The Dotted Crotchets: May 2014

In September 2013 The Dotted Crotchets String Trio headed off to Statham Lodge Country House Hotel in Lymm, Cheshire to perform for Holly and Trevor's big day.

From the bride: "Trevor and I have known of each other for years but it wasn’t until we were introduced at mutual friends BBQ that our romance began. I lived away at the time in Cambridge so we did long distance for several months before I moved back home to Runcorn. We moved in together almost immediately and had only been together a year before we decided to get married.

We started organising things straight away, visiting venues and attending local wedding fairs. We decided on Statham Lodge Country House Hotel in Lymm. A Georgian Manor House surrounded by acres of private gardens provided the perfect back drop for our ‘English tea party’ themed wedding. We spent a year collecting old glass jars which I decorated with pearls and lace to hold tea lights and hand tied flowers for table decoration. We sourced mismatched cups and saucers from charity shops and car boot sales for our guests to drink tea. My Mum and I designed the table plan using a large ornate gilt picture frame which we decorated with bunting and all things tea party.

A friend and I heard The Dotted Crotchets playing at a wedding fair in Manchester and I couldn’t wait to get home to tell Trevor all about them. We thought what a lovely surprise it would be for our guests during the drinks reception to have some live entertainment and vowed to keep it a secret. With so many songs in their repertoire we chose songs by Lady Gaga, Take that and Bruno Mars. A friend and her husband said they enjoyed seeing who could guess the song the quickest.

Trevor chose Pachelbel Canon in D as my entrance song. I hadn’t seen or spoken to Trevor since 4pm the previous afternoon and I was desperate to know how he was feeling. I was a little late getting to him and the registrar had made a joke about me not coming so I think he was more than a little relieved to hear the words ‘please be upstanding for the arrival of the bride’. The service was beautiful, with a few mistakes made along the way as we tried to get our vows out whilst grinning like Labradors. This created a more relaxed atmosphere as we bumbled our way through the service waiting for those special words ‘I now pronounce you Husband and Wife’.

For our exit song we chose Stevie Wonder’s signed, sealed, delivered. A happy, upbeat song which summed up how we felt as we all tailed out in to the September sunshine for chilled glasses of Kir Royale and bottles of Perroni.

For the photographs we wanted someone with an excellent reputation who we could trust completely. We chose Martin Ross Photography in Runcorn. A Man and Wife team who have been in the business for over 25 years. They also happen to be my parents so it was a no brainer really.

The wedding breakfast consisted of finger sandwiches with an array of different filings. Large homemade scones with fresh jam and clotted cream. Tiered stands of miniature cakes and chocolates littered the table and an endless supply of tea, coffee and wine. After the speeches and the cutting of the cake, a fabulous three tiered sponge cake. Each tier decorated slightly different in keeping with our theme made by my Step-mum. We were all ushered out the room to prepare for the evening’s entertainment.

Our first dance was to Etta James ‘At Last’, followed by Mcflys ‘If this is love’ the dance floor was full of guests all working up an appetite ready for the BBQ buffet. It has been 8 months since our special day and we love being married, its great finding that one person you get to annoy for the rest of your life."