Essex Brides? Friern Manor

He should be playing when they have the food tasting !

I know , ive looked at dresses on line but so want to go and try one on !!!!

x

That will be good then!

Haha I am really looking forward to that bit too!! This time next year, we will be saying how much there is to do! x

Yay, more Friern Manor brides! 27/07/12 will be my hubs 30th birthday so I will remember you!!

Are you all ready for yours ?

When do you have to decide your menu etc..?

where did you go dress shoppping??

x

We had 30 guests in the day and got married at 1.30pm. We had an additional 50 guests in the evening. The colour scheme was lilac and silver.

We had the Pianist play us out of the wedding (Madness it Must Be Love) and we also had him during the meal. Lovely man and was willing to play whatever we wanted (within reason). We had the melon trio for starters then chicken breast with normandy apples and our choice of vegetables then finished with the dessert trio. The children all had the breaded chicken. (My DH is a mega fussy eater but this went down very well).

We had the Hampton buffett in the evening (although the food choices were different 5 years ago) and we still took home quite a lot of food.

We did have the DJ, I wasnt sure at first because I hadnt seen him do his thing beforehand but he was very very good. We gave him a huge lists of songs we wanted (3 pages full) and a list of songs we didnt want played for various reasons and he totally stuck by our lists which was great. Our first dance was to "Kissing You" by Des'Ree which he didnt have so we gave him a copy of it and he was happy to play our disc for the song.

We also used Lindram who was their chosen photographer at the time. We had looked at a few but didnt really like anyone. Loved all the pictures that Lindram took so would also recommend them.

Our wedding cake was from The Icing on the Cake in Basildon and it was a fruit layer, vanilla sponge then a chocolate top layer with white icing and purple hearts and our cake topper was a Me to You Bear Bride & Groom (in lilac).

Gillys Lilys near the Castlemain pub did our flowers and table centre pieces.

Our bridsemaid dresses were from 2 Hearts Bridalwear in Stanford-Le-Hope who were just lovely. My wedding dress was from Confertti & Lace in Lakeside (but I dont recommend them lol lovely dress but poor service).

Honestly talking about it makes me want to book another wedding day lol.

The picture below was one taken by a friend on the day as I dont have my professional ones on the computer.

Ah you look lovely!

Thanks for all the info!

I think they still have the same menu!!!

I am getting very excited now and am happy that i have made the right choice.

Ah I love reading all this.

We're going back in October to pay the bill, eek and talk menu's etc, I can't wait! I originally found a dress in Satin n Lace in Hornchurch, first dress I tried on! I was convinced it was the one and went shopping where my mum lives in Rayleigh then ended up with a dress in Southend. I knew before I even put it on!! Seeing it on tue ?

Ahhaaa - found this thread again. Took me long enough.

Mrs M - I'm based in Sunny Southend. So prob a bit of a trek to come and do make up!

Gemgems - that is a gorgeous picture. I have picture envy!!

I can't wait to choose our menus - the food all looks lovely so not quite sure how I'm going to decide!

I got my dress from Pronuptia in Romford, all the girls in there were really lovely. The dresses in the shop at lakeside were beautiful but the customer service put me off - they weren't getting any of my pennies!! Oriental Pearl at Bluewater was good too with lots to choose from. Now for the shoes and underwear!

Ive heard theers a good shop in Stanford and another in south woodham !!!

Havent been myself yet to look at dresses... to early !!!

I quite fancy lamb for dinner but probably stick with safe old chicken!!! hahaha

xxxx

Hi all we saw Friern Manor this week and I felt really at home there, I think the attention we got from the person showing us around helped. We really like it so have added it to our lsit of favourites - the others are in kent as that is where my family is from but it would only be about 40 minutes from the church, plus my OH is from Essex so we like the idea of spanning two counties on the day! I just wanted to ask - how come there are no other weddings on your day - is it just good luck or did you pay extra for that? I know they say they can have two weddings and you don't even notice each other; I just liked the idea of making use of both the house and the coaching stables! We have put a provisional booking on Sat 7th July 2012 xx

Hi Ladies I got married at Friern Manor 3 weeks ago and it was fantastic best day of my life!

The staff were brilliant esp Fernando. Had it all in main house and marquee. I can try to answer any questions you want to know.

Donna x

Hi Girls!

Its great to read all the past conversations, its nice to hear others are thinking the same! I am getting married at Friern Manor in May 2011 and can't wait.

Congratulations Donna, hows married life?

x

Good thanks I love it!! Met loads of his distant family last week and was lovely him introuducing me as his wife!!

Your wedding day will come round so quick, have you got much else to organise?

What dress you having?

Donna x

Thats lovely, i cant wait!

I have been a very organised bride, i think it was the excitment.

My dress is by Pronovias, it was the last of 21 i tried on and i fell in love with it. I cant wait to wear it for the day.

Where did you go on your honeymoon? x

I thought I was organised until the last week and everything seemed to be needed to be done at once! Spent the last week so stressed and worried but we did make most things ourselves including we decorated cake ourselves, well me and my sister did H2B had a relaxing week lol.

We went to Egypt for honeymoon and was fantastic, have you booked yours yet? We booked ours on the Sat and went on the Monday!! :-S

x

I know, i panick at the thought of them last weeks. I am sure i will be a nervous wreck!

We booked our honeymoon last year so we could spread the costs of everything out. We are going to the Maldives, we havent ha a holiday for the past 2 years and probably wont for a while so going to make the most of it!

I bet you had a shock when you stepped off the plane to snow! ?

Hi Brides 2 B!

How are you getting on? Have you any stories from your wedding day at Friern Manor and any prewarnings? ?

Hi The only thing I have to warn you about is the water on the table, I was told they charge for more than was consumed so we had tap water so they couldn't do that to us! and then any drinks ordered ie more wine on table we asked for them to check with us 1st and we had no problems at all.

The other thing the decoration on my cake was on loan from my sister and we never got it back, the kitchen threw it away. I would make it very clear if there is anything you want afterwards.

My sister went to watch us cut the cake and when she got back to the table her champagne had been cleared!!

The breakfast next morning was not as nice as I was expecting as im vegetarian there was not much choice for me, they 1st seated us on wrong table and then the high chair we asked for was not there and we were 1 chair short but to be honest these were just tiny things and DID NOT ruin our brilliant day at all!

Donna x

Hi there

We have just booked to get married next year at Friern Manor, I just wanted to know - do most people have chair covers there or are their own chairs ok? Does anyone have any pictures they can email to me of the table doecorations and chairs? I need ideas!!

Thank you

Amy

Hi Amy, what date have you booked?

We have personally decided to hire the chair covers, I think it adds a nice touch - we have been there a few times on a Saturday morning when it's being set up for wedding, so you might be able to do that and get a good idea of how it all looks?

Congratulations first off!

We have booked chair covers from finishing touches. They have a really good range of colours. I have dropped in a couple of pics i found. We found a perfect blue to match, i do think it adds a nice touch. We havent bothered with them for the ceremony as we arnt in the room for very long and they dont move the chairs.

Hi Shell,

We have booked the 25th Feb 2012. That is a great idea, I will have to give them a call and fin dout when the next wedding is. When are you getting married?

Amy

19th May 2012 - def call them! ?