Real Wedding - Chrissy & Arnon at Buxted Park Hotel

Photographer: Robert Burress
Wedding Venue: Buxted Park Hotel
Catering: Hotel
Jeweller: Bridal Jewellery bought from The Little Things In Life, engagement ring designed by groom and made in Israel
Wedding Cake: Cheese Tower from The Cheese Shed
Hair: Kirsty McCall
Reception Venue: Buxted Park Hotel
Wedding Dress: Bridal Rogue Gallery London
Florist: Bouquet by The Flower Shop Uckfield, Table centre pieces made by bride
Transportation: Our own legs!
Make-Up: Kirsty McCall

What Chrissy loves most about Arnon - How he makes me feel like i’m the only one in the universe, he is very chivalrous and caring.

What Arnon loves most about Chrissy - how adorable she is and how much more we are together then the sum of our individual parts.

How did the proposal happen?
It was our 1 year anniversary and we had a lovely picnic on Primrose hill on a warm sunny day on June 10th 2008. After eating some lovely food and finishing a bottle of champagne we went to get another from the off license. On the way back into the park Arnon said that we should walk around and choose a favourite tree. So here we are, walking around rather tipsy - me just holding a bottle of champagne and Arnon carrying 3 bags… over the top of the hill i saw a ‘family of trees’ - a mummy & daddy and 2 baby ones. So we went to explore. After checking them out i was ready to walk away when Arnon said, ‘Hang on, there’s something wrong with my shoe’, as he put all the bags down and got on one knee. He then produced a very unique ring from his sock and asked me to marry him. I cried, i said yes and we got a third bottle of champagne!

How did you choose the wedding venue?
We like the handpicked chain of hotels, so we looked for ones that were in close proximity of London. It was the gorgeous gardens of Buxted Park that made us go for it in the end.

The best moment of the day
Too many to choose from! Perhaps when we all went outside after dinner to light and release sky lanterns into a rather windy night and some got stuck in the tree! It was very funny…

The story of the dress
2 weeks after i got engaged, i went to look to see what i might like. I went to Chiltern Street in London and in Bridal Rogue Gallery i described the kind of dress that i like and they had exactly what i described, i tried on the sample and it was a perfect fit. I felt like a total princess in it. I proceeded to some other shops - Harrods etc and nothing compared. Another shop assistant said, ‘you know THE dress the moment you put it on…’ It was that moment i knew that i should go back to BRG and get THE dress. A few weeks later i returned and was offerred the sample dress half price. I offerred a couple of hundred pounds less and they agreed! I was a very happy bride to be after making this most expensive purchase of my life!!!

Why did you choose your photographer?
We looked and looked and looked. We had a budget which of course limited us. Then we found an amazing photographer and even though he was WAY over budget, we were willing to spend less elsewhere. That particular photographer was busy on the date of our wedding, but he recommended 4 friends. We checked them all out and found that Rob was just as good and cheaper! We got in contact with him and loved him and his work. The end result is simply spectacular.

What personal touches did you include in your wedding?
We hand wrote individual messages for each guest and had them rolled up with their names on them which doubled up as their name place. For favours, i made little glass trinkets which were fused and sandblasted. Also i painted on every bottom of the candle lanterns/votive holders our names and the date of our wedding - there were enough of these for all guests to take home. We also did the table decorations ourselves - flower ring with hurricane candle in the middle with rose petals and table diamond scatters. I probably saved half the money then if i had a florist do it, and it was so satisfying to do it myself (albeit a little stressful!)

What happened that wasn’t planned?
It was unfortunately too cold to have our Jewish ceremony outside, so we had to have it inside. The chupah was not decorated in time for the ceremony so it was 20mins late! Also the numerous function manager’s gaffs…

What advice would you give couples planning their own weddings?
Sort out as much as possible as far in advance so that you have no stress leading up to the wedding. We had little to do the weeks leading up the wedding which meant we were super relaxed. If you read about or see something unique from another wedding, take it and make it your own. Have fun!

All images - Rob Burress at ShootingHip