Quantock Lakes Somerset Wedding | Tom & Louise
Tom & Louise tied the knot at the beautiful Quantock Lakes Wedding Venue in Somerset during summer 2022. They met on a classic night out with friends, they both got engaged during 2019 & got to wedding planning right away. A few years & global pandemic later, they finally got hitched!
We first met Tom & Louise on an engagement session before their wedding day & heard all about their wedding plans. They both said that they just wanted it to be a wild party with all of their loved ones & it was exactly that. From the moment we walked in, we felt apart of a party for sure.
How long did it take you to find your perfect wedding venue?
We started by thinking about the things that we really wanted from a wedding venue and then I booked us in to look around some barn style wedding venues as they seemed to tick more of our boxes. Quantock Lakes was the third venue we viewed and we both fell in love with it straight away. It offered the large spacious areas we wanted, a beautiful outdoor setting with the option to get married outside, the most incredible accommodation with the option for both of us to stay down there the night before and so much choice on food and drink. Laura who showed us round was also so lovely and made us feel really comfortable which goes such a long way in the wedding industry. We booked a date with Quantock Lakes that same day. We were originally meant to get married in May 2021 but due to the pandemic we ended up postponing to June 2022. The team at Quantock Lakes were so communicative and supportive throughout the pandemic and along with all of our suppliers made everything so easy and stress free.
Tell us about your ceremony & your wedding reception
We had originally planned to have an outdoor ceremony and get married on the lake pontoon. Of course the British weather had other plans but I think it was a blessing in disguise as the main barn where we got married was perfect and a lot more intimate anyway. I really wanted live musicians for the ceremony and came across JamDuo whilst I was researching online and they were exactly what I was looking for. They were so accommodating to our requests for songs and were just brilliant at creating a bespoke set of songs for our ceremony. The whole set up for our ceremony was more than I could have ever dreamed of. Our florist Jo at Dahlia’s in Yeovil did the most incredible job with the flowers, my sister did a beautiful reading and the whole ceremony was just perfect.
How would you describe your wedding theme? What was the inspiration?
We didn’t really have a theme as such. I took inspiration from Instagram and Pinterest and kind of made it up as we went along! We had also been to some pretty amazing weddings prior to ours which is always good to see how other people do things. I love how every wedding is always so different and personal to the couple. I knew I wanted the bridesmaids in a cornflour blue colour so kind of then went with soft blues, greens and whites as the colour scheme with a modern barn style wedding.
What was your favourite part of planning your wedding?
I know it’s cliche but I honestly loved every second of planning our wedding! Even with a pandemic in the mix I still loved every aspect. I loved doing little personal touches to things for example for order of services and itineraries for the bridal party and groomsmen. I also love how wedding planning brings everyone together and you get to spend quality time with people leading up the wedding as well as on the day.
Looking back on your wedding now, what was the most memorable moments?
Seeing Tom turn around at the end of aisle was so special and a moment I’ll never forget. I also loved the morning and getting ready in the most incredible bridal suite. Having all our friends and family around us in the morning was so important to us and the spacious accommodation at Quantock Lakes made that possible! Also our family and friends love a party so everyone up on the tables dancing with our saxophonist Reuben was pretty memorable too!
What were some of the best decisions you made when planning your wedding day?
I am so happy with every single decision we made. Every single wedding supplier was brilliant and made it very easy for me to not get stressed or anything! If you are bit of a control freak with timings like me and you have a big bridal party definitely plan the timings for hair and make up in the morning - someone gave me this advice and I’m so glad I did as the morning ran so smoothly and calmly with no rushing! I think probably the best last minute decision we made was booking our videographer Matt (Mad Mash Weddings). We weren’t going to have a videographer but I am so glad we did in the end as the main video and all the small clips of special moments he did are so beautiful.
If you had any advice for future bride & grooms, what would that be?
I know everyone says it but the day really does go by so fast so just cherish every single moment and don’t worry about the small things!
Kind words
From the moment we first visited our venue and they showed photos which was produced by Simon & Kiana, we knew we had to have them. They had the exact style we wanted with lots of natural photos and capturing those precious moments without it being too posed. Tom hates photos so the engagement/pre wedding shoot was a great way to meet Simon and Kiana and we soon realised it wasn’t ever going to be awkward. They are so easy going and chilled. We took our dog to the engagement session and the photos they got of her (& us of course) were incredible. I was so happy we had them booked and couldn’t wait for the wedding!
On the wedding day, Simon & Kiana were amazing. They knew exactly the shots we wanted - particularly the sunset ones and got them waaaay better than I’d ever envisioned! I honestly think the whole day flowed better because of them as well - they have this way of not really being noticed but also they were always there to go to for guidance throughout the day. We got our photos back 1 WEEK ( I still can’t believe it was only a week!) after the wedding which was so quick and the album is absolutely brilliant with so many emotional, funny and beautiful moments caught for us to look back on. All our friends and family have commented on how amazing the photos are and we are just so so delighted we booked Simon & Kiana for our wedding. It’s now so hard not to just post the whole entire album as I want to show the world!!!
Thank you for everything S&K - for helping with so many aspects of wedding planning and for answering all my silly questions, for capturing memories and moments that will last a lifetime - I don’t know how you do it but we will forever be grateful to you x
Suppliers Involved
Venue - Quantock Lakes - https://www.instagram.com/quantocklakesuk/
Food - Quantock Lakes - https://www.instagram.com/quantocklakesuk/
Photographer - Simon and Kiana Photography - https://www.instagram.com/simonandkianaphoto/
Videographer - Mad Mash Weddings - https://www.instagram.com/mad_mash_weddings/
Florist - Dahlia’s Yeovil - https://www.instagram.com/dahlia_florists/
Cake - Dorrington Desserts - https://www.instagram.com/dorringtondesserts/
Dress - Future Brides - https://www.instagram.com/futurebrides42/
Suits - Slaters - https://www.instagram.com/slatermenswear/
Bridesmaid Dresses - Silkfred - https://www.instagram.com/silkfred/
Mother of the Bride Dress - Compton House of Fashion - https://www.instagram.com/comptonfashion/
Hair - Holly Andersen - https://www.instagram.com/hollyandersenhmua/
Make up - You & I Beauty Cabin - https://www.instagram.com/youandibeautyandmakeupcabin/
Ceremony and Reception Music - JAM duo - https://www.instagram.com/jamduoofficial/
Saxophonist - Basax Music - https://www.instagram.com/basax_music/
Band - Rich Reeves band - https://www.instagram.com/richard_reeves_music/
Bridal party getting ready packages - All things Quirky - https://www.instagram.com/allthings.quirky/
Welcome signs and seating plan - Mally’s Crafts - https://www.instagram.com/mallyscrafts/
Wedding Stationary - made by louise using Canva
