Oliver and Stacey Chandler's Perfect Wedding & Perfect Wedding Entertainment!

My 90 year old Nan was dancing to Transmission and told me it was one of the best nights of her life, and she felt 20 again. For me, that is reason enough to book live entertainment for your wedding!

We wanted to keep our wedding ceremony small and intimate so held it at Chichester Registry Office in West Sussex, where we invited 30 of our closest friends and family.  The evening reception took place in the stunning setting of Duncton Mill Fisheries where we had four giant Nordic tepees, attended by a further 90 guests. 

We wanted something different to a hotel or a traditional marquee and the tents by the lake gave every guest a wow factor, particularly as it was a surprise for most of them.

We decided to avoid a traditional wedding and wanted to create a party for our friends and family to celebrate our marriage and love.  Our three main priority areas to reflect us and our passions were to have good food, a free bar and awesome evening wedding entertainment from a great live party band.

A theme of sorts evolved throughout the planning process as the decorations and finishing touches came together.  I collected pretty jugs to give a country garden look to the flowers on each table.  My mum made napkins from vintage fabric.  My aunt made name place settings (that doubled as take-home bookmarks) using old French seed packet labels.  There was bunting, candles and suspended paper pompoms which all added to our “Martha Stewart meets Village Fete” theme!  I was so pleased with how it all looked when I left there the night before with my team of very crafty friends!

On the night before the wedding, me and my two bridesmaids stayed at the Ship Hotel, which is 5 doors away from the Registry office.  It was so exciting to be in this historic hotel having dinner and wine with my girlies, the night before my wedding.  Despite the cosy room and flumpy pillows, I couldn’t sleep a wink and woke them both up at the crack of dawn with a million and one questions and worries.

My main fear dissipated when I opened the curtains and brilliant blue skies greeted me.  I was a very happy bride-to-be!

After breakfast we met the photographer at the hairdressers and were treated to some Bucks Fizz and giggles to ease the nerves.

It was a surreal walk back to the hotel with our hair glammed up and birdcage veil in position, but dressed in our civvies and bare-faced.  We walked the back route needless to say!  It was such a lovely morning, and 2.30 pm approached at a good pace.

The three of us walked to the Registry Office as we saw the Best Man legging it towards the direction of HMV shouting that he’d forgotten the ceremony music.  I was pretty mad but the photographer got some amusing shots!

The ceremony was very emotional and I had never seen Oliver so nervous.  The Best Man did manage to get the album we needed, so I walked in to “One Day Like This” by Elbow.  However, the rest of the ceremony music was a bit Kenny G and Panpipes, courtesy of the Registrar!  My uncle gave some touching and humorous readings at key moments which made it really personal.

Afterwards, everybody headed to Duncton Mill Fisheries while Oliver and I were driven by my brother, whilst enjoying our first glass of champagne as a married couple.  We stopped off at a beautiful viewpoint for some photos before making an entrance to our waiting guests.

After excellent canapés and more champagne, we had speeches and yummy BBQ food.  Oliver and I managed to walk around the lake with the photographer to look back on the party as darkness fell.

Music is really important to us and we wanted to create a fabulous soundtrack to be played on the night.  In the wedding invitations, we asked guests to let us know of any songs special to them.  I compiled all of the special requests and asked the DJ to incorporate them into his set, as did our live function band, Transmission.

Transmission arrived just after dinner to set up their equipment, and they emanated style and coolness.  Before their live performance, I knew we’d chosen well!

After our amazing first dance to “For Lovers” by Pete Doherty, Transmission started their set and the dance floor was instantly packed, and pretty much stayed that way for the rest of the night.  The dance floor was surrounded by tepee poles bound with fairy lights and a huge disco ball at the centre - it was just magical.

Having a live band definitely completed the atmosphere, and created the party atmosphere we wanted.  My 90 year old Nan was dancing to Transmission and told me it was one of the best nights of her life, and she felt 20 again.  For me, that is reason enough to book live entertainment for your wedding!

I have loads of favourite moments but two that spring to mind are when I produced a fancy dress box later in the evening and seeing guests and band members dancing and chatting with crazy props, facial hair, masks, etc.  Also, Transmission kindly let me play their tambourine with them to “Brown Sugar” by The Stones, a moment we’ll never forget!

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

Accept offers of help in the run up to the big day as it is stressful and there’s so much to think of. It’s also a great opportunity to bond with those helping and I was really touched by the amount of time and effort friends and family contributed in the lead up and on our big day.

Stick to your guns!  However wacky or out of the ordinary your ideas are, stick to them and don’t feel that you have to follow tradition in style or format, or conform to anybody else’s ideas. Make the most of this opportunity to truly design and style your special day and let your guests enjoy its originality.

Transmission kindly let me play their tambourine with them to “Brown Sugar” by The Stones, a moment we’ll never forget!