Welcome

Welcome to our wedding website, which we hope will be a useful guide to our wedding plans and special day.

Lots of love and fondest wishes from,

Stephen and Philip xx

Ceremony and Service – Newark Town Hall

The ceremony and service will start promptly at 12 noon.

Please be seated by 11.40am at the very latest – you will be able to arrive from 11am to take your seats, but please allow good time in case of any traffic and also for our Ushers to allocate your seating.

The full address for the the venue of our ceremony and service is:

Newark Town Hall – Market Place, Newark, Nottinghamshire. NG24 1DU

The Town Hall is in the middle of Newark Market Place, so there is no direct car parking, however there is a Morrison’s Car Park nearby – please allow plenty of time to arrive and find car parking, so you can arrive without having to rush. Car parking information can be found here

Please note there will be a cash Collection taken during our ceremony, during one of the hymns, which guests are welcomed to donate to. The Collection will go to the Charity Foundation of the Order of the Fleur De Lys and to assist Her Majesty’s Armed Forces and Veterans, so bring your best singing voice and please be generous.

Confetti: After our ceremony and service please join all guests outside the front of the Town Hall for photographs and for confetti. Some Confetti will be provided by our Ushers, but if you would like to bring your own then this will be thrown on the steps of the Town Hall as Stephen and Philip leave after the ceremony and service.

Dress Code

We would like all our guests to enjoy the day and feel comfortable, but as you know, with us you can never be overdressed so all guests are invited to wear Morning Dress (Tails for chaps) and for ladies to wear a Hat or Fascinator. There is no guidance/rules about colours, so please be as colourful and dashing as you wish, however if it is a helpful note, deep greens, gold, white and ivory colours will feature in our decor, but our dress code is an invitation and not a strict enforcement, but if you have ever needed an excuse to really dress up this is it!

To help the chaps, you can easily hire Morning dress without high cost (Top Hats are merely optional, but you are welcome to sport one as Philip will be) from Moss Bros where you have the option of hiring a black tailcoat and striped trousers, or an option that includes a waistcoat. We would suggest a black tailcoat, waistcoat made from wool and linen type materials looks much nicer than cheap silk types, but please feel free to be as colourful as you wish. Smalleys in Nottingham on Derby Road have a great range of items you can purchase, but without a London cost. Smalleys also have some ex-hire clothes, which will keep costs low.

If hiring from Moss Bros more information can be found here. You can also view a wider selection of waistcoat for purchase by clicking here.

For dress inspiration please see our gallery with pictures of Philip’s extended family 😉

P.S. Philip says – chaps please wear socks, the whole short trousers and no socks fashion is a terrible fad and looks dreadful 😉

Wedding Reception and Breakfast

We expect that after our wedding ceremony and service guests will start to arrive at Ryelands House from 1.30/2pm onwards, where a special wedding blend of Fortnum and Mason tea will be served, followed by drinks and canapes. We expect to sit down for our wedding banquet some time around 3.30/4pm time, so please do have a hearty breakfast, but we do expect you to be left stuffed after the banquet and food will be served throughout the afternoon and into the evening.

Drinks – please note that there is no pay-for bar. We will be serving drinks and wines throughout the daytime and there will be an offering of drinks during the evening as well. However, should you wish to enjoy a specific drink or particular tipple please bring this with you, as there will not be a bar offering an array of different drinks.

Carriages

Many of you will know the wedding couple well enough to know they like a good party, so there will be no official finishing time, so you may wish to dance away with us till dawn, with musical entertainment specifically curated by Stephen and Philip. Please be conscious of ordering taxis as they may not be as frequently available as one would expect in a city centre and whilst we would like you to stay and party the night away, you may want to pre-book a taxi.

We would suggest using Direct Cars in Lincoln, who have the largest fleet in the area of independent drivers, which picking up from Potterhanworth, going to Lincoln City centre in the late evening/early morning will cost approximately £20 for a standard car for 4 passengers. Uber does not run in the Lincoln area, so you may need cash for Direct Cars.

Directions

Our wedding receptions and breakfast will take place at a private home, not a typical wedding venue the full address is:

Ryelands House, Barff Road, Potterhanworth, Lincolnshire, LN4 2DU

Please note that Sat Navs do not take you direct to the house and usually takes you onto Barff Road in the village, so follow those directions, then continue on Barff Road, which will take you out of the village, carry on until go past a national speed limit sign on the road, then shortly after that you should see a small sign for Ryelands House on what should be on your left-hand side, please turn onto the long drive and you will see the house. You should also see some wedding signage to help guide you as well at the entrance to the drive and house (please see the map below).

Car Parking – there will be space to park at Ryelands House and you are welcome to leave your car overnight.

Accommodation

Potterhanworth is just under 7 miles from Lincoln and guests can book the Double Tree Hilton Hotel on Brayford Wharf, on the waterfront and you can also gain a special discounted rate of 15% off by clicking here using a special code.

There are a number of other hotels and bed and breakfasts in Lincoln and options in or near to Newark, but we advise guests to look into the usual hotel booking websites for the best rates/options. You may also find accommodation closer to Potterhanworth, but again please check online, as this is limited in the location.

If you are planning on arriving by chauffeur or taxi, or leaving your car overnight, please ensure you look into taxi options for pick-up from Potterhanworth, as this is a small rural village.

R.S.V.P. by 1st June

It is imperative that we receive your reply to your invitation, as we want to ensure all guests are catered for and so we do not have any last minute issues. Please ensure you have replied to your invitation as soon as possible, but latest by Wednesday, 1st June.

Please reply with your title and full name. Please also assist us by clearly stating if you and those on your invitation require vegetarian or vegan food items, or if you have any strict allergies. We will not be able to cater for any last minute dietary requirements.

Children/Plus Ones

We are not able to accommodate any Plus One guests or any children, as we simply do not have any more space and have already had to drastically cut our guest-list down, so we do hope you will understand. Any guests coming alone will be well looked after and you won’t be left on your own. We also hope for parents, it will mean you can enjoy a child-free evening and enjoy yourselves and have a jolly good party with us. One guest has already told how excited she is to leave her husband at home to look after their children so they have a fab evening of dancing with us 😉

You can email your R.S.V.P. to [email protected] or we would love you to write your R.S.V.P. as a memento. Please address any R.S.V.P.s to our fab hostesses:

Mrs G Goddard, Mrs A J Brooks, MBE and Mrs P Stephenson

℅ Rose Cottage, 50, High Road, Toton, Nottinghamshire, NG9 6EH

Wedding List/Gifts

If you would like to be generous enough to give a wedding gift to Stephen and Philip, then they will not be having a traditional ‘wedding-list’, as Stephen won’t allow anymore into the house, having to fit all of Philip’s belongings in already, however they do plan to go away for their honeymoon and if you would be so kind as to gift them funds towards their travel plans that would be very much appreciated by them both.

P.S. Stephen says please no bottles of ‘Prosecco’ as gifts, he wants hard cash 😉

If you require bank details for Stephen and Philip please use:

S P Goddard / HSBC / Sort 40-35-18 / Acc: 84374967

If you have any questions about our wedding then please do email us at [email protected]

We look forward to celebrating with you in July!