The team at Heaton House Events were recently featured on BBC 3′s Don’t Tell The Bride on Tuesday 29th November at 9pm. Nick and Vicky tied the knot at Heaton House Farm. We provided all of the staff and set up the venue.
Every wedding that Heaton House Events Ltd organises is different, as unique as you are in fact, but when we had a call last August enquiring about a short notice wedding we weren’t expecting the wedding to be just 20 days later!
The call came from a group of lads from Widnes who had been chosen by BBC 3’s programme ‘Don’t Tell the Bride’. They had been given a budget of £12,000 with the rules that the entire organising had to be done by the lads in just 20 days with no input or even contact from the girl’s side, especially the Bride. We then realised why it was such a short notice wedding.
England Rugby 7’s player, Nick Royle, arranged a meeting to view Heaton House Farm along with his ‘helpers’ with view to booking the venue for his marriage to his bride Victoria Billio. Weddings are traditionally all about the bride, so it felt very strange for us to be organising a wedding in 20 days without ever meeting the bride!
The Wedding Barn had been chosen by the boys as we could arrange a long Aisle, the longer the better as Victoria had earlier in their relationship been struck down with a virus which had left her unable to walk. Nick, we learnt, had chosen to stick by her, helping nurse her back to health and eventually helping her to learn to walk all over again.
Armed with this story and having dried our eyes, we realised that this wedding was as special
As is typical with weddings featured on DTTB, once the venue had been booked, the boys went off to play again so details about their requirements for the big day were sketchy to say the least. We heard from ‘Vanilla in all Seasons’, the caterer who the boys had chosen from our approved list, that having enjoyed a tasting session at Nick’s Widnes home, the menu had been designed and confirmed, but that was about it.
The night before the wedding, the boys came to set up for their big day. During a brief chat, we discovered that the boys had missed a few things out, so it was time for our team to spring into action. With our usual attention to detail, we were poised for action
we needed help from our trusted suppliers to provide a number of items, many of them needing overnight transport. Teresa from Wild Orchid and Steve from Country Garden both pulled out all the stops to provide stunning flowers and the beautiful glass columns which lined the aisle and surrounded the ceremony stage. Chairs were arranged all around the stage so that guests could all enjoy seeing Vicky walk down the long aisle towards them to be married to Nick. There wasn’t a dry eye in the house, especially where the boys were concerned.
Having never met the bride before the big day, we wondered what she would think of the venue. Our event team were delighted on the day to hear that she LOVED it and just couldn’t stop thanking everyone involved.
The weather was perfect for the happy couple and this amazing day was captured by top photographer Daniel Killron who was also on hand well into the night to capture the evening party, something which our recommended photographers are keen to do.
During reception drinks and canapés, guests enjoyed the beautiful picture opportunities the venue has to offer before the next surprise was revealed. Vicky was led into the stunning dining barn at Heaton House Farm where Nick revealed his theme for the wedding. As his surname was Royle, he had chosen a Royal theme. You simply can’t imagine the look on Vicky’s face when she opened her eyes to see two glasses of Champagne handed to her by two of the boys dressed as Beefeaters! Heaton House Events often hire in props to add decor to the venue when a theme is adopted. Hundreds of Union Jack flags, a pair of life-size models of Coldstream Guards and a pair of huge gold thrones complete with gold crowns really gave this Royal couple the red carpet treatment.
The Event Team had transformed into their evening party barn whilst they were enjoying their sumptuous dinner from Vanilla in all Seasons in the dining barn so following a brief break from the action packed day to film a little interview for the BBC, it was back into the evening barn for more partying with the guests.
The morning after the wedding was very special for the Heaton House Event team as we had our first opportunity to meet our bride properly. It was a lovely meeting following such a perfect day. Nick and Vicky simply could not thank us enough, the day had been perfect and after being kept apart by the television programme makers, it was evident that absence really does make the heart grow fonder, helping make their day one of the most memorable ever.
