We have been catching up with absolutely
stunning and beautiful Matt and Kylie who are getting married at our Romsey
venue on 16th July THIS Year. It’s always great to hear from couples
about how they are feeling about the big day with just a few months to go and
what the journey has been like for them! They are calling their super cool wedding
Grad-fest, with a guest list of over 200, the day is all set to be magical and
memorable.
Here at Wedfest HQ, we have enjoyed every moment
of working with these guys! Kylie is about as relaxed as any bride could be (read
on!) and Matt is just up for anything, LOVE IT!
Having caught up with them both at the epic
Glastonbury festival last year, which was Kylie’s FIRST Glastonbury, we asked
them how it was for them…
Matt and Kylie with some of their Glastonbury crew!
Wedfest : “Did you guys stay up after
midnight, if so where did you go”?
Kylie: “Yes....hmmmm it's a bit of a blur as I spent most of my time walking
around with my choppers open as everything was so cool. I do remember a
lots or fire at Arcadia though!”
Kylie braving the long drops! Yum!!!
Matt: “All over everywhere,
I remember New York Down Load, Arcadia... The fire works on Wednesday were
amazing and a very long walk back to the campervan field lol”
Wedfest: “What part blew you away the most of the after dark
Glastonbury?”
Kylie: “How alive the festival still was & the view from the top of the
tower. Oh and surviving the hill of death every night”!
Matt: “That we made
it through another day!”
You can't have Glastonbury without a bit of mud now boys and girls!
Wedfest;” Now be honest, what the latest you got back to your van”?
Kylie: “5am (Matt walks slower)”
Matt: “Think 6am one
morning eeeek (don't listen to Kylie)”
Wedfest: “What is your top tip to cure a hangover?”
Kylie: “Matt's magical BLOODY MARYS!!!”
Matt: “Every morning
I woke up and made Bloody Marys for everyone, it saved us all, but on the last
day we ran out and shockingly you can't buy tomato juice in a Glasto super
market!”
Wedfest “What was your most memorable moment of the festival?”
Kylie: “Crying with my mate Heather....seeing Lionel too as he's a ledge and
just being able to experience such a magical event like Glaston-berry (said in
a Lionel accent). Wooo plus laughing non-stop and of course meeting up with our
awesome wedding planners :-) to watch Friday I'm in Love who rocked and
will be headlining Grad-Fest”
Matt:” When Kylie
and her mate Heather were talking about how emotional being at Glasto is
and they both started crying when Lionel sang”
Matt's unmistakeable grin, get your coat lovely, I think you found yourself a wifey!
Wedfest “How are you feeling about the big day
coming up?”
Matt: “Very
excited, I can't believe it's nearly here. The past year has flown by & I
wish it was tomorrow but I don't want it to be over too soon.”
Kylie: “Very
excited, I cannot wait but then I don't want it to come too quickly
because it will all then be over too soon”.
Wedfest: “Has it come around quickly?”
Matt:” I
can't believe its only 5 months away!”
Kylie: “Extremely,
feels like only yesterday we found the lovely SJ & Si :-)”
Chalk Board that Matt had made up as part of his proposal...
Wedfest” What
has been the best part of planning so far and have you found it easy?”
Matt: “Having
a happy relaxed bride- to- be like Kylie, who when asked what colour
scheme do you want for festival flags, her reply was " I dunno festival flag
colour."
Kylie: “Hell
yeah we have a SJ...& Si. Thinking of crazy ideas of what we
can do them realising we can actually do them all. The world is our
oyster!”
Wedfest “What
has been the most challenging?”
Matt: “Not
getting too carried away and though that was never gonna work with me and Kylie!”
Kylie: “Clarifying
what grilled cheese sandwiches are ;-p”
Just to clarify, this is what a festival cheese toastie looks like!
Wedfest “What are you most nervous about?”
Matt: “Getting
drunk and falling asleep standing up!”
Kylie: “Grilled
cheese sandwiches coming out as cheese toasties”
Wedfest: “Are
your friends and family surprised you are having a festival wedding?”
Matt: “Everyone's
reaction has been - you were never gonna have a normal wedding!”
Kylie: “I
don't think anything surprises them anymore, they know we're insane and it was
never gonna be a conventional wedding.”
Wedfest “What
are you looking forward to the most?”
Matt: “Being
married to Kylie”
Kylie: “Becoming
Matt's wife...Mrs Gradley, with a G!”
