OUR KENTISH CEREMONY
MARRIED AT CHIDDINGSTONE CASTLE CHIDDINGSTONE
ALICE AND JOHN HUTTON COMBINED THEIR SCOTTISH AND KENTISH HERITAGES TO HAVE THEIR DREAM CASTLE WEDDING
Photography by : Colin Ian Ross Photography
THE VENUE We thought Chiddingstone would be the one before we saw it in real life . John is Scottish , and Chiddingstone felt like a Scottish castle in Kent , which was the perfect combination for us . It felt traditional , intimate , relaxed and private . It wasn ’ t just the beautiful setting though , the people were also wonderful - Natalie and the team were so helpful with the whole planning process , we wouldn ’ t have had the day we had without all their brilliant suggestions .
THE OUTFITS The wedding dress was from Sassi Holford . John ’ s mum used to own a bridal boutique , so she gave Alice great advice on different designers . Alice saw the dress on Sassi ’ s website and immediately fell in love with it . When she finally tried it on , after what felt like a hundred dresses , she knew that was it . It was traditional but non-traditional all at once . Kilts are traditional formal wear in Scotland and John had his made by MacGregor & MacDuff in his family ’ s tartan .
THE CEREMONY Our best friends and John ’ s sisters both did beautiful readings . We walked down the aisle as Mr and Mrs Hutton to Married Life by Michael Giacchino , the theme to the movie Up ! - we love the film and hope to have as many adventures .
THE FOOD The food was amazing , and was from caterers Kalm Kitchen . We ’ re big fans of canapés and theirs were phenomenal - they even created a special haggis one for us . The scandal of the day was one of Alice ’ s brothers digging into the canapés that were reserved for us , and we ’ re still working on forgiving him ! All of our guests commented on the incredible food and the menu tasting was definitely a highlight of the wedding planning process .
THE ENTERTAINMENT We had a brilliant band called Wonderfolk . Because of the pandemic , we couldn ’ t see any bands live , so we were cautiously optimistic based on their videos , but they far exceeded anything we could have hoped for - they were amazing !
I ’ m with You by Vance Joy was our first dance . During lockdown we would dance around our kitchen to his music , like many other people trying to find joy in the grimness of it all .
THE HIGHLIGHT Alice : For me , my highlight was the dance after the first dance , with everyone dancing together to a great band - and no one watching us ! It was brilliant .
John : My highlight was our first dance and also sitting with all our friends at the end of the night sharing a whisky .
128 | AKENTISHCEREMONY . COM | WINTER 2022