Tell us about where and when you first both first met and What were your first impressions of each other when you first met?
Alice: We first met on Day 1 of the graduate training programme at PwC. Jack approached me thinking I was somebody he’d met before and after an initially awkward exchange, we got chatting. My first impressions of Jack were that he was very silly and fun.
Jack: My first impression of Alice was that she was very funny and trendy. I liked her corporate wardrobe from Day 1.
Tell us about who proposed to who and where did it happen?
Jack :I proposed to Alice on Bembridge Beach on the Isle of Wight, not far from Alice’s family home. It was a beautiful morning in February and I got down on one knee on a dog walk. Alice was sobbing so much that passers-by thought we were having a row and I’d upset her.
Alice: My parents were in on it and so were waiting at home with champagne at the ready. I later found out that Jack had thrown up that morning because of his nerves!
How did you find and choose your wedding venue, Bembridge Isle of Wight?
Alice: We had the reception at my parent’s house in Bembridge, in a marquee in the garden. I’ve spent most of my life holidaying on the Isle of Wight with my family, so it’s become a spiritual home. We’re very lucky to have such a beautiful view of the Solent from the garden, and to have such a pretty church a short walk away made it a no brainer.
Tell us about your wedding dress; the designer, how long it took you to find the one featured in your Hampshire Wedding video.
Alice: The dress was designed by Phillipa Lepley. I actually fell in love with a different dress initially which happened to be the first dress I ever tried but it was so far from what I expected to wear that I thought I should try some others just in case and so went to PL as the classic dress destination. The team were amazingly helpful during the trying process and just seemed to know exactly what would and wouldn’t work and when I tried the actual dress it was a no brainer, the veil just sealed the deal.
It was then made from scratch for me and I had nine fittings in all(!) because the attention to detail is completely next level they even make a ‘fake’ version first so that all the little decisions could be worked out first. The veil was also hand stitched and I’m still obsessed with it. The dress was absolutely perfect and the team couldn’t have been more brilliant.
Tell us about what the Ushers wore featured in your Hampshire Wedding video?
Jack: We wore Morning Dress. I wore a jacket from Frank Bird in Wakefield, and the rest was from Oliver Brown in Chelsea – duck egg blue waistcoat and hound’s-tooth trousers. My tie was chosen to match the cornflowers of the wild flower meadow.
Was there any surprises featured in your Hampshire Wedding video
Alice: It wasn’t a surprise to us because we were in on it, but our guests were surprised by a ‘singing waiters’ routine during the wedding breakfast. A fake chef and waiters suddenly burst into song and got the guests up on their seats, swinging their napkins around. Very raucous fun right before the Best Man’s speech, which he wasn’t too thrilled about.
Jack: My 93-year old Grandma Dorothy leading the guests in a conga during Dinner was also an unexpected highlight.
Did you have any readings in your Hampshire Wedding Video and if so, why did you pick them?
Alice: We had a church ceremony so it’s a requirement to have at least one bible reading so we chose Songs of Solomon for that. The second reading was ‘Union’ by Robert Fulgham which I actually read at one of my best friend’s wedding a few years ago and thought it was so perfect I shamelessly stole it and she graciously read it for us at ours and it had everybody sobbing.
Tell us about the finishing touches like favours, sweet carts etc & name any suppliers & companies that featured in your Hampshire Wedding video and helped make your perfect wedding day come true:
Alice: We were lucky to have the most amazing suppliers, all of whom were incredibly helpful and put up with my constant indecision throughout. A special shoutout has to go to Clare at Bembridge Flower Shop as I would send her an email with some photos of ideas and she would reply pointing out that they were all entirely different and yet somehow still create exactly what I was looking for! (I say ‘an email’, it was A LOT of emails…). Where possible we tried to keep our suppliers Isle of Wight based.
Food: David and the team from All About Catering
Photographer: Casey Avenue (Hannah)
Make-up Artist: Abigail Crane
Hair Artist: Robert Hold
Band: Salut
Entertainment: Singing waiters, Encore Entertainment (Rory Campbell)
MCs: TC and George (Alice’s brothers) were excellent last-minute stand-ins after Ashish sustained a ruptured quadricep two days before the wedding
Flourist: Claire Munro, Bembridge Flower Shop
Transport: Pete and Roger, Bembridge Harbour Taxis
Wedding Cake: Ellie, Frostbite Bakery
Rings: Bear Brooksbank designed and made Alice’s engagement ring
Favours: Lady C’s Bees Honey
What was your favourite part of your Hampshire wedding day?
Alice: It’s so cheesy but I loved absolutely every minute. Though the singing waiters and the band were real highlights for me.
Jack: For me, Salut [the band] made it such a great party. They even put up with me briefly honking on the trombone during their set.
Were there any funny moments that you will always remember featured in your Hampshire Wedding video. ?
Jack: I vividly remember the guys and the girls separated on the dance floor and duetting Señorita by Justin Timberlake. That, and getting very choked up on several occasions during my speech.
Alice: Our vicar had me repeat the wrong name during the service, and our best man getting boos (in a nice way…) for a tasteless joke were both very entertaining!
Why did you choose us, Hampshire Videographers to film your wedding on the Isle of Wight and what did you think of your experience being filmed?
Jack: We both instantly liked the style of Ground films and we liked the fact that we’d get both a shorter version and a near full-length record of the ceremony and the speeches. The experience of being filmed was not nearly as embarrassing as I was expecting. In fact, James was giving me sage advice throughout the day and keeping me calm – especially before the ceremony.
Alice: I did quite a lot of searching around for the right videographer as it was something we weren’t initially sure about having but decided that if nothing else it was a useful way to capture the speeches! But then the more research I did the more I realised that it would be a really beautiful way to capture the essence of the whole day and then when I stumbled across Ground Film’s website it was an immediate ‘please still be free!’. We loved the style and the subtlety of the videos and how they seem to capture the whole feeling of the day while also the tiniest details.
Any advice for future wedding couples thinking about having their special day filmed by Hampshire Wedding Videographers, Ground Films?
Alice: Do it! I think I was hesitant because I didn’t like the idea of a camera following me around all day or making us do really cringe shots but it really wasn’t like that. In fact, our friends and family were far more intrusive with their cameras and phones and James made it feel so relaxed.
Jack: Go for it. I still smile when thinking back over our day and I will always look forward to watching our film, one day – I hope – with our kids and grandkids.