Wedfest "What advice
would you give to couples planning their big day? "
Matt:
“If you have an idea that you want to do then do it. Don't stick to convention
because everyone says that's the right thing to do. It's your day.”
Kylie: “Sit
back, relax and the fairy (SJ) will make sure everything goes seamlessly. Enjoy
all the planning and the creative ideas you can play around with making your
dream wedding come true”
Nawwwwwww
these guys, you can see why we love love love them so! You know when you meet
people through work, but you just know you are going to be forever friends…?
Yeah that!
They have
some brilliant plans coming together nicely with a good old fashioned but of
Wedmin! We are all super excited to see these guys get hitched and I ( SJ) know
I am definitely going to cry!
We will keep you all posted and will most certainly be blogging their wedding out, until then we are keeping the big day under wraps!
It was Christmas day at 11.15pm when I got the following
message “My daughter is looking for a wedding that is a relaxed personal event
that is fun, different and allows everyone to be themselves and enjoy the full
day around music and dance (and the odd silly game)”. Receiving emails like
this is always music to my ears and I, of course jumped all over it.
The email was from Lucy, Fleur’s mum, who turned out to be
pretty much the coolest chick on the block, nah that’s an understatement, IS
the coolest chick on the block and I have to say I have a lot of love for her.
You know when you talk to someone you have never spoken to before and you just
hit it off? Well, that’s how our first call went. It wasn’t long before Simon
and I went to meet Lucy and her lovely hubby Matt, who really is a trooper, to
talk about how we engineer real music wedding festivals. Lucy explained that
the girls’ family and friends needed to secure a venue where they could have an
event that was just like a real festival, I knew just the place. You see, there
is a difference - as I explain to lots of couples between a festival themed
wedding, and a fully engineered music festival. Fleur and Vicky, without doubt
wanted their very own full on festival -that was to be called Wedfest 2015.
Both brides are based some distance away, so we had to wait
until February 16th to meet them. We all sat there very quietly
discussing possible options for their day…Hang on that’s a load of shite, we all hugged like long lost friends, jumped up and down a
bit, squealed and went through ideas as if Santa was sat in the room. The girls,
both stunning inside and out, said yes to pretty much everything and had some
epic ideas themselves. By the time we left them, I knew Wedfest 2015 was going
to be quite some event, it certainly was that and so, so much more...
The emails went backwards and forwards over the next couple
of months until we had the outline plan of their day. Fleur and Vicky were
incredibly relaxed and took it all in their stride. Actually, if you want to be
involved in the planning of your day which these girls certainly did, then you
do really have to take on “Wedmin” - a new word created by them specifically
for this. One of the other really special memories from this wedding was the
amount of love for these girls shown by how much their family and friends
wanted to get involved. As a festival bride myself, I can tell you that this is
the best gift you can have.
As always with weddings, the date came around in no time at
all! The sun was shining (which was nothing short of a miracle for this August)
and everything was going to plan.
We arrived at the beautiful site in Tadley for the first
drop off on the Wednesday before the big day and the crew were on site ready to
set up on Thursday morning. By Friday evening, as planned, with some guests already on
site we were ready to give these girls the best day of their lives…
Now the truth is that I actually cannot and will not ever be able to convey exactly what happened on this very special day as it really is indescribable! It’s a good
job that Chris Meany was on hand to capture it. I have been sat here today
going through over one thousand pictures, how do you chose the best ones?!
The venue opened to all the guests that hadn’t camped the
night before at 10am on 8thAugust. So much excitement in the air as
their friends and family were greeted with Pimms, a wrist band (big shout out
to Wedfest for more awesome work here) and the lyrics to “How sweet it is to be
loved by you”. Some guests pitched up; whilst others were led to their
pre-ordered bell tents all glamped out.
These guests were all naturals, sat out in the sunshine
drinking Pimms next to their tents waiting for the arrival of the two brides.
The atmosphere was nothing short of electric and I got to use
my megaphone for the very, very first time as I called all guests to take their
straw bales seats ready for the arrival of the brides. Much to everyone’s
delight, Simon had designed a flag church - which I have to say looked awesome
on so many levels for the girls to walk down. This aisle ended on our chill out
wooden structure built and erected by Matt ( Fleur’s Dad) , which is now part
of our furniture and will be used for many years to come. I had created a Boho log display with the help
of the girls from The Flower Girls florist in Basingstoke. That display sat just behind
the wedding arch where the girls were set to exchange their vows. The love sign
was placed in the prime position overlooking everyone and Matt from our crew
had created a heart out of straw for our brides to stand on. Trailing flowers
from bird cages, vintage displays and so much love awaited these stunning
brides...
