'We went to Eastwood Park on a whim and fell in love with the space and the grounds'

The lowdown

The happy couple: Marisa Sorrel, 31, a secondary school teacher from Virginia and James McGraw-Allen, 33, a software developer from the Thornbury area, who both now live in south Bristol

Wedding date: Friday 29 March 2024

Ceremony and reception venue: Eastwood Park

Wedding theme: Greens and bold coloured florals

The suppliers

Photographer: Henry Bew (Raised Brow Photography) 

Flowers: Made ourselves with blooms from the Brunel Wholesale Flower Market

Dress: Just For You Bridal

Groom’s outfit: Zebel

Cake: Donna's Floral Cakery

Catering: Eastwood Park

Favours: Wildflower seed packets stamped with an image drawn by James’s niece @Dawnhazelldraws on Instagram

Rings: H Samuel

The details

When and how did you first meet?

James used to be a teacher and Marisa was on placement as a PGCE student. 'We clicked and started dating — we ended up working together in the same department for nearly four years!'

Who popped the big question and how did they propose? 

Marisa asked the question on a weekend away near Barry.

She did it using a custom made Magic the Gathering card (a game James is very into). The artwork and card design was developed by James’s niece and one of his friends.

How long did it take you to plan your wedding?

We got engaged in the late May bank holiday of  2023 and got married Friday 29 March 2024, so around 10 months — though Marisa planned most of it over the summer holidays!

How important was it for you both to be legally married? 

It was more important for Marisa to be legally married but James was open to it if it was something she really wanted.

Why did you choose your venue?

James had grown up near the venue and had done a photoshoot there for some amateur dramatics as a teenager. We went there on a whim and fell in love with the space and the grounds.

Was there an inspiration or theme for your wedding?

Marisa loves bold colours: red, yellow, orange. She also loves the outdoors. There wasn’t really a theme, more so just sticking to some colour schemes.

Did you hire a wedding planner or was it a DIY affair?

It was really a DIY affair. We made the bouquets, did all of the decorations ourselves, and even created our own confetti with the help of Marisa’s students hole punching a lot of scrap paper!

What song did you walk down the aisle to? 

Marisa walked down to 'Just the Way You Are' by Bruno Mars.

What did you have for your wedding breakfast? 

We had a two-course meal. Meat eaters had ballotine of chicken with potatoes; veggies had mushroom lasagne; and dessert was lemon posset. 

What kind of cake did you go for? 

We did not want cake as once it is cut, the beauty is gone and then hands grabbing cake can be unhygienic.

Instead, we had incredible cupcakes with several different hand-piped buttercream flowers on the top. Donna’s Floral Cakery in Bath was amazing, everyone said the cupcakes were practically one massive decoration, looked stunning and tasted fantastic!

What was your first dance song? 

'I Will Follow You Into the Dark' by Deathcab for Cutie (James’s choice). There was a surprise dance by the wedding party straight after to ‘I like to move it’ by Reel 2 Real.

What was your favourite part of your wedding day? 

James: Having a party where you liked absolutely everyone, seeing how they interacted with each other and seeing people we’d not seen for years. And the bit where we got married was good too.

Marisa: It is honestly difficult to choose one even after all this time. It was all just one big exciting, stressful, loving, crazy, long blur. Is it weird to say I really liked the next day breakfast when all of it was over and I could eat a bunch of bacon stuffed croissants?

Did everything go to plan? 

Pretty much everything went to the minute as we’d planned, other than the speakers tripping the electricity several times, the stream of the ceremony having no video for the second half and James forgetting to give out the buttonhole flowers to the groomsmen. Also, Marisa said some fairy lights were never turned on and the first dance volume was too low due to drunk groomsmen forgetting their responsibilities.

But none of that was a problem or even really noticed.

What advice would you give anyone planning their big day? 

No one is really going to care about themes, font choice or which flowers were chosen.

Guests want good music, vibes, company and food. Don’t stress about big decorations or fine details, it will all come together beautifully and you will be too busy enjoying yourself to even fret about the small parts.

Is there anything you know now that you wished you'd known before the big day? 

James: Not necessarily something I wish I’d known, but I wish I could have learned to trust the process earlier in the planning. The venue staff were fantastic, and everything moved smoothly from one part to the next.

Marisa: I think all the Facebook groups and fine detail planning had me ready for anything. I do wish I enjoyed myself a bit more at the wedding. I think seeing everything come into place got me to finally calm down, which led to a post-stress tummy ache and not my usual bubbly self. I put so much energy in beforehand that I was almost running on fumes on the big day.  

And finally, where did you spend your honeymoon together? 

We went to Portimao in Portugal for four days afterwards as a mini-moon.