Richard & Amy

Richard and Amy love vintage, and chose to have a vintage theme to their wedding, so they needed a venue that looked the part. They also wanted to choose somewhere close to their house, so they had both their ceremony and their reception in the magical Lillibrooke Manor, ‘An old farm with a big converted barn’.

The Debonairs' choice of songs and interaction with ourselves and the guests was superb.

Richard describes the venue as ‘Amazing... The ceremony was in a smaller barn which was attached to the larger barn. It was open plan, with wooden beams, brick walls – very well lit, but quite old fashioned looking inside.’

They didn’t ask their guests to dress in vintage, but the decor and the invites were all in vintage style, and Amy wore a vintage wedding dress from White Mischief Bridal. The decor was organized by vintage crockery and accessory expert Elaine at Pretty Vintage Things. ‘We had vintage crockery, bird cages, old signs and bunting and all those sorts of things.’

‘After the venue and the ceremony, the next most important thing for Amy and I was the music and the band, and we feel that we could not have made a better choice than The Debonairs 60s cover band.’ The Debonairs specialise in quintessential English cool, covering hits by 60s bands such as the Kinks, the Small Faces, the Rolling Stones and the Beatles.

Richard and Amy had seen a Function Central band play at a festival in Harlow and searched for that band – then found the Debonairs on the Function Central website and chose them from their selection of wedding bands in Berkshire.

‘My wife and I love 60s music. The band and their pictures looked perfect – that was exactly what we wanted our wedding band to look like! Their repertoire was excellent, it had all our favourite songs in it. They took requests and were happy to fit these songs into their set, and they interacted really well with myself and the guests, almost becoming part of the wedding party, which we liked.'

‘The Debonairs were incredible. They made the evening aspect of our wedding one that we will never forget. Superb from start to finish.’ Richard and Amy spoke to the band before the day, and asked them to play the first dance they’d chosen. ‘They played God Only Knows and did a fantastic job.’

‘Their laid back yet professional attitude, choice of songs and interaction with ourselves and the guests was superb, and just as we would have hoped for. They surpassed themselves by playing from our first dance at eight to the point we were whisked away from the venue at just after eleven, using their breaks at appropriate times and getting the timings and “filler” music just right.’

The final song was, ‘Perfect for both the mood of the night and the theme of our wedding. We would definitely recommend them to anyone who was looking for a band and if we were ever to hold another party then they would be first on our list to hire. They made an already unforgettable day for us even more perfect.’

Richard and Amy were very impressed with all their suppliers – when we asked who they’d recommend, they listed the whole lot! ‘Everyone we used was really good… everything was better than we could have expected. Our florist was amazing.’

The stunning flowers were supplied by Julia Russett of Robins Flowers and Bouquets For Brides.

‘We got a lot of help from Elaine at Pretty Vintage Things, a local vintage crockery and vintage accessories supplier, who was on hand to help us set up, and we used a lot of her stuff.’

The amazing photos were taken by Scott Hamilton. ‘Our photographer was London-based, he was very good – very subtle in the way he took his photos.’

‘The caterers were attached to the venue... they produced amazing food.’

Any tips for other couples organising a similar wedding? Richard reckons there’s so many options that it can be difficult to choose what to do, so he recommends being as decisive as you can. ‘We knew what we wanted, and we made the decisions very quickly, so that took some of the stress out of it.'

He also recommends doing something that is personal and special to you: ‘Have it however you want it... If you look hard enough, you can find people that are willing to help, or you can help them out and they’ll help you. Don’t compromise unless you really have to... There’s always someone who can give you advice to help you achieve the thing you want to.’