Boogie WONDERLAND

Abi and Callum drew on the colourful world of disco for their big-day styling inspiration

Abi and Callum met when they both moved into the same houseshare while working in London. “It wasn’t love at first sight,” Abi says. “When we first met we were both seeing other people and probably took a month or so to even learn each other’s names!” A few months later though they found themselves becoming friends, bonding over the various horrible things going on in the house, and their relationship blossomed from there.

Callum proposed in Zante when the pair were on holiday shortly after buying their own flat. “It was a huge shock, particularly as he’d deliberately spent the evening before managing my expectations by telling me not to expect a proposal any time soon,” Abi tells us.

As soon as Abi and Callum saw Marleybrook House, they knew it was the one. “We always wanted something a bit different for our wedding and absolutely loved the fun fair concept,” the bride explains. “The whole venue was absolutely stunning, and was the first place we found ourselves able to envision getting married.”

Join us as Abi gives us the lowdown on their vibrant and joyful wedding day...

I wore an A-line princess gown, Brooke by Adrienne Papell. I’d always wanted a dress in this style and it was the very first one I saw and picked out as soon as I walked into the boutique – I knew it was the one. I only had very limited accessories: Sophia Webster Bridal flats and earrings that belonged to my Nanny.

The theme of our wedding was colourful disco, so all of our choices reflected that. Marleybrook is a stunning venue so we didn’t need to go too crazy with extra decorations, but added a few bits that reflected us.

We were both so emotional during the ceremony, were just so happy. It was finally happening after the Covid postponement. When the “I dos” were over, we both fully committed to enjoying ourselves – it was such an exciting and fun-packed day.

We asked for mixed brights for our floral displays, with some scattered sunflowers. I absolutely loved the flowers on the day, especially those over the arch, which doubled up as our top table backdrop.

Our cake was just amazing. The sugar flowers were incredible and were the same ones used in my bouquet and floral arch, but made from sugar. Most importantly, it was absolutely delicious and we were able to take the flowers home to keep.

We hired a shimmer wall with a colourful balloon backdrop, which was styled behind the cake during the day and then used as a photo booth backdrop in the evening. I’d given Mini’s Event Hire a blank canvas, and on the morning when it was being set up I loved it so much, I cried!

I spent lots of free time before the wedding making little disco ball vases using mirrored bathroom tiles and fishbowls, which we used as centrepieces. Additionally, we had one specific disco ball made for us by an Etsy supplier emblazoned with our names and wedding day

The place name holders were made from disco-ball themed Christmas decorations, which guests were able to take home afterwards as favours.

Our tables were named after different names we call our cat, which received some amused reactions on the day. We had photos of our cat set up on each table accordingly.

The food was just amazing, our caterer created a Mexican-inspired menu specifically for us based on our favourite food options. Callum wore a blue suit, as did his two best men.

I had a mixed gender bridal party of bridesmaids and bridesmen, as my three best friends are men and I couldn’t bear the thought of them not being part of my bride tribe. The girls wore long teal dresses and the boys wore raspberry coloured suits. Everyone looked amazing and the colours worked together super-well.

The big entertainment for the guests, of course, was the funfair. Marleybrook has the largest private funfair in the UK and we hired out all of the rides for our guests to use. Everyone absolutely loved it and it completely outdid their expectations, as well as our own. It was so much fun and made the day so special, so... us

While we were on the waltzers, Callum managed to lose his wedding ring! Quite the drama. But after a five-minute stress we decided to just get on with our evening. Happily, the Marleybrook team went truly over and above and managed to locate it three days later.

My top tip would be not to leave all the tiny jobs to the end just because they don’t need to be done in advance, such as buying confetti, picking music and so on. When you let it all pile up close to to the big day, it can make the last few weeks very stressful!

THE BIG-DAY SUPPLIERS

Venue, Marleybrook House, www.marleybrookhouse.co.uk | Photographer, Scott Kendall Photography, www.scottkendallphotography.co.uk | Dress and accessories, Country Brides, www.countrybrides.co.uk | Hair stylist, Hair by Becks, www.facebook.com/hairbybeckstaylor | Make-up artist, Beauty Calls, www.beautycallstherapy.co.uk | Bridesmaids’ dresses, EverPretty | Bridesmen’s suits, Topman at ASOS | Groom’s and best men’s suits, Moss Bros | Cake, Pretty Petal Cake Co, www.prettypetalcake.co.uk | Flowers, Foxgloves Birchington, www.foxglovesbirchington.co.uk | Stationery, Mally’s Crafts, www.mallyscrafts.co.uk | Catering, Scott Anderson Catering, www.andersonscaterers.co.uk | Videographer, Meros Productions, www.merosproductions.co.uk | Balloon installation and shimmer wall, Mimi Event Hire, www.mimieventhire.com