Ben and Charlotte Winsper's Perfect Wedding & Perfect Wedding Entertainment!

For anybody considering booking live music, I couldn’t recommend it enough. It really made the day for us.

Our wedding took place at our local church, St John’s in Bromsgrove, followed by a reception at Studley Castle in Warwickshire.  I always dreamed of a having a big princess wedding, so a castle was the perfect setting for my perfect day.  We had approximately 70 guests during the day, with another 50 guests joining us for the evening.

Our wedding theme was “fairytale”, so anything pink and sparkly fitted our day perfectly!  I wore a pink princess dress by Hollywood Dreams, with a fitted bodice and full tulle skirt covered in Swarovski crystals.  My bridesmaids wore hot pink tea length dresses which matched the best men and ushers, and the groom wore a baby pink coloured cravat and waistcoat to match his bride (although he didn’t know this until the day!)  We wanted to create a perfect fairytale wedding. 

While we wanted guests to feel the emotions of the day during the ceremony and speeches, we wanted everybody to have fun too.  We chose to have garden games while the photographs were taken so guests didn’t get bored, and a live wedding band in the evening to get everybody up dancing! 

At 12.30 pm, my mother and bridesmaids left for the church in ivory open top Beauford cars, followed by my father and me in our horse and carriage.  This was the start of my fairytale day.  I really did feel like a true princess, with everybody waving and wishing us luck on our way.

During the ceremony we had a solo artist perform a few touching songs, which made the ceremony incredibly moving.  After photographs, my husband and I left the church in the horse and carriage to meet the Beauford car, which took us to the castle.

While we had more photographs taken, guests were entertained by a solo artist who sang upbeat pop and RnB, to create the mood we wanted.  Some guests played garden games, while others simply chatted as they sipped champagne and enjoyed cupcake canapés.  Guests were then ushered into the marquee where we had a delicious five course meal.  Without us knowing, the band that we hired through Alive Network, The Northern Monkey’s, had secretly set up the stage area behind the curtain (while we were eating, we think!).  

As the evening guests arrived, the curtain lifted to unveil a stage area set up and ready for The Northern Monkey’s live performance.  They played a good mix of songs, and then introduced our first dance, “Is This Love” by Bob Marley.  The band also performed Snow Patrol’s “Chasing Cars”, which was amazing!  Everybody joined us on the dance floor at this point, and continued to dance as the band played their first set.  The dance floor remained full for The Northern Monkey’s whole performance.  We were all having such a good time.  It was great to see everybody loving the music, letting their hair down, and having a fantastic time.

During the ceremony we had a solo artist perform a couple of songs as we signed the register.  A few tears were shed as she sang “Somewhere Over The Rainbow” with the most beautiful voice.  The emotion in the church was magical, exactly how I envisaged it would be.  We wanted everybody to experience how important our wedding vows and the church ceremony were to us.

For the evening’s entertainment, the band that we booked through Alive Network, “The Northern Monkeys”, were truly amazing!  When the band first started playing, the only ones on the dance floor were the bride and groom, bridesmaids, best men, ushers, and our parents.  Soon after, everybody was up dancing and we couldn’t all fit on it!  I loved looking around the room and seeing everybody having such a good time.  So many people came up to us to say that they thought the band were brilliant. 

For anybody considering booking live music, I couldn’t recommend it enough.  It really made the day for us.  The next day, everybody talked about how much fun they’d had.  We have been to weddings before where just a DJ has played, and we weren’t prepared to risk our evening being ruined by bad music, an empty dance floor, and guests leaving early because they have had enough.  This certainly didn’t happen at ours.  Guests told us it was the best wedding they had ever been to, and the band certainly made the day!

My favourite moment of the day was travelling with my father in the horse and carriage to the church.  This was when it hit me that it was finally happening.  I was going to get married, and have my magical day.  The day I had always dreamed of! 

Other favourite moments were saying our vows, and listening to the soloist sing “Somewhere Over The Rainbow”.  Being in the church and sharing the emotion with our family and friends was so special.  The speeches were overwhelming, in particular my father’s speech and my husband’s speech.  I am not usually an emotional person, but these brought tears to my eyes! 

Another favourite part of the day was the party in the evening.  Letting our hair down and having a good dance to our favourite songs, performed by an amazing band.

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

Savour every moment.  It goes so quickly, so take it all in and enjoy every minute.

Guests told us it was the best wedding they had ever been to, and the band certainly made the day!