Now, if they had asked me to guess what their wedding transport would be I would not have been wrong – No horse and cart in site here. These girls arrived in total style with their Fathers in a land rover, it was perfect. I think you can see from the pictures they were certainly ready for a fun packed day!
The girls walked in (eventually, slight issue with sound,
these things happen at live events) to the remarkable Katie Louise singing Jason
Mraz I’m yours. She also sang again during the blessing accompanied by the incredibly talented Matt (
Fleur’s Dad) on sax who gave us all
goose bumps galore! Andrew, who conducted their blessing made the guests cry and
laugh and all in the period of 25 minutes. It was beautiful, meaningful,
heart-warming, romantic and hilarious!
The guests gave a sterling effort singing away to “How sweet
it is to be loved by you”, whist the girls sang their hearts out and danced
around without a care in the world. Now ladies and gents, that’s how a blessing
works at a real wedding festival!
Confetti was handed around, which was a mixture of dried
colourful wild flowers as they exited their blessing through the flag church to
be greeted by our team handing out Carol’s (Vicky’s Mum) homemade Limoncello.
Now, we were given the privilege of a taste of this the day before and I have
to say this lady has got talent, more on Carol on her home made beverages
later!
First up on the stage was Tony (Vicky’s Dad) to welcome
everyone formally and give his speech. As one would expect, he was and is a
very proud Father and rightly so. A collection of photographs had been put
together to share Vicky’s life with the guests as they gathered round for him
to spill the dirt, I mean share cherished moments! As it happened he did both
and it was a beautiful speech to honour his love for his daughter and also both
his and his wife’s delight that Vicky had found her soul mate Fleur. Good work
Tony, you did everyone proud.
Awesome Wedding favours created by the mazing Carol, Vicky's Mummy!
The scintillating smell of chicken and chorizo paella was
whofting through from The Swine Waiters Gazebo that ushered guests to tuck in.
First shout went to the bridal party who were then taken down to the stunning camomile
fields at the Tadley venue by Chris, our photographer. Poor Chris, he gets such
a rough ride from me, “Make sure you get this shot, that shot, blah blah blah
blah” but he has never yet let me down, not even once. It’s a rare art to be
able to shoot weddings and events and I have to say, he’s got it all!
Ok enough of the niceties, other than Matt’s Speech that’s
about as sensible as the day got and everything from there on in was festival
style outrageous! Nothing naughty, just really really good fun! Love it!
The Music line-up started with Just Millie, now I understand
why she is called “Just Millie” as she is a solo artist, but there is no “Just”
about this raw talented artist who opened the line- up. Her unique voice that
covers just about every range makes the hairs on your arms stand on end. Having
not long released her EP Lanterns and latest track “ Not Ok” we were absolutely
thrilled she agreed to perform and perform she did. This young lady is going
places let me tell you. Plus she’s really, really super nice and gorgeous too!
The girls had mentioned that they were slightly competitive
and wanted to include some Wedfest Whacky races…The two teams were to be team
Hartman and team Wallace, these were made up of the girls closest friends and
families, no team were prepared to lose this, it was a matter of pride!This kept me up at night, not worrying about
it, just being bloody excited over it! I
was literally nearly as excited about this wedding as I was my own!
We started with the all-time favourite classic Wibbly
Wobblies. The chosen weapons of guest distraction were shots to start them off,
twenty times around a hock stick and a bean bag on the head on the return. Now
some got smart and raised the hockey sticks off the floor, clearly that was a
default and earned them an extra shot!
Next up was The Ceildh Tree and what a treat they were. A
duo that performed Irish folk as I haven’t heard for a long time. Out they came
into the main festival arena with the caller getting guests up to join in the
antics. It was really hard as nobody wanted to dance…Ahahahahahaha what a
crock, these guests were on it and there was no way anyone was stopping them
from dancing the afternoon away all with huge smiles as they did. You may think
under normal circumstances that this would wear the guests out, that they would
need a bit of recovery time?Like hell,
this was like a warm up for these party animals, just helped them find their
dancing shoes! Plus Mr Bibbo had just arrived with delicious ice-cream, so
there was no hanging about!
