A Modern Day Love Story: Jo + Justin at Chilworth Manor

Jo and Justin’s wedding celebration at Chilworth Manor will have you taking notes for your dream wedding day!

Not only are their sweet smiles melting our hearts, we couldn’t help but fall for their modern-day love story! From plentyoffish.com to a Caribbean proposal, Jo and Justin were able to celebrate their love for each other with a glowing wedding reception at the luxurious Edwardian Manor House set in 12 acres of stunning landscaped gardens. With gorgeous settings inside and out, the two were set for picture-perfect moments throughout the day.

See Jo and Justin’s wedding day at Chilworth Manor unfold and find out what happened during Jo’s bouquet toss!                      

The Beginning

“We are a success story of plentyoffish.com! We chatted online for about 2 weeks before meeting for the first time and our first date was at Marwell Wildlife Park in Hampshire. This was a great venue for a first date, we hit it off straight away and the rest is history!”

The Proposal

“A few years down the line, we purchased our first house together in Berkshire. After our first year of living together, we went to the Dominican Republic in the Caribbean on holiday. We had an amazing time exploring the island. On our final night, we went out for a special meal and when we returned to the room, Justin surprised me with a beautiful engagement ring and asked me to be his wife under the stars on the balcony. It was perfect!”

The Venue

“Our reception venue, Chilworth Manor in Southampton is located very near to my hometown and the venue had been recommended to us as an excellent location for wedding receptions. When we visited Chilworth Manor for the first time, we just knew it was perfect for our wedding. The hotel is a charming manor house, set in beautiful grounds with plenty of accommodation for our guests.”

“From initially booking the venue to finalising all the arrangements for our big day, the staff at Chilworth Manor were excellent! Jo Bennett, our wedding co-ordinator deserves a special mention. Jo was brilliant at supporting us on our wedding planning journey and ensured that our special day went off without a hitch. On the big day when we saw the ‘Coach House’ reception room all dressed up, we were both amazed! All of our plans had come together, and the room looked perfect! Jo and the team at Chilworth had really pulled out all the stops to make sure that we all had a wonderful day!”

The Photographer

“We met Steven and Karen at ‘All Occasions’ photography at a wedding fayre at Chilworth Manor. We were so pleased that we picked them to photograph our wedding. Steven and Karen were very professional and lovely to work with. On the big day, they were brilliant, putting everyone at ease. They helped guide the timings to ensure we had all the photos we wanted. When we arrived back from our honeymoon in the Maldives, the photos were a lovely welcome home surprise! They were so beautiful and really told the story of the day.”

Trends & Themes

“We followed a few current wedding trends. Our table centrepieces were a mixture of tall floral arrangements and smaller vases with a beautiful mix of peach and cream colours, to complement our aqua colour theme. We also had two large column floral arrangements which stood either side of the top table. As a sweet treat, we hired a beautiful vintage pick n’ mix sweet table from ‘Everything but the Dress’ and a white post box for our wedding cards. For our wedding favours, we made a donation to Macmillan Cancer Support and we gave each guest a keepsake Macmillan pin – our guests really appreciated this! For the wedding table plan, we decided to be creative and each of the tables were named after our favourite dog walks that we take our beautiful Cockapoo ‘Poppy’ on. We had a white decorative tree and hung the table names from each branch, with twinkling fairy lights draped around the tree.”

The Attire

“My dream wedding dress designed by Morilee – Madeline Gardner, was purchased from Brides of Southampton. I knew as soon as I put the dress on, -that it was the one for me! The aqua coloured bridesmaids’ dresses were from Tiffanies in Southampton and the Groomsman looked very dapper in their navy lounge suits from Cavendish Menswear in Romsey, with complimenting tweed waistcoats and aqua coloured ties.”

Memorable Moments

“My most special moment was walking into the wedding reception room with my new bride, after being announced as Mr & Mrs Woodley for the first time!” -Justin

“Our first dance was a very special moment. This was particularly lovely as my dad’s band ‘Blonde and Blue’ kicked off their set with our first dance.” -Jo

“The most embarrassing moment of the day had to be the bridal bouquet toss!! I ended up throwing it up in the air so high, that it landed in the ceiling drapes!!”

Supplier Information

• Venue:

  Best Western Chilworth Manor

• Photographer:

  All Occasions Photography

• Band:

  Blonde and Blue

• Bridal Shop/Designer:

  Designed by ‘Morilee’ – Madeline Gardner, purchased from Brides of Southampton

• Florist:

  The Flower Stables

• Hair & Make-up:

  Gemma Armstrong Professional Hair and Make-up

• Wedding Cake:

  The Little Wedding Bakery

• DJ:

  Jef Powell – Malibu Disco 

• Wedding Car:

  Bentley Arnage from Just Rolls Wedding Car Hire

• Venue Decor :

  Luminique Events

• Sweet Table & Post Box hire:

  Everything but the Dress