Thorpeness country club weddings seem to disproportionately hit all the right notes in terms of staging a big day. We’ve never had less than an outstanding experience and fun there, it’s just special.

Here’s a wedding which shares the title of ‘best music’ for us. Abi and Andy had already been married 3 years but hadn’t had the chance of a reception because of Covid. They really wanted to stage an ‘open mic’ type reception involving family and friends. What actually happened was the greatest multi-act live music event we’ve ever seen at a wedding. Everyone threw themselves into it and everyone sounded incredible. It’s a wedding we won’t ever forget and we really wanted to share. Abi and Andy were kind enough tell us all about from their perspective too.

Introduce yourselves folks!

“Both of us teach for a living. Abi teaches art in a secondary school and Andy teaches guitar and piano. We have a pretty loud and messy life at times! When we aren’t working we love to hang out with our cats Stan and Maggie, get out into nature and spend time with our favourite people. You’ll see them in our photos.”

How did you meet?

“We actually met on Tinder. Very romantic I know. We officially met in person at a Club Tropicana night and set eyes on each other to the sound of Gloria Gaynor’s “I will survive”. On our first date, Andy drove Abi to the wrong restaurant. This left her wondering if she’d be the next Tinder horror story. Needless to say it got better!”

Tell us about the proposal.

“Andy popped the question after a Barcelona music festival when we were very content, if a little hung over. We’d gone for a paddle at the beach and Andy gave Abi a shell and asked her to be his wife. It was a very special day.”

How did you want your day to be?

“The main thing we wanted was a relaxed atmosphere. To be honest, neither of us really had a clue about what we wanted or how to plan a wedding at the beginning. In the end, we took inspiration from our engagement and wanted to be close to the sea, one of our favourite places to be.

Covid helped us make some decisions too. Our original ceremony went from a big party to 19 close family friends. We had actually been married for 3 years by the time we had our reception which Lisa and Neil captured so perfectly. In the end, we really got the best of everything, having a little intimate ceremony, and a big party with all our favourite people.

Early on in our relationship, Abi would watch Andy and his childhood band mates play at our local Nottingham pub, and we wanted to bring that atmosphere to our wedding party. In a way, we introduced our people from Notts to Abi’s childhood home in Suffolk, and Abi’s Suffolk folk got to see a bit of our life in Nottingham through Andy’s band. As a couple, we sang our first dance and for the rest of the night we had our guests come up and sing or play with Andy and the best men. I’d say the result was better than our vision and we feel so lucky that it all came together.”

How did planning your Thorpeness country club wedding work out?

“I guess this all took about 5 years what with Covid in the middle and our 3 year gap between our wedding and the reception. We had our honeymoon in that three year gap too.. we really mixed it up!

Once we found the venue a lot of everything else fell into place. We cannot say enough good things about the Thorpeness Country Club. When our first day fell through, they helped us reorganise our small wedding in the Thorpeness Golf Club and Hotel garden. They also did all our food for both days and really went above and beyond for us.

Our cake was made by the brilliant Greenhouse Cafe in Felixstowe, best vegan cakes we’ve ever had and our guests couldn’t tell the difference!

Of course, friends and family really helped out with our day too. We had 4 cars of kit for the band that came down with us and countless hands to help out with all those little things that make the day special. There was a little bit of everyone in our day and I’d definitely say when you’re planning your wedding to accept the help offered. The memories you make from doing the invites together or creating the table settings all adds to the joy of it all.”

Any planning blunders?

“Well, Abi was overseeing most of the day except the music which was Andy’s job. He pulled it off and more, but it did make Abi nervous when he was still creating the playlist the night before the wedding and we had no karaoke machine. A bit like booking our engagement day hotel 15 mins before he popped the question. He’s never let her down though!”

Most memorable bits of the day at Thorpeness?

“I would say our first dance song was a special moment. Abi is really not a performer and had lost her voice but the love we felt onstage from everyone dancing was amazing.

Our photoshoot was hilarious. I think both Lisa and Neil dealt with our awkward belly laughs very well as it’s not often you are looking deep into each others eyes in public (well, not for us!). We had some great karaoke performances too and kids always bring the laughs don’t they. I don’t think we stopped laughing all night!

As a married couple for 3 years, we had less tears at the party than at our first ceremony. I think there was a moment on the dance floor where I (Abi) looked at Andy and realised we’d pulled it off. I may have had a tear in my eye at that point. We also did a joint speech to take the pressure off just one of us doing it. Those sort of things always bring out the emotions.”

What’s your favourite photo from the wedding, and why?

“This is a very hard question because there are so many moments that you two captured that were so special. We really enjoyed looking through some of the photos of all of our party together, especially the weird ones to see which people really went for it!

The whole sequence of us walking through the confetti is another highlight. We had petals that our guests threw at us with such force it at times felt like being pelted with sand. Some got stuck in Abi’s throat and you see every cough while Andy is having the time of his life. He did realise and she was alright, but it’s a funny moment to relive!”

Would you change anything about your wedding now?

“Absolutely not.

To add, we are just so happy to have had you guys take our photos. What you do really brings joy to people so thank you.”

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If you’re planning a Thorpeness country club wedding , we’d love to come, give us a shout to see if we’re free here. if you’d like to see more fun at Thorpeness, here’s another wedding we loved there.