What happened next was one of the most brilliant things I
have ever seen at a wedding. It would of course have to involve RemedySounds.
For those of you that have not yet checked him out, do so, he is an exceptional
artist that has played at all of our events this year and we really hope he
will next year. So, I have told you about this team Hartman and Wallace battle of
the brides. Well, as RemedySounds was playing his set, I came up with the idea
of a dance off. Remedy, being the artist he is, totally took hold of this and
turned it into something quite remarkable. I say Remedy, but honestly these
girls embraced the challenge and put on a performance that looked like it had been
rehearsed for months. That is exactly what happens when you put RemedySounds in
a field with not only one stunning bride, but two, along with their amazing
friends and family. Other than the blessing, I have to say this was my personal
favourite part of the day. Good work all of you, you dropped it like it was hot
alright and some!
The awesome Mums took to the stage to announce the winners
of the Wedfest Bake off! There were something like twenty eight entries! Mmmmm
CAKE! The well-deserved winner was Nicola Sykes donning her
apron prize like a boss!
Our beautiful brides then took to the stage to deliver
something absolutely unique, charming, beautiful and so meaningful! They had
written a poem that between them, they took in turns to read verse by verse. I
think I was in tears by the fourth verse. They thanked all of their many
beautiful friends and family who had made their day special and Si and I got
called to the stage for a gift too. So we are back to Carol’s homemade Somerset
Sloe Gin and Limoncello along with a beautiful ball we have hanging in our
lounge. Well, that was it for me then, tears all the way. We thanked them by
later playing our rendition of Peggy Lee’s Fever with Si on the upright bass
and me on vocals.
The girls said everything they needed to say and more and I
know both sets of parents were very proud of them, as was I!
Right, I am not really sure how to explain next up on the
stage, it was Turd doing “Camel toe”…I would pay to have this chick perform
this at all weddings, she’s an absolute legend and I laughed so hard and still snigger to myself about to it this day!
To end the speeches, the lovely Matt, Fleur's Dad took to the
stage. He also had a slide show and a movie. Remedysounds kept the guests
entertained in a way that only he can whilst this was set up. Yeah, those of
you that were there will know what I am talking about.
Matt took to the stage with ease and sat in a chair to
deliver his speech to the guests to not only honour his daughter and Vicky, but
the truly amazing Lucy his wife. He should actually be a stand up comedian as
he had all howling and of course crying…again. You see, this happens when you
become so close to your couples and their family and friends over the course of
eight months. I really do see them as new friends now. We were incredibly lucky
to be chosen by these girls to help them plan their day.
Most unexpected for us was a band next on called Jack Curtis
and Friends. All incredibly talented musicians that Matt used to play
with. These guys really set the mood and transition from summer afternoon to
banging festival. The stunning harmonies from the backing singers were
outstanding and I think I heard correctly that one of the backing singers was
only on her second set with them- wow! The whole band were tight and performed an
amazing set. I would love to get them involved in what we do. The dance floor
was packed and each one of the guests from the youngest to the oldest were
having the time of their lives!
Guests had been helping themselves to the array of cakes
that had been baked, children were creating all sorts of things in the arts and
crafts tent, faces were being painted by Sunny Faces who were fabulous in their
own right. People were sat under parasols or in the chill out area or at the
bar getting a cold pint of cider or ale. This really was what our brides had
wanted, a fully-fledged music festival and boy did they get it. I have to say
though what was really nice, was that although everyone was enjoying a few
select beverages, none of them got outrageous at all, they were having far too
much fun being involved to waste it on booze!
No rest for the wicked obviously! Next it was the Wedfest
Whacky races. This was fundamentally nuts I tell you, nuts! From Sacks, to
fancy dress, to egg and spoon and three legged races kinda nuts. Every good
Whacky race ends up with a Tug ‘o’ War - and war it was. Both teams cheating
from onset and rounding up every abled person to join in, man, woman, child or
beast. Unfortunately, I was the umpire so couldn’t take the place of beast! Big
shout out to the girls who discovered there were some shots left over after the
games and drank them for the team – You legends, you are good people!
The girls first dance was sung live by the epic SJ and the
Harmonics who came on and performed a set that covered everything from sixties
soul to chart hits. They had the time of their lives and so did the guests.
