Cream of the crop: The wedding of Paul and Melanie Buddin

The wedding of Paul and Melanie Buddin at Athelhampton House, Dorset

Photography: Linus Moran

We had a civil ceremony at Athelhampton House, but I stuck with the tradition of my dad walking me down the aisle which was really important to me. We walked in to ‘Butterfly Waltz’ by Brian Crain. I wanted something classical to fit with the feel of the house but something that I’d not heard at other weddings.

We had two readings, one by my brothers and the other by Paul’s niece.

The best memory for me was walking in and seeing Paul standing at the end of the aisle looking amazing in his suit with the biggest smile on his face. I’d been really nervous leading up to the wedding that the emotions would take over and I would become a bit tearful, but seeing Paul looking so happy and relaxed just totally chilled me out and I spent the whole ceremony smiling and laughing without a tear in sight!

We didn’t have a ‘theme’ as such we just went for a cream and green colour scheme. I just tried to make sure that everything that we did reflected ‘us’ rather than trying to fit to a specific theme. Our flowers were supplied by PM Read of Weymouth who did the most amazing job, especially as I wasn’t very good at explaining what I wanted. I just kept saying ‘messy and unstructured!’

A very talented friend helped us make all our wedding stationery which saved us a fortune but also made it a lot more personal to us.

In the evening we had a DJ who did a fantastic job of keeping the dance floor full all night. He also had a big screen which had photographs streaming of the stag and hen do on.

We also hired a Smiley Booth photo booth which was a massive hit with the guests!. They had their ‘crazy’ photos taken and then had a copy to keep themselves and one to stick in a wedding album for us with a message. We had such a laugh looking through the book after the wedding! And the album is such a wonderful keepsake for us to have.

THE DETAILS

Photography: Linus Moran, Dorset, 01305 768885, linusmoranphotography.co.uk

Venue: Athelhampton House, Dorset, 01305 848363, athelhampton.co.uk

Dress: Abbey Brides, Sherbourne, 01963 441500, abbeybrides.co.uk

Groom: Suits, wellgroomeddorset.com and moss.co.uk; handmade waistcoats from Tessa’s Tiaras, Sturminster Newton, tessatiaras.co.uk

Cake: Rex’s Heavenly Cupcakes, Barton-on-Sea, Hampshire, 01425 618273, cupcakesbournemouth.co.uk

Accessories: Abbey Brides, Sherbourne, 01963 441500, abbeybrides.co.uk

Flowers: PM Read of Weymouth, 01305 812932, pmreadflorist.staticloud.com

Entertainment: DJ, dr-disco.co.uk; Smiley Booth, smileybooth.co.uk

To see more of Paul and Melanie’s wedding images see our online gallery or the 2013 issue of Dorset, Wiltshire, Hampshire Bride. For their wedding photo film, click on the link