Freya & Louis

We chose Ufton Court in Berkshire for our reception. When we visited Ufton we fell in love with it immediately - it’s an education charity so all profits from weddings go back into the charity, which we loved.

The barn is beautiful, and it is surrounded by wonderful gardens and a gorgeous terrace where we had our reception drinks. There’s plenty of indoor space and contingency options, which appealed to us given the unpredictability of British weather! Fortunately we were blessed with a beautiful sunny day.

We felt the most important thing was to make the day feel like us, and to capture our personalities. Louis and I met through music, so our tables were named after songs we have performed together in our a cappella group, and we also performed ourselves at various points during the day.

Colour-wise I wanted to bring lots of colour and fun into the day - we had multicoloured ribbon bunting outside the barn and a rainbow “just married” sign behind our dining table. For flowers we had beautiful corals, light blues, whites and pinks. Our flowers were absolutely gorgeous!

For signage we used pinks and reds in a modern style. I made these on Canva. I created a graphic of the two of us dancing which we included on all signage and printing. We also referred to the day as the Frouis (pronounced Froo-ee) wedding so that phrase made an appearance in various places!

Our day was full of live music as we’re musicians and music brought us together! Many of our friends performed at our ceremony (singing, violin, trumpet, glockenspiel!) but we wanted to book a band for our reception drinks and evening party to ensure our guests could let their hair down.

We spent ages trying to find a wedding band as we’re both pretty fussy. We were very excited by The Sweet and Lowdown who ticked all of our boxes and seemed like a class act. We loved their set list and their general vibe. We loved that they could offer us a relaxed afternoon outside ahead of the party!

They were absolutely fantastic and made the day even more magical. They are also lovely people. We are so happy we can chose them!

The whole day was magical from start to finish. It was the happiest day of our lives so it’s hard to pick favourite moments!

Louis’ favourite moment is seeing me for the first time at the ceremony. My friend and virtuosic violinist Sally Potterton played me down the aisle which was incredibly special. We had amazing readings delivered beautifully by friends and Louis’ godfather. We both loved the confetti line, and then arriving at Ufton Court to see everyone having a wonderful time in the sun while the band their afternoon set.

The surprise musical performances from Louis and friends, and the speeches were further highlights! Not forgetting our first dance which involved a bit of singing too. The band were absolutely amazing and ensured everyone boogied the night away on the dance floor to some absolute bangers.

We found Function Central when searching for Berkshire wedding bands, when we looked at the website it was easy to navigate and search for exactly what we wanted for our wedding day.

Don’t get caught up in what usually happens at weddings. Question and challenge traditions and see if they feel right for you. If they do then great but if not don’t be afraid to change things around! Our day was full of personal touches, and it’s something our guests really loved.

At Ufton Court you are allocated a wedding co-ordinator. We had Chloe and she was absolutely amazing and so helpful. Chloe being there on the day meant that we could fully relax knowing she had everything covered. We are so grateful to her! So I would recommend booking a venue with a coordinator.

Mainly I would recommend booking Ufton Court - it is the perfect venue and one of my best friends has already booked it for her wedding next year!