Anna and Ralph Parkes' Perfect Wedding & Perfect Wedding Entertainment!

Without a doubt, one of the best moments of the day that stands out, was the moment when the band played ‘Hey Jude’ at the end of the night. My partner never dances, but he actually came up to the dance floor, held my hand, and danced with me and my entire family!! It was pure magic. Everybody held hands and just sang their hearts out. It will stay with us forever.

Our wedding took place at The Kingscote Barn, which is a 17th century converted barn set in the middle of the Cotswold countryside.  Me, and my husband, Ralph, only viewed one wedding venue because the minute we walked in and saw the oak beams and beautiful stone walls, we knew it was the wedding venue for us.  Everybody commented on our choice of venue, and loved the location.  Kelly, our wedding coordinator, was fab!

We had around 70 guests during the day, and a few more for the evening reception.  Our bridal party consisted of four bridesmaids, two page boys, a flower girl, a best man, and an usher.  All of these people very close to our hearts.
 
The theme for our wedding was romantic/country chic, with a bit of Italian thrown in as some family members live in Italy.  We tried to incorporate the Cotswold’s into our wedding theme by visiting several villages in the Cotswold region beforehand, finding out information about each area and taking photographs, then using these as our table names.  This added our own personal touch, and was a discussion point for guests at each table.

The chosen colour theme was light blue, but we wanted lots of colour to come from the flowers, so it would add vibrancy to the venue.  We asked our florist to include daisies in the floral arrangements to complete the “country” look.  We were amazed by the flowers.  Sorori Design did a fabulous job, and the flowers really added to the day.

With help from my mother, together we handmade table decorations and stationery in the final few days leading up to the wedding.  This took hours of hard work, but it looked great, and was definitely worth it in the end!  We created personal name tags for each set of parents, and favours for the people in our bridal party.  We also made personal name panels to go on the gift bags for the bridal party.  We created menu cards to go on each table, and a table/seating plan to make it easier for our guests.    My auntie from Italy handmade another set of wedding favours for guests, with traditional sugared almonds.  This really added a special touch to the day. 

Our wedding ceremony was held at 2.00 pm and lasted about half an hour.  The Kingscote Barn had its own speaker system, allowing us to play our own music for the ceremony, which we downloaded on to an iPod.  A family member was responsible for this on the day, and it worked out fine. 

After the ceremony, our guests made their way to the wedding reception area for welcome drinks and canapés.  As my father is half Italian, we kept with the Italian theme and served Asti Spumante as the main offering, with Peroni beers to guests who preferred something different, and fruit shoots for the little ones. 

Whilst the drinks reception took place, my husband and I had professional photographs taken.  Guests were seated by 4.30 pm for the wedding breakfast, which finished around 6.00 pm, and then the band arrived to set up their equipment. 

We booked “The Kicks” for our evening entertainment, which we found through Alive Network entertainment agency.  The band kicked off at around 7.30 pm and we must say, they were very professional and sounded great.  They rocked our wedding!

Food was served later on in the evening at about 9.30 pm.  The band performed their second set after the buffet.  Our guests loved the set list played by The Kicks, and everybody was up dancing and having a good time.  We chose not to have a first dance, as we simply cannot slow dance!  We informed the band of this, and they were fine about it.

The band we chose, The Kicks, were fantastic.  They played a good range of music, and they also included a DJ/lighting package which looked amazing in the barn. 

A month prior to our wedding, we went to my sister's wedding.  The band they booked were really good, so I was naturally worried that our band might not live up to my sister's band.  However, I had nothing to be concerned about because The Kicks were absolutely fantastic.  The live entertainment we chose had a massive impact.

Without a doubt, one of the best moments of the day that stands out, even more so than the actual wedding ceremony, was the moment when the band played “Hey Jude” by The Beatles at the end of the night.  My partner (now husband) never dances, and we couldn't have a first dance because of this, but he actually came up to the dance floor, held my hand, and danced with me and my entire family!!  It was pure magic.  Everybody held hands and just sang their hearts out.  It will stay with us forever as “our wedding dance”.  Even on our honeymoon, we both kept humming it.

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

Lighten the load by getting as many people involved with helping you as possible.  You tend to take on a lot thinking you can handle it, but as the final days approach, time goes so quickly and it can get quite stressful.

Surround yourself with people who make you laugh.  They will make a huge difference on your wedding day, and you will have a great time.

Make sure you book your live entertainment through an agency.  It gives you security and piece of mind that the musicians will turn up, and not let you down on the day.

Make sure you book your live entertainment through an agency. It gives you security and piece of mind that the musicians will turn up, and not let you down on the day.