California Dreaming

Hayley and Ben celebrated their big day with Hollywood's greatest...

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Early days…

Hayley could never have imagined that the one thing that would attract the man of her dreams would be the colour of her car. Hayley recalls: "It was a Saturday night about 2am and I was the designated driver on a night out. I was just getting into my bright yellow car with friends and Ben walked past with a group of his friends. They stopped to admire the colour of my car! We got chatting and Ben invited me and my friends to go bowling (I was parked next to the bowling ally) with them, joking that guys would beat girls. We went bowling the following Tuesday and we have been together ever since - the girls won the bowling by the way. We still laugh at how corny it was!"

The proposal happened when Ben and Hayley were living in New York together. Ben had a big proposal planned, but got so excited the day he brought the ring. Not wanting to wait any longer he proposed to Hayley that night whilst out for dinner with family that had flown over for a visit.

The venues…

When choosing their wedding venue, Ben and Hayley wanted something that was conveniently local as well as situated in a lovely setting. The local village of Stoke D?Abernon was the perfect place; it was local to them and has the county's oldest church, St Mary's Church. The church provided them with ideal surroundings, standing close to the River Mole and over looking the water meadows. All-in-all the perfect venue! The couple booked the venue 10 months in advance leaving plenty of time to plan the big day. The reception venue was chosen for sentimental reasons and was at Ben's parents' house in Oxshott.

The attendants…

Hayley's bridal party on her wedding day consisted of two bridesmaids, her sister-in-law to be and her best friend. Hayley also had a flower girl.
The bridesmaids wore gorgeous dresses by Jim Hjelm, which were purchased at Jane Jordan in Kingston. The accessories were kept simple and the bridesmaids' outfits were complemented with a pair of Jimmy Choo shoes.

The groomsmen were the groom's best friend, who was best man, along with two ushers. The groomsmen looked smart and sophisticated in their wedding attire as they were all wearing traditional kilts.

The dress…

Hayley completely fell in love with her gown and looked stunning on her big day. The gown was a striking Amy Michelson design, which was accessorised with a very simple and chic bouquet of white roses and hydrangea petals.

The transport…

The bride and her father arrived to the ceremony in a 1950's ivory and black Bentley R and the remaining bridal party arrived in two ivory and black Daimlers. The cars were the perfect choice for transport and conformed to the black and white theme of the day.

The decorative touches…

The theme of the day was 1950's Hollywood Glamour, Hayley recalls how this was conveyed at the reception, "The room was decorated sensationally! There was the main wedding breakfast marquee, which was only revealed five minutes before guests entered. Black camelot chairs with ivory seat pads were used for the seating and perspex name blocks with the guest's name engraved on it, informed the guest of where they were sitting. The name blocks, also double up as a stylish keepsake favour for the guest to take away. There was a chill-out area, complete with a white baby grand piano, white ottoman cubes and sofas and low white and chrome coffee tables. The dancing area was revealed later in the evening, which was an amazing pure white dance floor."

It wasn?t just the seating arrangements that were eye-catching; everything from the table centrepieces to the wedding favours were chic and stylish. Half the tables had tall, Martini glass style vases, filled with white hydrangeas and the other tables had low glass domes filled with the same flowers surrounded by Jo Malone candles and a scattering of black rose petals sitting on mirrors.

Also in true Hollywood style, Hayley and Ben hired an event photographer to take pictures of guests as they were all looking so glamorous. The guests were also able to take them home at the end of the night which meant that they had another memorable keepsake of Hayley and Ben?s wedding day.

The food...Arrangements for food on the day didn?t follow the conventional sit down meal. 120 guests enjoyed a plated starter, followed by a delicious buffet for the main course and for dessert, they all tucked into a variety of choices from an old fashioned sweet trolley.
The cake was kept very simple and stylish, it was created by Cakes 4 Fun and had three white iced tiers decorated with just black ribbon.

The music? The music for the ceremony was kept very traditional. They played Wagner?s version of the Mendelssohn Wedding March from the opera Lohengrin. During the signing of the register, a friend of Hayley and James sang a Robert Burns poem. For the first dance as the happily married newlyweds, Hayley and James chose to dance to Frank Sinatra?s, ?You can?t take that away from me?.

The best bits…

It was hard to choose one thing that they enjoyed most about their wedding day, but a highlight for the couple was The Three Waiters who performed during the wedding breakfast and really got the evenings celebrations under way.

Everything went perfectly to plan on the day because Hayley and James employed the services of a local wedding planner, Lisa Bevan of White Tulips Ltd, to ensure that everything ran smoothly.

The honeymoon…

For their honeymoon Hayley and James jetted off to America. They drove down the Californian Coast from San Francisco to San Diego and visited all the places in between. They recall:"?It was perfect for us, a complete adventure because we hadn't booked a thing apart from our flights!" Their exciting road trip lasted two weeks.

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