Our Sussex Countryside Wedding Venue
Freya and Ben met at university and after 9 years together Ben proposed and they immediately began the important job of finding a venue.
Freya grew up in Sussex and so they had both decided that a Sussex countryside wedding was in their future. Driving up to visit Hendall the dream of a rural wedding was feeling more tangible with it’s quiet surroundings nestled amongst the glorious Sussex countryside. The view from Hendall (amongst other things) won them over and with guests coming from as far as New Zealand…they needed a venue worthy of the travel!
Their day was very much about family, and they loved the lawns in the heart of it all. It gave children a space to play and the terrace for parents to watch them and relax. Parents commented on how much they enjoyed this and how involved their children felt during the day. All the children were also provided with an individual hamper with sandwiches, snacks, and colouring activities.
Finding suppliers you connect with
Finding the right caterer is such a huge part of the fun when planning a Hendall wedding. Your menu will be completely individual and our caterers love helping couples create this bespoke menu. Lisa, who owns Elliott Catering worked with Freya & Ben to design a menu that was representative of them as a couple, that family and friends would like, and that she could execute on a large scale to a high standard. Lisa did a great job of taking ideas (F & B wanted a Spanish theme) and turning it into some incredible canapes, a plated main course with bowls on the table for everyone to share and have some choice over, and two delicious puddings.
For their evening catering she sourced a sweet treat for the couple that Ben used when he proposed!
They bought the cheese cake from Godminster and opted for the Feast Cheese Cake that fed up to 70 people; on reflection it was so popular, they wish they’d bought more! Lisa provided chutneys and crackers, and their florist, Steph provided herbs to decorate the cake.
“Our food was personal and delicious, and we had a lot of empty plates!”
As a springboard to finding the right people to help couples bring their visions of their Sussex countryside wedding day to reality, we always provide a list of suppliers that we recommend, know and love! Freya & Ben, whilst knowing what was important to them, decided to use suppliers that had been to Hendall before to help give them inspiration for their day.
Danni Beach Photography
Freya and Ben, whilst looking at wedding photos in Sussex on Instagram kept being drawn to Danni’s images – it wasn’t until they realised they were nearly all Danni’s that they knew we had to get in touch!
From the first meeting they connected with Danni instantly; “She has such a bubbly personality and knowing Hendall so well she identified lots of beautiful photography spots at different times of day. She filled us with so much confidence that she would take amazing photos on the day and has a great relationship with the Hendall staff, and they felt like a real team on our wedding day. We’re both not particularly comfortable in front of the camera and she also made us feel so at ease, and she took some beautiful candid photos of us, family and friends that capture all the magic we felt on the day.”
Florals
Freya & Ben were unsure of the type of flowers they wanted until they saw a selection of Sussex wildflowers, herbs, and greenery from Chirpee Flowers. On meeting Steph and discussing the beautiful wildflower buttonholes and bouquets she could create for them; they had a feeling she’d be their florist. She started suggesting lots of other flowers, grasses and greenery that could make up their displays and it all looked perfect; this cemented their choice of florist! Steph also made their wedding arch which went behind both their ceremony and top table using willow from the family’s garden. “It felt so personal, and the end result was a beautiful display that felt like we were inside a garden at Hendall!”
The Chirpee Team hand delivered the bouquets in the morning, with a box of beautiful white roses for Freya’s hair. They’d included a handwritten card with a list of all the flowers in Freya’s bouquet, which was a lovely touch.
The importance of your ceremony
There are so many elements to planning the perfect ceremony and one of the very important parts for Freya & Ben was their music, which they wanted to make a real feature.
Freya walked down the aisle to ‘I Giorni’ by Ludovico Einaudi that sounded beautiful in the venue and set off a few tears for family members! We ensure that we have a rehearsal beforehand, in this case to make sure that the music finished just as Freya reached Ben.
As they signed their documents, Ben’s dad played some songs on an acoustic guitar which added such a personal touch to the ceremony.
As they walked back down the aisle as husband and wife, ‘An Everlasting Love’ played, and they were greeted at the end of the aisle by Lisa with a glass of fizz!
At the end of the day
“The atmosphere in the evening with a live band was so brilliant!” Freya & Ben chose pink and purple uplighters to light up the dancefloor and ‘Strobe Band’ played for them.
They raised the roof… quite literally! During ‘Respect by Aretha Franklin’ everyone was having so much fun, singing at the top of their voices it accidentally set off the noise limiter. This led to an incredible acapella version of ‘Angels by Robbie Williams’ with nearly all the guests joining in.
Danni captured the most wonderful images of everyone raising a sparkler to the couple at the end of the night.
It really was the perfect way to end the day.
Thank you to everyone who made this such a wonderful day.
Photography – Danni Beach Photography
Caterer – Lisa Elliott Catering
Florist – Steph Willoughby at Chirpee Flowers
Dress – Nicola O’Rourke at Mathilda Rose
Hair – Janey Campbell at Janey hair and makeup
MUA: Deborah Hall at Hall of Fame
Claire Reed at Beauty Ninjas
Band – Strobe Band
