Hadlow Manor Wedding by Louisa Dettmer, Kent Wedding Photographer

Kirsty & Kris

Hadlow Manor Hotel

The Wedding of Kirsty and Kris, Hadlow Manor, Louisa Dettmer Wedding Photography

Kirsty & Kris chose Hadlow Manor Hotel for their wedding and we asked them to share their story with us.

Scroll down the page to see links to all their wedding suppliers.

Kirsty’s Wedding Story:

For us it all started as Kris mum was my Brown owl at brownies and as we both where the same age he had to tag alone to the day trips as he was too young to be at home.
Years later we both turned up at the same high school which I remembered his face from brownies and become friends as we were in the same circle of mates at school but it wasn’t until we left school that we got together when we were 17 years old on the 18th August 2007 and we have been together ever since!
With The 18th of August being our anniversary we would always make sure we went out on that day to make it special so we knew that, that date would be the day we would get married so on Saturday 18th august 2018 we got married on our 11th year anniversary which made it even more magical than it already was.

We got married at: Church: St John’s The Evangelist Hildenborough Tonbridge at 2pm on Saturday 18th August 2018 which is a church we both love as it is local to our home and would both drive past it every day, look and smile at it as it is a stunning church. The church is beautiful on the inside and differently gives you that wow factor when you walk in. The aisle was the best walk of my life! To see my husband standing at the other end waiting for me with the biggest smile on his face and the look of pure pride is one of the moments I will remember for the rest of my life and to be able to have that walk with my dad and step dad arm in arm was a very happy moment for me as it was something I never fort would happen.
The ceremony it’s self-felt like time had just stopped still and the warmth in the room was felt all round with all our family beaming with happiness watching us say our vows and becoming husband and wife. Having the choir and organist present singing the hymns just made it sound like a proper traditional wedding and the reading and blessings where just great. the cheery on the cake for me was walking back down the aisle hand in hand with my new husband while listening to the wedding bells chiming out of the church.

My dress was a Mori Lee Princess Dress. With a sweetheart bodice covered in crystals and a corset back from Elizabeth James Bridal.
This shop was my childhood dream shop to go and by my wedding dress as it was the shop I used to pass on a daily basis as a little girl! for as long as I can remember I would pass this shop every day to go to infants and primary school and I would look up at the big windows to see what dresses where in the shop front and picture myself in them dresses looking like a Disney princess swirling around and looking as pretty as I can be so the older I got I just knew that this would be the shop I would go to and by my wedding dress for my very own wedding day. I had done my research on dresses and I knew what style of dress I wanted what make and ever thing. by chance I had driven past Elizabeth james bridal shop and done my normal, glanced over to the shop windows to have a quick look and there it was my dress in the shop window glittering in the sunshine and I knew straight away that was the one for me. I rang the shop and asked them if the dress in the window was a mori lee princess dress to which the lady said it is indeed I can tell you have done your research! so I booked an appointment to go try it on.
I went down with my mum and my dress was the first one I put on! I felt like that Disney princess I had always dreamed of as a little girl and with that my mum started crying so I knew it was meant to be.

Hadlow Manor, we went to our first wedding fair and spent all day there looking around collecting leaflets and browsing. Before leaving I asked Kris if there was anything he wanted to go back to or look at before we left, and he said can we go back to the Hadlow Manor stand and get a brochure as he really liked the look of it. Kris was the one who picked Hadlow manor and we both absolutely feel in love with it, plus it was nice and local to our home and the church so was a perfect choice to go with. the room itself was very big and just felt like a great space to fit everything we wanted including our large amount of family. the first thing I remember looking at as we walked in was the size of the chandeliers twinkling in the lights and the big open doors that lead out to the beautiful gardens which had pretty flowers and an amazing big oak tree. we were the first couple to book it up for 2018 as we had booked it nearly a year and a half in advance. one of the other reasons we liked the manor was that it had accommodation to stay in as we had family travailing from all over to come to the wedding so that was a most to have for us.

