Sussex Exclusive Magazine. Issue 4 2023

Saying
‘I Do’
in
Sussex
going to be a Sussex wedding. Never in a million
years had I imagined living in Sussex, let alone
planning a wedding in it.
Love changes everything in Sussex
After growing up in Wales, I’d heard the alltoo-true-rumours
of the ridiculous cost of the
south-east and I soon put the idea from my mind.
But as cliché as it sounds, love changes everything
and my heart has kept me in this wonderful
county. Falling for a Sussex boy and the Sussex
countryside inevitably meant I’d stay and I soon
had to get my thinking cap on and get my moneysaving
brain into gear.
A wedding doesn’t have to
cost the earth by
Daisy Thomas
Gretna Green or bust
Easier said than done. One year before my own
wedding, some close friends had made it down
the aisle and tied the knot. On discussing the
various wedding planning obstacles they had to
overcome, I soon learned their venue hire alone
had come to 6k; a wedding venue may I add that
had started to become the vision of what I hoped
for my own wedding. My stomach started to
churn with dread. How would I ever get married?
Wedding dresses averaging 2k. Flowers a grand.
Just thinking of sending out 70 invites started to
bring me out in a sweat. The numbers started to
add up and eloping to Gretna Green seemed like
the most plausible option.
After falling head over heels for this incredible
venue, it wasn’t long before we headed home
and began to put together our perfect day. And
the best part? The cost wouldn’t break the bank.
We soon found ways we could be creative to
save pennies elsewhere; a cousin to make the
wedding cake; a family friend to organise the
flowers. Who needs a car when you live so close
to the venue? It would just be wasted. And we
can send invites digitally now, right? Save the
planet and all that. Suddenly, all of the things
that once seemed so important to me when I
envisioned the Scottish church or Welsh chapel
had suddenly disappeared.
I’d
be
mainly down to age, experience, and wisdom and
lying if I said I hadn’t
spent years dreaming of my
wedding day. Of course,
the plans have changed
significantly over the years,
the inevitable realism they all bring. It started with
a Christmas wedding in the snowy mountains of
Scotland. Furs around the shoulders. Crisp reds
and dark Christmas greens.
Aligning the stars – or not
But you soon realise you have no family in Scotland,
making it highly impractical and it would take
Jupiter to align with Mars and the sun to set in the
east to guarantee snow, not rain, on your special
day. You then consider maybe an old, small chapel
on the shores of a Welsh lake, but the chances of a
downpour are even higher in this scenario.
14k? Thanks but no thanks
Maybe an ‘all in one’ hire; ceremony, venue; the
whole lot in a beautiful old manor house in the
Golden Valley. You then see the 14k price tag on
the venue hire alone and you politely say ‘thanks,
but no thanks’ to the poor wedding planner
who was convinced she’d got a sale. So, when
the day comes you ACTUALLY have to make
some decisions on where you say the final ‘I do’,
you start antagonising over your empty savings
account and the impending re-mortgage and
wonder whether your dream will ever come true.
Easter Weekend 2022 was the time I had to
start making some decisions. Did I know what I
wanted? Of course, I did. But your bank account
tells you differently. Then, of course, you’ve got
the groom to contend with because apparently,
‘he has ideas too’. But I suppose the biggest curve
ball in the wedding planning was that mine was
My Sussex
wedding, that
I had never
even ever
imagined
would happen,
had now
become a
reality; an
incredible
adventure I
couldn’t wait
to embark
upon.
A stone’s throw and a
Swallows Oast
It was a Sunday; a warm, sunny afternoon in
mid-May. My fiancé and I decided to go for a
short walk in the nearby village of Ticehurst. A
coffee shop, a cute little florist and a quirky little
giftware shop. As we walked and took in the sun
around us, we came across the quaint church of
St. Mary’s. As our footsteps echoed across the
stone floor of the church, we both gazed up at the
stunning architecture and our eyes met in a ‘this
could work’ kind of way. After envisioning huge
bouquets of peach and cream flowers scattered
around the church and bunches of fragrant
herbs tied around the ends of the pews, we soon
remembered a friend had recently attended a
wedding at a wedding venue a stone’s throw away
at Swallows Oast.
We could see our imaginations running wild;
the vision of our day starting to become clearer.
A beautiful rustic barn with the old Sussex oast
feel still emanating through the brick walls and
wooden floors. A blank canvas; it was perfect.
An idyllic Sussex wedding
after all
The beautiful Sussex venue of Swallows Oast we
had found has become so incredibly special to us.
The graceful, countryside church of St. Mary’s
now this amazing location that would give us
this warm tingly feeling every time we saw its
steeple poking out over the top of the delicate,
little village below. My Sussex wedding, that I
had never even ever imagined would happen, had
now become a reality; an incredible adventure I
couldn’t wait to embark upon.
You can do all the research in the world and
plan your day down to the letter for as long as
you like, but sometimes the unexpected can
swoop in and change everything. Sometimes
it’s just a feeling but maybe if it’s meant to be,
everything else just falls into place. Here’s to
our special day; our simplistic, yet beautiful,
special day to celebrate our relationship and
the incredible life we have built together in the
heart of beautiful Sussex.
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