acutely with the incredible service we got from all the third party providers, the band, cake lady, hair, videographer, photographer (of course!) were all a compete delight to deal with and could not have done more to help and put us at ease. Obviously this does not detract from how stunning the venue is in itself, what a location!

On a positive note we absolutely loved planning our wedding. It really was great fun to plan the food, readings, music, pick the flowers and just plan our perfect party! The build up – shopping for all the outfits, picking flowers and food, learning to do a few dance moves – all of these things provided wonderful excuses to spend more time with loved ones and build excitement.

We felt that one of the best ways to justify the cost of a wedding is to divide the cost by the number of days you look forward to it as that way it seems like a bargain :)

What one thing most surprised you on the day of your wedding?

Everyone says it, but honestly, how quickly it goes. It really was the fastest day of our lives! That’s why our advice to everyone getting married is two things:

(1) Try and stay relaxed and enjoy all the build up and planning as it’s all over in a flash; and

(2) Invest in a good photographer and videographer because at the end of the day after all the canapés have been eaten the photos and video are what you have left!

Of course the weather was also quite a surprise too. We had seen the forecast was not good but we were definitely not prepared for Storm Dennis and the torrential rain and 100mph winds. We had planned for rain so had lots of brollies but the wind meant they all were useless.

I suppose the lesson is don’t worry about the weather as the weather really could not have been worse for us. We didn’t get the beautiful photo by the lake which we had pictured when we booked but it did not matter at all. The storm made the atmosphere electric and made for a wedding no one will forget!

If you could do it all over again, which one thing wouldn’t you change, and if anything, what one thing would you change?

There were quite a few slightly unconventional things we did that friends and family advised against some example – making Oasis, Wonderwall one of our “hymns”, doing a joint speech, having a bridesmaids speech, Andy doing a DJ set at the end of the night. We also worried that our band (very dance music focused) were going to alienate the “older generation” but at the end of the day all these things were what we wanted and made us so incredibly happy all day that everyone else just buzzed off of our energy and happiness.

It’s hard to say what one thing we would change as we can’t imagine it any differently. We wanted everything to be super relaxed and didn’t want any time away from our guests however we probably wish we had spent just a bit more time getting photos with specific groups of people (like school friends, uni friends etc) as Barney had suggested to us before the day.

What advice would you give a couple planning their wedding?

(1) Stay true to what you want and don’t do things just to please other people or because you think it’s something you have to do.

(2) Don’t underestimate the importance of the photos and video. The flowers die, the food gets gobbled down, the dress ends up black (especially in storm Dennis!) but the photos and videos keep forever.

(3) Enjoy every second of the build up as it’s over so quickly and you will just wish you could do it all again.

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