Kirsty & Gary's Wedding Story
Seven months before our wedding our venue pulled out and I had to start looking for a last-minute venue for a July wedding.
It seemed like the impossible. Luckily, my bridesmaid, Nicola was on the case and she arranged a viewing for us at Castle Goring.
Gary and I immediately fell in love with the venue, whilst I admired the romantic architecture Gary disappeared to play the beautiful grand piano for an hour.
It looks like a typical British castle from the front and a Roman Villa from the back, considering the grand exterior it surprisingly had a warm welcoming and homely feel about it. We booked it immediately.
The morning of the wedding was incredibly hectic, in hindsight, the bridal party was probably too large but I have a big family and if I did it again I wouldn’t change a thing.
We had the ceremony outside. I walked down the staircase from the balcony to the lawns. I clung onto my Dad’s arm praying that I wouldn’t trip down the stairs, it was such a beautiful ceremony.
There were lots of tears and lots of laughter, narrowly escaping the summer rain.
It was important for us to have a fusion of English and Chinese wedding traditions, embracing our heritage and blending them for the future. The decorations were red and gold to follow Chinese wedding tradition and the venue was very helpful in organising the tea ceremony, which was a very special moment for everyone.
The rest of the day went smoothly and so quickly. I didn’t even notice the downpour of rain when the wedding breakfast was served. My youngest sister broke tradition and did a brilliant speech which left everyone roaring in laughter.
I like to think of our wedding as an international affair, as friends and family came from all over the world, and it turned out that many people were excited to see the British tradition of the bouquet toss.
However, it was not the elegant event people were expecting to see, and it quickly turned into a competitive and hilarious wrestle amongst the single ladies.
We spent the day laughing, loving every moment. Just when I thought that things were winding down, Gary surprised me by playing the piano and singing Bruno Mars’s song ‘Amazing’ to me. There was not a dry eye in the Castle by the time the song was finished.
I will never forget that moment, with Gary and the whole party singing to me there was so much love in the room I was completely overwhelmed.
For us, our wedding was purely about bringing the families together and celebrating our love.
All the staff were so attentive, everything ran effortlessly so we could just enjoy the day.
Our wedding at Castle Goring was so much more than I ever anticipated and we will be blessed with our wonderful memories for the rest of our
lives.