Pulling up to Hadlow manor in our wedding car felt so magical and like a fairy tale it was my very own little castle. we were greeted by the amazing and very friendly staff from Hadlow with a glass of champagne each and our toast master Michael Bowdrey which is a must have for many bride and groom on their big day as there job is to take all the stress away from you guys and do all the running around for you. Michael was a pleasure to have around, very professional at what he done and so helpful and kind. he was just a star all round.

The room was decorated in pink as for me pink is the best colour in the world and any one that knows me knows how much I love all things pink but I’m also obsessed with Disney so there was little touches of Disney all over from little micky mouse gems on my bouquet with a Tinkerbell charm to the Disney castle cake topper and fairy jars as our centrepieces to match in with the little pots of fairy dust as favours. the room was also filled with flowers as it’s a pretty way to kit out the room, so I had brought lots of artificial rose garlands and placed them everywhere, so they fitted in lovely with the real flowers the venue had made and styled for us.

Walking around the grounds felt very magical so all the pictures that you guys took looked stunning you both made us feel so comfortable and just at easy. you were truly a joy to have around us and couldn’t have wished for two better people. you are just great at what you do, so easy to talk to and helpfully with such friendly faces to go with it. so, thank you again.

The wedding breakfast was a memorable moment as having all our family’s together under one roof was a blessing in itself. I can remember sitting back in my chair half way through dinner and looked at Kris who gave me the biggest smile ever, I then looked around the room at everyone and just watched them talking, smiling, laughing and I can honestly say I truly felt the love in the room and made me weal up with happy tears what a time to be alive. I was so happy I took the time to take it all in because everyone looked so happy which filled my heart with joy so much love and warmth.

The speeches where first class and very well done by our best man josh my dad and of course Kris he made me feel very special indeed he done a great job.

We spent the night dancing away on our led twinkly dance floor with the room glowing with pink mood lights and the big LOVE letters lighting up the DJ area which where fantastic. Discologic where a great choice to have has our entertainment and highly recommended as they provided the whole set up and pleased us and everyone with their talent and friendliness. we also had a bouncy castle and kids table full of activates to keep the kiddies happy, a photo booth provided by a good friend of Kris and a sweetie cart that Kris had made himself which looked stunning he worked so hard on it.

Kris also organised I little surprise with some of our evening guest and close friends to come down to the wedding in a mini convoy as minis are very close to our hearts in my family so to have them there in the evening was amazing and made some great pictures. they did look good in front of the manor house if I do say so myself.

Our Flower Fairies had white tutu dresses with my hand made rose love heart shaped wounds I made them and fairy wings.

The Bridesmaids dress were long chiffon fuchsia pink with a lace bodice and corset back.

The boys suits, Kris had seen some suits he liked from Slaters in Bromley so got everyone together for suit fittings where he picked out his suit and waistcoats so he would stand out from the dads and best man suits. which he went for a mid-grey suit with a light pink waistcoat and fuchsia pink cravat while the dads and best man had the matching suit to him but with white waistcoats and the fuchsia cravat. they all looked very handsome and was so nice to see them all looking so smart. the one thing me and Kris agreed on was that as tradition the groom isn’t meant to see or know about the brides dress so I felt it was only right for him to pick his suit and everything involved himself without me knowing or seeing it so it was a great surprise for me on the day too.

The flowers I had made myself with artificial flowers. So, I made both my bridesmaids’ bouquets and our flower girls wands. my bouquet was with help from my mum and her next-door neighbour Sara.

Our wedding cake was hand made by our family friend and my mums other neighbour Barbara. which was a 3-tier cake with 2 tiaras in red velvet and the top cake was fruit cake and of course had a Disney theme.

My Tiara was a replica of the Queens crown which made me feel like a proper princess! I also wanted to have the tradition of something old something new something borrowed something blue, so the old was my jewellery that I wore to my school prom, the new was my beautiful dress, the borrowed was a pair of my nanny’s ear rings and the blue was the blue ribbon on my garter which was hand made by my cousin who has her own little business called Fluffy and Squidge.

Hair and makeup was by Lydia Palbrow at Lydia lash hair and makeup Sevenoaks.

With our stationery we tried to make as much stuff as we could our self’s, so we made our table plan, favours, kids packs, sweet cart, letter box, pallet photo frame, flowers, invites and more.