This band got up there and just went for it, they were cooking! SJ’s has got
such a range that her vocals can just own any song and covered Adele and
Florence! However, the girls had chosen "Your the best thing" ( Ray LaMontagnia) as their first dance and I
know it will be a treasured moment for them as it will be for everyone who was
there. Well done guys, can’t wait to see you perform again soon, you really are
a flaming hot group of musicians.
Not that these party animals needed refuelling, but who
would turn down a hog roast! Not just any old hog roast either, one prepared by
our bestest caterers - The Swine waiter. Succulent, rare pork served with all
the trimmings, so my mouth is watering right now!I should point out that I didn’t get any
crackling despite Simon asking for a bit for me…I wonder where that went Mr
Williams?! Ah yes the magic crackling thieves been at it again?! I’m on to you!
I’ve spoken to Ed and next year its war, bite me! Not my crackling….Anyway
moving on…
The headlining act was a secret, you got it, and we had to
keep a secret for a whole eight months. Believe me this is hard enough for me
to do for two hours, not because I would intentionally blurt something out, I
can just get a little excited from time to time…I popped behind the bar to grab a bottle of prosecco a few
glasses and a couple of blind folds as you do…and got the crew to get the
brides and Fleur’s parents who had planned the surprise to meet me there. After
the girls had supped up a glass and been blind folded they were guided into the
main marquee, where their headlining act was waiting for them. The band kicked
off and their eyes were uncovered to be greeted by The Rhythm Blues Brother
tribute band, a personal favourite of the brides. Well that was it then, the
marquee erupted, the crowd became unstoppable dancers and The Rhythm and Blues
Brothers band totally owned that stage, boom! Covering all the classics from
Everybody needs somebody to Shake your tail feather to Gimme some lovin. They
delivered a set that nobody wanted to end. Can’t say it was easy working out
how you were going to sound check a nine piece band without the brides knowing
who they were, but they pulled it off! Even the bass player was the spitting imagine of Donald "Duck" Dunn from the actual film and he even rides a Triumph much to Simons delight! Thank you so much guys.
Could it actually be 11pm already?! It sure was, why does
wedding time go ten times faster than normal time?! To top off their day Silent
Disco King put on a three hour set for everyone to literally dance the night
away until 2am.
Those who weren’t in at the silent disco could be found sat
around fire pits eating Schmores, (these are chocolate biscuits, more chocolate
and Marshmallows, yeah pretty heavenly) or tucking into the vintage sweet shop
that had all the classics from Refreshers to white mice.
By this time, some guests had quietly departed back to their
tents, while the last standing finished their drinks around a campfire with a
good old fashioned sing song courtesy of RemedySounds, who was still going
strong!
What well behaved beautiful guests they all were, as I said
this day was filled with love, so, so much love!
The Swine waiter was up at 6.30am prepping for the mandatory
breakfast baps. There are few things in life after a night of partying that can
actually beat this as we all know, washed down with tea and coffee for good
measure!
The morning was a lazy one, I did threaten to use my
megaphone but thought better of it! Guests slowly packed up and said their
goodbyes some of which by Sunday felt like long lost friends to me! I have to
say Wedfesters 2015, you were all so wonderful and tremendous fun, I think we
should do this every year! It was all of our absolute pleasure to put on this
wedding festival for all of you. Thank you for all of us for making it so
special for these beautiful brides and their families, it’s a day I think none
of us will forget.
A huge thank you to all of the suppliers that were involved
with special thanks to the following;
Our stunning venue in Tadley –For all the help in prepping
the site, being on site and on call at all times and so happy to help. For the
showers!!!! We love you guys! Do contact
us if you are interested in holding an event here.
*Names have changed to protect confidentiality.
Chris Meany Photography – I know I am diva and I am sorry,
but look what you have produced yet again. Ok you would have done this without
me being a diva…You are amazing. http://www.chrismeany.com/
The Swine Waiter for not only sorting the crew out with
Bacon Sandwiches and all sorts of other scrumptious goodies, but agreeing that
I get crackling before Si next year as he’s so had one over on me! http://www.swinewaiter.co.uk/
The Flower Girl – For the bouquets, bird cages, site
finishing for the Boho displays and table decorations. You really did do an
amazing job, we love you! http://www.theflowergirlflorist.co.uk/
Security Nation – Not that you were needed as these guests
were super lovely, but amazing to have your crew on site who are all super
lovely. http://www.securitynation.co.uk/
The Musicians - You all put on an array of incredible tight
sets – I so wanted to be a guest at this wedding! Good work, can’t wait to work
with you all again.
