Who doesn’t love a fairytale wedding?!
Sean and Hannah’s wedding was a fairytale dream…literally! Both true lovers of the beloved stories and Disney, the pair planned a dreamy wedding day that whisked their guests off to another realm. With lots of detail and hints of winter romance, Sean and Hannah were able to create their own storybook romance at Ashdown Park Hotel & Country Club.
Take a look at of Sean and Hannah’s “happily ever after” wedding day for some serious Disney wedding inspiration.
The Beginning
“Sean and I both love fairytales and Disney; I even completed a course in the psychology of fairy tales at Brubeck University, London as a personal interest. Sean has a big love of Orlando, and had visited Disney in the past. So when we met on a dating app, we instantly had lots in common including both working in Insurance.”
“When we got engaged, the night before we flew to Disneyworld Florida for 10 nights. We knew we would have a fairytale inspired wedding but we were very certain we didn’t want the references to be too bold or ‘tacky’. We had already seen Ashdown Park in photos, but had never visited, but whilst we were away celebrating our engagement, we made enquiries to visit Ashdown Park as soon as we got back from holiday. Once it was booked, we worked together on finding ways to add personal touches that were subtle but still noticeable, especially to other friends and family who grew up with Disney. We’ve even started our own YouTube channel to vlog our adventures and trips to Disney. Our recent vlog even includes some (very casual) clips from our wedding day at Ashdown Park! Ellie, our wedding coordinator went above and beyond to make sure our day was extra special and we cannot thank her enough for her efforts.”
The Wedding Attire
“The dress was from Hayley Elizabeth Bridal boutique in Farnborough, London. I had lace applique sleeves added to the dress to make it more personal and in keeping with the winter theme. My veil was also from Hayley Elizabeth and my tiara was by Jon Richard. My earrings were Disney Swarovski jewellery from Disneyland Paris to match my bridesmaid’s gifts which they wore on the day. I also wore vintage snow boots for the church ceremony and the outdoor photographs. My Cloak was also vintage.”
The Venue
“We chose Ashdown Park for our wedding reception venue for several reasons that are really in keeping with the theme of our wedding, which was a winters fairytale, with Disney and Beauty and the Beast references. Ashdown Forest is the forest that inspired Winnie the Pooh, we, therefore, can treasure the fact that our wedding reception was set in the magical forests that inspired one of our favourite stories. On the morning of our wedding, in the honeymoon suite getting ready with my bridesmaids, I opened a wedding gift from Sean which included a classic Winnie the Pooh bear, which I will keep forever. Funnily enough, I too had bought Sean a modern Winnie the Pooh bear as his wedding gift! So it felt like fate that we had both bought each other the same gift, but both were different in their own way – which was rather poetic when you think about the marriage of two individuals to become one! Further, the setting of the Lady Chapel for our wedding reception blew us away when we visited, as the stained glass windows backdrop were exactly what we wanted for our theme. They are stunning and all of our guests were amazed by the whole venue. Sean and I love Christmas, and we knew as soon as we got engaged that we wanted a winter wedding including beautiful Christmas trees, which Ashdown Park had! We also loved that the hotel could accommodate so many of our friends and family, as we knew we wouldn’t have a small wedding, so needed somewhere special enough to make sure our guests were comfortable. We visited a couple of wedding showcases, which were great, and we found some of our suppliers by doing this, so would highly recommend them for newly engaged couples considering a wedding at Ashdown Park. It was also such a special touch being able to have a private buffet breakfast together with all our guests in the John Hayward room the morning after the wedding. It really was the most magical day of my life to date and I wish I could relive the moment all over again.”
Theme and Decor
“For the table centrepieces we shopped in garden centres to pick up unique Christmas decorations including magical keys, and clocks, and artificial holly, and we found the beautiful golden wreaths for our centrepieces. We went to vintage shops to get old books, and we then personalised them with photos of us. We also bought lots of fairy lights to be decorated everywhere also and even a cardboard pop up the castle for the children to colour in – in keeping with the fairytale theme.”
“We also used BM Bespoke for our table names and other signs for guestbook and also our handmade personalised wooden post box, as they were hand carved wood and spray painted gold – these were for people to keep as a momentum. We used Disney postcards purchased online for guests to leave us messages, and post in our post box, as a unique version of the conventional guest book.”
“We had special favours including mini grey stuff cupcakes, inspired by Beauty and the Beauty (made by WickyWoo cakes – noted above) crafted in gold boxes we provided, and personalised stickers and Sean’s father Steve handmade sloe gin and sloe vodka which we put into bottles for guests with personalised rose detail stickers, Sean and I designed online. We also gave guests hand carved wooden hearts as drink tokens in burgundy gift bags to redeem against drinks.”
“We also obtained light up ice cubes online for our own personalised cocktail – Something Blue Glowtini – inspired by the Glowtini cocktails sold in Disneyland Paris.”
THE FIRST DANCE
“How Does a Moment Last Forever – Celine Dion – this song is special because it was written for the live action Beauty and the Beast film that came out in 2017, and the words are very poignant. In addition, I (Hannah) took my mother Lynne to see Celine Dion for her 60th birthday present, live at The O2, which was one of her dreams to see her live. During the concert, Celine Dion sang this very song, and it will forever be a “pinch me” moment knowing that very song would be the first dance at my wedding. Then during our mini-moon in Disneyland Paris, one evening, that song was played whilst the fireworks went off around Sleeping Beauty’s castle. It was so magical!”
“During the reception at Ashdown Park, we played a playlist we put together on Spotify of acoustic songs including Disney, Harry Potter, Back to the Future and other soundtrack favourites inspired by our favourite films and adventures in Florida.”
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Supplier Information
Venue:
Ashdown Park Hotel & Country ClubPhotographer:
Simon StewartBand:
Mike WilliamsBridal Shop/Designer:
Hayley Elizabeth Bridal boutiqueFlorist:
Zara FloraHair Stylist:
Suzy Taylor at Suzy’s Mobile HairdressingMakeup Artist:
Grace BensonMagician :
Stephen JamesWedding Car :
1960’s Jaguar from Amazing GraceLighting :
Pete WilliamsWedding Cake :
Kat of Kat’s CakesBeauty and the Beast cake :
Emma at WickyWoo Cakes
