Tom and Katie Mason's Perfect Wedding & Perfect Wedding Entertainment!

We had so many compliments from our guests on how great “Happy Hour” were. They really were the icing on the cake, on the most important day of our lives.

Our wedding took place in three different venues in the small town where my husband and I both grew up, Burnham-on-Crouch.  We chose a small church on a hill overlooking the river, as we wanted to keep the ceremony intimate and fairly private. We then went onto an amazing restaurant called The Galley for the wedding breakfast, with only 40 guests.  We decided that quality over quantity was more important to us for the wedding breakfast, and it was a good decision.  We are still receiving compliments now on the wedding meal, and it was an important part of the day for us.  Our evening reception was held at The Royal Burnham Yacht Club, where we watched the sunset on our perfect wedding day.  This is where the evening guests joined us, and we partied the night away!

We wanted the day to be relaxed, traditional, but very "us".  We only had one speech and made sure we were not pressured into inviting distant family members to the intimate part of the day, just because they’re family.  We had the people we wanted there and we’re really pleased we stayed strong on this decision.

The wedding ceremony was at 3.00 pm which I thought would seem like an age to come round, but how wrong I was!  The hair and make-up artists arrived at 10.00 am, and worked their socks off to get me, my bridesmaids, and both mothers looking beautiful.  My husband was busy adding a few finishing touches to the evening venue with the help of some friends, before being happily driven around in an Aston Martin before the wedding.  A little present I hired for him as a surprise!

The wedding finished at 3.40 pm and then we had photographs taken outside the church.  The wedding meal was booked for 5.00 pm which worked out really well, as we had time to talk to our guests and begin to relax after the scariest, but most amazing event of our lives.  The meal was to die for!  The Galley restaurant is where my husband and I got engaged, so it meant a lot to us.  We were the first to leave the restaurant after our wedding meal, as the photographer wanted to take pictures of us at the yacht club, with the sun setting as a backdrop.  Meanwhile, our hummer limousine acted as a minibus, escorting guests from the restaurant to the yacht club which was just down the road.

When we arrived at The Royal Burnham Yacht Club, the band were finishing their sound check, which was really exciting as even that sounded brilliant!  Once the photographs had been taken and the sun had set, the yacht club filled with our 150 evening guests.  The chocolate fountain was flowing, and once we’d had a few group shots it was time for the first dance.

Happy Hour, the band we booked through Alive Network entertainment agency, were great.  A few months before our wedding, I made a special request for a song that I wanted Happy Hour to play for our first dance.  The band learnt the song especially for our wedding, and they performed it brilliantly.  After that, the party started!

In advance of our wedding, I viewed the set list/repertoire of the music that Happy Hour could perform, and I selected our “must have” songs.  People were dancing from the very first song until the very last!  I hired the band through AliveNetwork.com, where I was able to listen to demos in advance of booking.  The demos did not do Happy Hour justice!  The band were fantastic, and massively exceeded our expectations, making the evening all the more memorable.  We had so many compliments from our guests on how great the band were.  They really were the icing on the cake, on the most important day of our lives.

I have already recommended Happy Hour to three other couples who are planning their wedding.  I would never have settled for a DJ or a karaoke style performer singing along to backing tracks.  The band performed live and they created such a spark.  They brought so much energy, and the whole room was feeling it!!

My three favourite moments of the day were - being pronounced man and wife, the small amount of time we spent together going from the church to the restaurant, and dancing the night away to Happy Hour.

What pearls of wisdom or words of advice would you extend to future brides who are planning their perfect wedding?

Firstly, always remember it is your day, and if you don’t want to invite your third cousin over somebody you really like, don’t!  Also, a lot of your time is taken up by people wanting to talk to you, so I would recommend greeting people when they arrive to give you more time to enjoy your evening.  Believe it or not, there is only so many times you want to be told how beautiful you look when the bands rocking and all you want to do is dance with your bridesmaids.

There is only so many times you want to be told how beautiful you look when the bands rocking and all you want to do is dance with your bridesmaids.