Katy is a nurse, Matthew is a ‘mad on sport’ teacher and together they are the most generous hearted couple I have ever met.
When they arrived at Hornington Manor, Katy and Matthew set about transforming the Manor, the barn and the gardens into a wonderful home for the weekend.
Armed with straw bales for the front lawn, they created a cosy sofa seating area with blankets. Matthew’s priority was to set his cricket pitch up in the garden, and mark out a track for his ‘sports day’ – involving sack and three-legged racing.
They did a fantastic job of the garden, ensuring there was something to entertain all their guests whilst adding colour into every corner of the venue, with extra flowers and lovely little homely touches.
Friends had bottled Katy and Matthew’s wedding beer and another friend had made them a fabulous cricket bat room plan, which added the final touches and set the scene for their special day.
With a pizza van arriving on the Friday evening to cook for everyone, Matthew and Katy settled down to enjoy the weekend they had planned with all of their family and friends.
The morning of the wedding arrived, and it was a gorgeous, hot and sunny day. Katie looked stunning in her beautiful wedding dress as she walked down the stairs – I particularly loved the detailing on the back.
After the ceremony, we served a wonderful array of drinks on the front lawn accompanied by gorgeous canapes courtesy of Saunts, whilst the men and children had a rather competitive cricket match. Our Bar Manager Simon forgot about the Prosecco he was pouring and suddenly dived in for a catch, which to my delight he dropped – he would have been unbearable if he had actually caught the ball.
Everyone was rather sun-kissed when they finally went into the wedding barn for a delicious BBQ. Jon from Chocology of York provided the divine favours for each of the tables.
Fun and games carried on through the day with Matthew and Katy playing a ‘Mr & Mrs’ game to test how well they knew each other. Back-to-back and holding one of each of their shoes, the couple were asked a series of questions. To answer, they had to hold up the shoe belonging to the person they thought the statement related to, to see if they agreed. Funnily enough when they were asked who is more likely to be more careful over finances, they each held up their own shoe.
The speeches were a wonderful affair, and when it was time for the best men’s speech, everyone was stunned with how much effort they had put into it. Having worked in top secret for months, Matthew’s best men had written to some of Matthew’s favourite York football, cricket and rugby players, past and present, and asked them to record a special message for Mr and Mrs Hunt. It was absolutely wonderful and you could tell that Matthew was overwhelmed, not only with the signed shirt he received, but also with the effort that his best pals had put into their position as best men.
The evening carried on with much laughter and hilarity. The band HUGE had everyone up on their feet and joining in with the love train to the Jungle Book theme tune.
It was a wonderful wedding with lots and lots of smiling faces. But for me, the most amazing thing that I will always remember them for was the special gesture of providing a free bar for their guests, but asking for donations to the Yorkshire Cancer Trust charity. Needless to say they raised a lot of money for their chosen charity and made a huge difference to some people’s life by their selfless act of pure kindness.
Photographer: Cris Matthews
Band: HUGE
Caterer: Saunts Parties and Events
The photography featured here is a mixture of the fabulous Cris Matthews images and our Bar Manager Simon’s shots from the day.
