Sam & Beccy's Wedding
Sam and I held our wedding at Hampsley Hollow in June 2017. We first visited the site one very wet and windy February afternoon but immediately fell in love with it. Even on this miserable winter afternoon, we were immediately struck by Hampsley Hollow's beauty and potential to make a stunning venue. We were looking for a natural and relaxed setting where we could add our own touches of our personalities and Hampsley Hollow ticked all the boxes.
Once the venue was booked, we next booked our reception drinks, and it had to be the Bubble Bros prosecco van! We wanted to have a festival vibe and continued the theme with food trucks for the wedding breakfast and evening food. We had delicious pie and mash provided by The Sausage & Mash co and in the evening The Little Taquero provided the most amazing tacos from their funky orange truck. Having these fab looking trucks on site really added to festival theme and it was exciting as each one turned up.
We had a traditional marquee provided by Honeycomb Marquees and we decorated it with lots of colourful lanterns, bunting and pom poms. Our tables were laid with beautiful flowers from Flowers in Focus in Melksham and as favours we gave our guests wedding festival wrist bands and glow sticks! It was great to see everyone wearing these for the rest of the evening!
We sourced as much as possible from local suppliers, who were all so helpful and hands on. Krystal and Jo at Hampsley Hollow are two of the loveliest people and were so supportive of our plans. Nothing was too much trouble and they made sure we had everything we needed on the day.
The site is absolutely stunning. Following our first visit we had pictures in our mind of what it might look like in the summer but we were blown away by the natural beauty when we had our first summer visit. In the middle of a valley, surrounded by green fields and pretty flowers, we knew we had found the venue we had dreamed of.
We had great fun with our friends and family planning and making all the decorations. Although we had a bit more to think about in terms of logistics and decorations, it was totally worthwhile when we saw it all coming together in the days leading up to the wedding. Our guests appreciated the personal touches we made. We had a lot of support from our friends and family, which made setting up so much fun and really special. As we had use of the site from Thursday to Monday, our wedding celebrations were extended with a BBQ and a romantic night staying in the bell tent on the Thursday evening. We did not want to leave on the Monday!!
We had a small official ceremony at Trowbridge registry office on the Wednesday before the wedding. It was more important to us to have a ceremony at Hampsley Hollow with all our guests and we had a beautiful service held by a wedding celebrant. Neither Sam or I are religious and we wanted a ceremony which was personal to us. Pamela at Clear Day Weddings provided just that. Pamela spent a lot of time getting to know Sam and I and we worked together to create a service which was special to us.
We held the ceremony at the bandstand and I walked down the long path from the entrance gate. This is simply the most stunning aisle to walk down. From the top you can see all your guests waiting and I will always cherish this image.
Sam had four groomsmen and I had four bridesmaids and two "flower fairies". The bridesmaids wore pink floral dresses which worked really well against the natural backdrop. The flower fairies wore little wings and gypsophila crowns. They looked adorable!
Our first dance was an acoustic version of Disclosure's "You and Me", which led into the remix which is when our guests let off confetti canons and Sam and I jumped around the dance floor in excitement!! The pictures of our first dance, with our guests laughing in the back ground, captures the fun we all had on the day. Our photographer, Zac Gibson, captured all our special moments perfectly.
Rather than hire a professional bar, Sam built a wooden bar and we hired fridges. We supplied the reception and dinner drinks and asked our guests to bring their own booze. This worked really well. There were no queues and no worries about having enough cash/signal for a card machine. All our guests really got on board and safe to say we had a very merry wedding party!
Sam and his Dad also built a DJ booth and one of Sam's ushers DJ'd for us. Our wedding was made even more special by our friends and family who all contributed in different ways.
The next day, we had a BBQ breakfast for those guests who stayed at the site. We then cleared up, which didn't take very long at all. We had hired recycling bins and were lucky to have lots of helpers. On the Monday morning we helped to take down our marquee and then in the afternoon we hopped on a train from Chippenham to Gatwick to start our honeymoon adventure to the Indian Ocean.
We are so glad we chose Hampsley Hollow as our wedding venue. All our guests were amazed by the wonderful and unique setting. It was just perfect and we would definitely recommend it. We owe a huge thank you to Krystal and her family for being so accommodating and for creating such a beautiful venue. We are already thinking about holding our first anniversary party at Hampsley Hollow! Our wedding was so much fun we just want to do it all over again!
